Time For a Little Break

To catch up on a few things...

Blessings, all!

A Little Hug

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Focused Prayer

I have read in more than one place lately - that prayers, when combined with others praying at the same time for the same thing - turn to a kind of "music" in the cosmos. In Whitley Streiber's book "The Key" the mysterious visitor who visited him in his hotel room in Canada during the 1990's stated that human beings could pray together to help change their world.

There are many places that have popped up on the Internet that bring people together to pray for a certain outcome - usually having to do with world catastrophic events. I was invited to join one the other day through James Redfield - the author of The Twelfth Insight.

In a world of more and more extreme phenomenon, it makes sense to band together - if for no other reason than we feel a communion with fellow world inhabitants. This is the premise behind most of Lynn McTaggart's work with intention and the zero-point field.

Event Temples and James's work takes all of this a step further and attempts to help people learn to develop the ability to see the world differently by utilizing what he terms the "Six Heart Virtues." They are as follows:

1. Appreciation
2. Compassion
3. Forgiveness
4. Humility
5. Understanding
6. Valor

Here is an excerpt from the website:

JAMES: "A new psychology is emerging on the planet, referred to as positive psychology, which focuses on the study of human resilience and emotional strength. Psychologists are beginning to realize, for example, that it is more important to understand how some people have naturally overcome depression, than it is to study the psychopathology of depression itself.

"Reservoirs of resilience and emotional strength are byproducts of emotional self-mastery, the ability to express the six heart virtues and live within a  virtuous instead of a vicious cycle. The ability to sustain a virtuous cycle through the energetic and behavioral expression of the six heart virtues is tantamount to empowerment.

"My vision for EventTemples.com is for it to help individuals achieve a new level of empowerment, and from this base, enable them to collectively and individually support people across the globe through energetic transfers from an expanding set of quantum communities."

Of course, all of this is not necessarily easy for us humans to understand and learn. It requires some real effort on our part. Most of the time we are just responding to outside influences. We are a product of our subconscious, our ego, our upbringing, our educations, the media. But if we are going to move forward, if we are going to evolve, we need to learn the tools that help us to focus, to learn, and to transmit with intent.

Learning to think through our heart is a step in the right direction. We can look around us and see the impact of living only within a mechanistic worldview.

James the WingMaker

(James's artwork)

As many of you know, I have been studying the heart as the next stage of human evolution. From this post, and this post, consecutively, you may know that we evolve from a heart - not a brain. It has a much more dense electromagnetic field than does the brain. This information has come from a variety of sources, but none more mysterious than from James the WingMaker. He is a man of European (Spanish) decent who claims to be from an ancient line of beings who incarnate on earth to help lift our understanding during challenging times. He chooses to remain anonymous so that personality does not interfere with the message.

The message, put simply, is that the human family is a single organism that connects through the heart. This single organism is the savior we have sought; the intermediary we have been told is required to advance spiritually. He believes looking outside of ourselves is the wrong direction, that the heart's wisdom is the gateway to enlightenment, not only for the individual, but for humanity at large. He believes true wisdom does not come until the person is ready, and truth will find them when the time is right.

I've learned over a course of years to listen to messages from a variety of sources, suspending my judgment as to where they come from, and focusing on whether or not they resonate with my innate sense of right and wrong. Let me say, for the most part I tend to be somewhat suspicious by nature. But I've read hundreds of pages of his writings and cannot find anything that would send my spidey sense into  overload. The information is free - the only things sold are ancillary musical Cd's and artwork. He has three separate websites - all different in their teaching styles - but all are consistent with his fundamental message - that the heart of empowerment is the point of consciousness written in the individual by the Creator; and is the vibration of equality. It is here that the interface between individuality and Oneness occurs.

