The Best Holiday Season Advice Ever...

Plans change.  

People disappoint.  

Traditions expire.

Release your expectations of the holidays and be open to surprise.

                                                                                                         (Author:  Coach Cheryl Richardson)

Why You Will Never Catch Me Signing Up for Facebook

Few things interest me less than the social media trends of things like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.

I have a hard enough time keeping up with what's going on in my own life and work; I have no capacity to deal with being simultaneously inundated with the minutiae (be it happy, sad, important or trivial) of what is going on in a multitude of other peoples' lives; especially via impersonal broadcast methods.  I just don't see the point (apart from the use of such social media technology to help protestors organize in countries with oppressive regimes where it is hard to freely mass-communicate - that seems like the only good use of these tools).

But it's the (hopefully unintended?) consequences of posts that make Facebook questionable in my mind.  Similar to how e-mails can be misinterpreted, people can read a lot into the meaning behind the frequency, focus, and content of posts and pictures.   All too often, posts and comments can serve to put emotional distance between people, rather than bring them together.  Facebook should come with a warning "Use With Care."  But it doesn't.  And people don't.

Todo bien.
 

A Glorious Winter

We just spent our fifth winter in Mexico; it just keeps getting better and better.  We're so glad to have our little place in the sun.  I have now celebrated five birthdays in a row down here!

We had quite a few visitors over the past four months, and got to share some fun things together, including ringing in 2013; celebrating a milestone birthday on board a sailboat...

...and an amazing day of fun resulting from my winning the grand prize draw at a fundraiser for the local orphanage!  I won a day out on a 26 ft. SeaRay Sundeck luxury power boat that six of us enjoyed together in early March.

A full day of fun on Banderas Bay ensued, including swimming at secluded bays and lunch ashore at the tiny town of Yelapa.

But, it wasn't all just fun-in-the-sun this winter.  I got an amazing opportunity for some advanced coach training that was being held in Washington DC...so we went!  Ordinarily I would go off on training by myself but, when John researched DC and saw what an amazing place it is for tourists, he signed on to come along.

We had a fabulous week there - the training I attended was superlative and has taken me to the next level in coaching.  We did a "Monuments by Moonlight" evening tour together that was fantastic; Washington is a beautiful and inspiring city.  But spring was very late arriving there this year, so we had a taste of winter temperatures...brrrrrrrr!  Our good pal S.R. was right when she predicted "Those suntans won't keep you warm in DC!"

I carried a phone coaching client roster again this winter and that worked out well; I enjoy being able to work from here, and think my clients get a bit of a kick out of their coach being in Mexico.  Every call starts with an enquiry into my weather; I do my best not to rub it in!

So as we pack and prepare to leave paradise for this season...

...I am greatly consoled by the fact we are already booked to come back in December 2013...and do it all over again!  Todo bien (it's all good).

Hasta luego, amigos!

Lucky 13

One last thing to share for closing off 2012...

I've wondered a bit about 2013 - how lucky can the year be that has "13" in it, which means all of us will be thinking, saying and referencing "13" far more than we would at any other time of our lives. Not many people remain who would have been alive in 1913, and almost no one who will be alive in 3013 has been born yet.

Well, something happened to me on New Year's Eve that has me believing 2013 is going to be a great year.  No "triskaidekaphobia" (fear of the number 13) for me.

We dined and rang in the New Year with friends at a beautiful beachfront restaurant on the Bay of Banderas.  Around 9:00 pm, when our antipasto course was about to be served, we noticed a large, brilliant-green grasshopper crawling in our direction along the restaurant deck railing.  It struck me as unusual to see such an insect at that time of night, and I dug in my bag for my camera.  As I was pulling the camera out of its case, the grasshopper leaped from the railing and landed on the table right in front of me, so I was able to get a good shot. (I would insert the photographic proof here, but Blogspot appears to have changed the process for uploading a photo and I cannot figure out how to access/upload my picture).

The grasshopper sat in front of me for quite a while, and my husband commented "That has got to be a lucky sign!"  I looked up the symbolism of the green grasshopper a few days later and was very pleased to find out it is a highly signifcant symbol in many cultures.  It signifies good luck, as well as happiness, health, longevity, wealth, abundance and virtue, among many other positive attributes I would be only too happy to have show up in 2013!  In addition to being seen as a status symbol and sign of nobility, it is also considered to be a harbinger of good news on a large scale - apparently I can expect to receive "profoundly joyful news that will benefit the entire community"!

A green grasshopper signifies fresh starts and new beginnings, growth and adventure.  I can't think of a better time for this critter to show up in my life than on New Year's Eve.  I have already taken its message to heart.

Todo bien.

End of the Mayan Calendar

Well, the world didn't end yesterday; only the Mayan 5,000 year calendar ended.  It was interesting to be in Mexico for the December 21st "doomsday" date - we had a stellar day on the beach!

I started "The Burning Woman" blog in Mexico and this seems like a logical time to end it...and start something completely new.  The end of the Mayan calendar obviously means the end of one epoch and the beginning of  new phase in our existence.

I look forward to my new phase!  Adios amigos...I may post something here from time-to-time, if and when I have something to say that I want to share with those of you who know this site.  Otherwise, I will be off this radar and exploring new territory.

Todo bien.  (It's all good).

A Reunion

I had a best friend who lived across the street back in the mid-to-late 60's in Vancouver. I lost touch with her when our family moved to the other side of the country.  We were only 9 years old at the time and I remember being really sad for a long time and missing her terribly.  She was the sweetest girl and we had lots of fun together.

I wondered about her a lot over the years - how she was, where she was, what was she doing...had life been good to her?  I certainly hoped  so.

I assumed she had likely married and changed her last name so, even with the advent of the internet and Google search, it didn't occur to me to check the web.  I mean, I myself had been married and changed my last name twice...I just thought it was a lost cause.

 

Then, one day I saw her name (she had kept her last name) and grown-up face on a highway billboard (she was running for political office), and we got in touch by e-mail.  She was as thrilled as I was to reconnect.  She'd wondered about me over the years as well.  We were amazed we had both wound up living in the same city.

 

We finally got together in