In typical Nancy fashion, I started with his latest website, Event Temples, and worked my way backwards. I did the same thing in college - upper division courses first (as many as I could get into) and followed by the lower division courses in order to fulfill requirements. I did this because the latest writings, or courses, usually gives me a perspective of whether or not it is worth my time to pursue. I'm not sure this is how these websites are constructed, however. I think one can visit any of the three to ascertain whether or not they are interested in what James has to say. We all learn differently, and are attracted to differing styles of teaching. I have not read much on the WingMaker's site, having spent most of my time reading the material on the Event Temple and the Lyricus sites.

Tomorrow I'll talk about behavioral intelligence, the cornerstone of James's teachings, and why it is easy to understand intellectually, but harder to practice behaviorally.

Here are his websites in order:
WingMakers
Lyricus
Event Temples

Living The Expat Life

My daughter sent me an email today from some friends that have relocated to Ecuador. It seems they have leased acreage for a organic farm and are looking for investors to build about eight eco-friendly homes on about 1 acre per household. Sound familiar?

So since this is right up my 'shared-resources' alley, I thought I would see what real estate prices were like in Ecuador. You can get this house for $180,000 in Cuenca:

Under Contract means the realtor has a signed contract to sell the home.

How about this one on acreage outside of town for $370,000? It has six bedrooms and six baths, full maids quarters and the taxes for 2009 was $145. (My older daughter thought the maid's quarters would be perfect for her younger sister. :-) I'm thinking an extended family could live here:

I guess these places are starting to look better and better to me when I realize the opportunities for our children are no longer in the United States. After reading a long article on the "lost generation" of new college graduates today, I realized this country is not what it used to be. Our "economy of war" is leaving me sad and dispirited. The huge shift to corporatism, with it's lack of moral obligation, is going to drive the best and brightest to other places, offering brighter futures.

Maybe it's time to look elsewhere, where we may not have as many amenities, but life can still be good. Maybe we can afford to retire before we're 80 years old. What do you think?

Here is a free handbook for moving to Ecuador.

Live More, Work Less

Tiny Buddha did a great post on what it means to change your lifestyle to actually enjoy more and work less. She begins by asking the question - how much do you actually need to feel comfortable? If you are without a job right now, doing with less is not something you want to read more about - but you may find some useful information that may be helpful during this stressful time. Links are provided that give practical guidance in finding ways to reduce your spending - and learning to enjoy life in a whole new way. I especially liked the link with thoughts on meaningful and inexpensive gift-giving.

As I look around me each day, I'm startled to realize I'm not as attached to some of these things as I thought I was. If I had to name five things I couldn't live without - it would be hard to come up with five. But I guess that could all change if I were one of the people now living along the Mississippi, or in the way of multiple tornadoes. Having never been in that situation, I have no idea how I would react. But I continue to be amazed at the people who bravely face their worst fears, the one thing standing out to me is the way they are there for each other.

Last night I watched the movie "The Day After Tomorrow" for the second time.  I had just finished a new book by Whitley Streiber, (The Key), and remembered that he had written the book (Superstorm) that the movie was based on - anyway - the take-away from the film is that if something catastrophic happens in the world; absolutely nothing I own would mean anything - the only thing I would care about when the chips are down are people. I wouldn't be lamenting my couch or a chair - or even jewelry or art. People, pets, and, well, that's about it - everything else is just not that important. 

The New Dry Rose'

Rose' wine has a big stigma to overcome - the infamous White Zinfandel. The new dry rose' wines do just that, however. It was the one thing I brought back from our trip to the Wine Country, rose' will be my new summer wine.

I was very pleasantly surprised with the complexity of some of these wines - yet without the oak flavor that I seem to prefer less and less. Don't get me wrong - a buttery Chardonnay is still appreciated - but I'm leaning towards lighter, steel-barrel wines. For one thing, the heavy reds tend to make me feel hot - and not in a good way. I don't know if it is the tannins, or being in oak barrels longer, but it appears I'm not the only one that feels that way. There has been an explosion of new dry rose' wines - in fact it is easier to find the dry rose' wines than my other favorite - pinot grigio - at the wineries we visited. The best ones are from France and Spain, countries that have been drinking them for years.

It is a red wine for white wine drinkers. It pairs well with picnic foods and anything one would serve with red wine. For me it will be summer BBQs and nights when we have main-dish salads for dinner.

The prices are not bad. The ones we bought in the Wine Country were more on the expensive side - but that was because they were only pouring their more expensive wines. First they charge for the sampling, then they only pour their premium wines. But maybe with people cutting back on extravagances it is the only way to have captive audiences to try their best wines. It takes some of the fun out of visiting wineries, however.

I am currently drinking a Mill Creek rose', which they do not have on their website, but I intend to look for a few more to stock up for the summer season. Here is a site that gives some information on what to look for, and what to expect to pay - it also takes you to the winery or distributor if you would like to order it online.

So what is your favorite summer wine? Or do you prefer a summer cocktail?

Have a great weekend everyone!

The Middle Place

It was 2:00 a.m. and as I lay there wondering if I had restless-leg syndrome the idea to finally buckle and get out of bed, maybe do something else, popped into my head. I had been reading a first novel by journalist, Kelly Corrigan, and thought what better way to put myself to sleep than reading about that "middle place" most of us reach at some point in our lives?

That middle place between being a mother and wife and being the daughter. The cherished and spoiled daughter who knows the person she loves so dearly is either going to die, or is dying, and that will leave her the one in charge without benefit of being able to also lean into the one man in her life that will always be there for her. Do men realize the importance of that role? Do they have any idea how larger than life they will always be to their little girls - no matter how old they are?

For me it was 1987 and I was pregnant with my youngest. A difficult pregnancy made all the harder (and all the sweeter), because my dearly loved father was succumbing to all of those cigarettes he had smoked and was dying of emphysema. It would be a beautiful year in so many ways. Time to have him all to myself. A man that was larger than life to many people, and especially to me - his cherished and spoiled daughter. A time when I realized that there truly was a God; because without hanging on to that tiny, angelic baby - there was no way I could let go of my father.

Kelly Corrigan weaves this bitter sweet time in her life with style and wit. Without giving away the plot, I found this book very readable. Funny, articulate, witty, soulful. This book would appeal to all women in that middle place, and some men who should read it just to know how special they are to their daughters.

Third Great Awakening

"In 1976 Tom Wolfe wrote that we are now "seeing the upward role (and not yet the crest, by any means) of the third great religious wave in American history, one that historians will very likely term the Third Great Awakening."

I would posit that this great awakening is happening world-wide.

From the book Chop Wood, Carry Water:

This Third Great Awakening has been called by many names: the consciousness movement, the New Age, the Aquarian Conspiracy - or, as we have come to think of it while working on this book - "the new spirituality."

This "new spirituality" is not really new, of course, but more of a form of something very old, of something that has always been present, if often hidden. Aldous Huxley called it "The Perennial Philosophy," and found it at the center of all the great mystical traditions. The most familiar formulation of The Perennial Philosophy in the West is perhaps the statement that "The kingdom of God is within you."

The writers go on to say the sources from this new spirituality are varied and diverse, and actually are an amalgam of many different wisdoms that encompass all great religions as well as ordinary people. The book was written in 1984, and I read it sometime during the 1980's. Probably during my initial spiritual search that began after a series of difficult personal problems, not the least of which was a brain tumor. I'm now reading it again because it is one of those books that should be read more than once throughout one's lifetime. It is a reminder that the path we have undertaken doesn't have to involve perfection, but the task should include "the challenge, as for the Chinese Zen master a thousand years ago, is to live in such a way that there is no duality, no separation between the spiritual path and its manifestation in everyday life. The real challenge is, so to speak, to bring heaven down to earth, where we all live. It is a question of what Ram Dass has called "applied spirituality."

Always ask yourself - is this word, action, or emotion life diminishing, or life enhancing?  (Morning Messages.) 

Music & the Brain

It seems that listening to music does more for our brains than just aesthetics. In fact, a research team from Stanford University showed that music engages the areas of the brain involved with paying attention, memory, and making predictions. High school students that study music have higher grade point averages and develop faster physically. They also develop better listening skills. Children exposed to music before age seven have a greater increase in the size of the corpus callosum. These fibers are instrumental in joining the left and right hemispheres and may increase the processing of information between both sides of the brain. Actively taught students were found to have a greater cerebral cortex activation.

Listening to certain baroque-period music causes the heart beat and pulse rate to relax to the beat of the music and as the body becomes relaxed and alert, the mind is able to concentrate more easily. Mozart's music, with a 60 beats per minute beat pattern, activates the left and right side of the brain - this in turn maximizes learning and retention.

Music also affects all living things. Music such as the Blue Danube has shown to aid hens in laying more eggs. Wheat will grow faster when exposed to special ultrasonic and musical sounds. Plants grow well for almost every type of music except rock and acid rock, in fact they withered and died when exposed to those genres. In the 1970's teens would bring raw eggs to a rock concert and put them in front of the stage - by the end of the concert the eggs would be hard boiled by the music and could be eaten. Researchers showed that proteins in a liquid medium were coagulated when subjected to piercing high-pitched sounds.

Music is much more than a distraction. All the more reason to incorporate it into a life well-lived. 

Kiddy Botox

Nightline did a segment Thursday on a woman who routinely injects her 8-year old daughter with botox to mitigate wrinkles. She is in beauty pageants and feels she is much prettier after her Mommy injects her face with one of the most dangerous poisons known to man.

The mother was being investigated by Children's Services after it was aired on one of the morning shows.

From a developmental point of view, this child is going to have problems with how she looks and feels about herself for many years, if not forever. It is during childhood that our sense of self first emerges, and with so much emphasis on outer beauty this little girl has not been given time to explore her world, safe in the knowledge that she is okay just the way she is. I think that was clear when she said she felt better after the treatments. This child is desperate to please her Mommy, and if it means going through painful procedures, then she will do that.

After all, if Mommy feels you need this in order to be prettier - she must be right. Children see themselves through their parent's eyes.

Seriously, if an alien race is watching us - we are freaking them out!

Freaky Friday

Okay, thanks to a comment from California Girl - I found my last post in the "Edit Posts" section, as a draft - so if you are missing your last post it may be there - you can just repost it.

Warning: It will post your post without changes you may have made - check it before you repost.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Look For The Signs

I believe that when we commit to something - truly commit - the universe starts organizing to make it happen. Even if we don't know the details, we can daydream the perimeters of how we want our lives to look. For example, I have been dreaming of a shared-resources community for some time. I've posted about it more than once on this blog. But the place to form this community has eluded me. I vacillate between Portland, OR and Maui, HI. Portland is where my children reside, and we love the city - well to be honest, I probably love it more than my husband does. In fact, he feels the rainy winters more than I do. We lived there for about 2.5 years, a few years back.

Maui, on the other hand, is where my husband feels he is most comfortable. There is something about the Aloha Spirit that inspires him to be the man he wants to be. Corporate America has not been the place to feel connected to what he feels is important - all those fuzzy things like love, kindness, the environment. So when he sees himself retired - it is not in a city, but much closer to whales - his current obsession.

Which brings me to the gist of this post. When we commit to what we want in our lives - the universe begins organizing, little signs and synchronicities emerge, and the puzzle pieces begin to come together to make it happen.

The other day I had read something that made me feel that I no longer wanted to live in America. I won't go into the details, but it just felt as though the country has been going in the opposite direction from all the things I believe to be important and true. I started looking at New Zealand properties, I looked at Canadian properties - but both felt very far from home. (I know, I just said I wanted to move away from America - but let's face it - it is my home and I do love it in so many ways.) Anyway, one of the other issues that I have been noodling is the fact that there are very few people in my life that share my same belief system, that see consciousness as anything more than having one's eyes open. We have plenty of friends - just none that share my worldview. I feel like such an oddball sometimes.

So I was feeling a bit down about things when I looked down and noticed Maui Vision Magazine on my automan - which is all about holistic living in Maui. Many people advertise alternative business practices in this magazine. I had one of those "light-bulb moments" when I realized that the small island of Maui is where "my" community resides. It is where my husband wants to live, and where at least one of my daughters would like to raise her family.


I had also talked about a school in this post, and my youngest emailed me the other day saying that since her nephew could not find a preschool that didn't require being on a waiting list from birth - maybe she and I could create a preschool if she couldn't find a job with her masters in education - which she begins in June. She was thinking Portland, but why not Maui?

My post from yesterday was written by a man by the name of Mark Sheehan. I mentioned his name in my post. Look what I found in Maui Vision Magazine today:

IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE THE FUTURE

There is a growing movement that recognizes how small sustainable communities can make a big difference for the health of the environment and the quality of life for everyone. Even in big cities there are co-operatives forming to share resources and reap the rewards. Maui is the perfect place for new models of community to grow and flourish.

HOW CAN YOU GET STARTED?

Consider making a list of people you know who share your values and have specific skills and resources. Go online and look at types of shared living to get ideas for what you want. Start a list of your needs and resources.

THE RIGHT PROPERTY FOR THE RIGHT COMMUNITY

For the last 25 years I've been helping people locate and buy ideally suited sustainable Maui properties and know what it takes to form a functioning co-operative. If you want help from a realtor with a lot of experience in this realm, give me a call.
Mark Sheehan - Coldwell Properties

I think we are going to give him a call...

Blogger is back!

Yay! - I do hope they find my last post... But since it is missing, I will save today's post for Monday. Maybe by then all of the problems will be resolved. Until then, have a great weekend!

Happy People

While perusing Maui Vision Magazine, I ran across a short article regarding the book, How We Choose To Be Happy, by Mark Sheehan, a real estate broker and environmental activist living on Maui. It caught my attention and I've downloaded the book to read at a later date, but what really struck me was the study it was based on - unusually happy people! It was written by two psychologists, Rick Foster and Greg Hicks.

Here then are the choices that unusually happy people tend to make:

1. Intention: Having an active desire to be happy and committing to living that way.
2. Accountability: Choosing to create the life you want to live, taking full responsibility, refusing to blame others.
3. Identification: Continually looking into yourself to see what makes you uniquely happy.
4. Centrality: Making sure that what makes you happy is central in your life.
5. Recasting: Converting problems into opportunities, transforming trauma into something meaningful.
6. Options: Approaching life with multiple scenarios, being open to new possibilities, a flexible life script.
7. Appreciation: The choice to stay in the present, making each experience precious, appreciating deeply.
8. Giving: Sharing yourself with friends and community.
9. Truthfulness: The choice to be honest with yourself and others in an accountable manner by not allowing societal, corporate or family demands to violate your internal contract.

I think these need to go on my Intention Board. I especially liked #6/Options - being flexible seems to be very important in this day and age. Realizing we can change our 'story' at any time, no matter what is going on in our lives -  in fact the one thing we do have control over is our own story. 

Topics of Interest

I know many of you know that I'm writing a book based on my blog. Recently I decided it needed to be re-written, and to go in another direction. There have been so many blog posts where I have only been able to touch on the subject. Blog posts, almost by definition, are posts, not chapters. It is really hard to fully explore a topic through a blog. Yet there have been some over the last few years that I feel would be worth researching a little further.

The problem is where to begin to find those posts that might be of further interest? I have written 594 posts so far. So with that thought in mind, I intend to start with the topics that have received the most "hits" through Sitemeter. Such as Dolphin vs Human Intelligence - which has received thousands of hits. What was so strange was that it was a post that directed the reader to another site, I didn't actually write anything on the subject. So I was thinking maybe it's time for me to really research this subject, maybe write this book based on those ideas that are actually drawing people to this blog in the first place.

Another interesting thing that has happened is that most of my readers do not comment, which leads me to believe many of you may not have blogs. So with that in mind, I'm going to shut off the comment filter on my blog for this post, (I use it to keep from being spammed,) and allow anonymous comments. So if you have a topic that you have found interesting, and would like to know more about, please let me know.

Now is the time to follow our dreams, help others to achieve theirs, and stay focused on our mission in life. I believe mine is to write in a way that brings my readers the information they need to navigate these interesting and difficult times. We are all evolving humans, and life as we know it will never be the same.

The I-Ching

I noticed a post on a friend's blog this morning on I-Ching, or The Classic of Change. Since I didn't know much about this ancient divining system, I thought I would check out I-Ching Online, which she suggested as being fairly accurate.

I have a healthy dose of scepticism when it comes to online sites such as this one, but I was amazed! I asked two questions, and both were very accurate. If you try it - remember I-Ching is about the present, not the future. It has been around in written form for about 3,000 years and the Chinese say it has been around another 2,000 years in oral form, making it one of the oldest known written documents. From I-Ching Online:

It takes you past the tunnel vision and gives you a 360 degree view of your situation. It goes beyond the realm of your five senses and picks up the subliminal signals that sailed right past your conscious awareness to become filed away in your subconscious. When you are obsessed with a desire, intent on an outcome, the I-Ching gently nudges you and says, "Yes, but have you considered this ...?

The Wine Country

We are currently celebrating my husband's birthday by having triple cream brie, a fresh baguette, some tiny gherkins, and more than a tad of a great bottle of wine for lunch -  all in the lush California wine country. If ever there is a time to nap after lunch - it is in the wine country. The European cultures that nap after lunch have it right.

I've been thinking about all of those generations where people drank beer and wine throughout the day - how in the world did they ever get anything accomplished?

Cycle 24

We are just now entering Cycle 24, which is the 24th solar cycle since 1755 - when sun spots were first recorded, and is, on average, a ten and a half year cycle. It should have begun two years ago, but the sun decided to take a sabatical and had one of the lowest cycles of solar activity ever recorded. So it is believed by some that the cycle is just now beginning. (9-11 happened at the peak of the last one.) Which may account for the tsunami in Japan, the tornadoes in the South, and the recent unrest in the Middle East.

It may be understandable as to how solar flares might affect weather conditions, but how would the sun affect what is going on in the Middle East?

You may want to refer back to my post on the energetic heart before reading further because it is all related. But in short, it is believed there is a correlation between what happens with the geomagnetic field, (the field that surrounds the earth, and protects it from solar flare particles), and humans. During high solar activity humans may be more tired, anxious, confused, irritated,  and less happy. There is also a direct correlation with hospital admissions, heart attacks, and traffic accidents.

We have a few more years of intensity before us, so it may behoove us to learn how to self-regulate as the geomagnetic fields are being bombarded with solar-flare particles. A large solar burst - an X flare - would affect us physcially, could blow out power grids, etc. So paying attention to what is happening with the sun may be important.

"The Global Coherence Initiative is a science based, co-creative project to unite people in heart-focused care and intention, to facilitate the shift in global consciousness from instability and discord to balance, cooperation and enduring peace." This website also offers information on their monitoring systems and  some very interesting findings: "For example, two or three weeks prior to earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, the earth's magnetic field changes, suggesting that a multistation monitoring system could predict earthquakes and volcanic eruptions." Which would allow human beings to prepare, of course.

Some of their findings include changes in the earth's magnetic field being associated with changes in brain and nervous system activity - including depression, incidences of suicide, memory loss, strokes, and the systhesis of  nutrients in plants and algea. There is also some evidence that when people say they can "feel" an impending planetary event - it may be scientifically based. They may be responding to actual physical signals that occur in the earth's geomagnetic field prior to an event.

We have always heard a full moon, thus gravity, has an effect on moods, but now we know we are  more wired to the pulses of the earth than we ever thought possible. It may be that we have a recipcrocal effect on the earth as well, but that will have to be for another post. In the meantime this website also has a "Live Data" tab that helps you keeps an eye on the sun, if you are so inclined.

Have You Seen This?

Have you ever seen anything so cute??

Bethanny Ever After

Does anyone else watch Bethanny Ever After? I know it is a reality show, and should really be below my sense of intellectual curiosity, but I'm not much of an intellectual, and I love reality TV, even if I  have to watch it alone. People are interesting. They just are! My husband argues that reality TV is not really reality, but some producers version of what might sell. Yeah, yeah, I know. But real personalities peek through, and you do get a sense of some of these people's idiosyncrasies, their character, their vulnerabilities, and their sense of right and wrong. And to me - that's interesting. Human beings are interesting!

Okay, so now on to Bethanny. If you haven't watched Real Housewives of New York City over the last couple of years (minus this year) you may not know who she is, but she is living a fairy tale life, and it all started just a couple of years ago.

Bethanny grew up lonely, there is no doubt about that. Her mother was dysfunctional and her father non-existent. She raised herself, and has been basically on her own her whole life. She wanted a husband and a family, it just didn't seem to be happening. That is, until about a year ago...

All in one year - she got a cookbook deal for her Skinny Girl food line, has written two cookbooks, found a great guy and got married, had a baby,  created a Skinny Girl Margarita (which is being sold for a bizillion dollars), has her own reality show, competed on Skating With the Stars coming in second place, sells out theatres to women who are dancing in the aisles waiting to hear her speak, and may be moving to Los Angeles! What's not to love?

But beyond that she is vulnerable, grateful, kind, funny, and totally likable. She collects people, recognizing that each person has a wonderful gift, and that not everyone has the same gift. I love that about her. Probably more than anything else, I love that about her. She sees through the geeky food buff, who has a hard time talking to people, to the passionate heart that loves food and comes alive when he writes - she then figures out how he can join the fun with a part time job in her company. Just one in her managerie.

She knows she is neurotic and tries hard not to take it out on all the people around her - and there are plenty around her - all seemingly living with them in their small apartment in Tribeca. (Not really, it just seems that way.)

I know she will not do this show forever. She is a multi, multi-bizillionaire now. But I, for one, will miss her and her sweet husband, absolutely adorable baby girl, and all of the characters that she collects. She is the Cinderella story of our time. The lonely woman who had a clanging biological clock, with no viable prospects, that finally found her prince and so much more.

Life is amazing, and Bethanny is living proof.

Nerves!

Has anyone else noticed how weird interpersonal relationships are these days? It seems like there is very little padding on those nerve bundles. I've had some experiences lately where I thought - "Ouch! Did they just say that??" My husband has had his own stories to tell, and they all seem to involve how we are interfacing with each other. Stress levels are soaring, and thoughts seem to be transmitted at warp speed. No way to hide negative, anxious, or angry feelings. It's like our intentions have a life of their own - what we are thinking about someone is revealed almost instantly.

Maybe its a good time to realize this all is Kabuki Theatre. We're acting out and there are lessons to be learned. With each interaction there is something on both sides to be acknowledged, changed, incorporated, negated, embraced or learned from. If nothing else it might be to never treat anyone else the way this person is treating me right now.

Maybe now is the time to think with the heart and not with the mind. Ask ourselves - "what does my heart say?" It will probably be a very different answer from my mind/ego.

I guess figuring out that it's better to be happy, than right, is probably essential in this process. Even if it involves walking around in an imaginary padded suit.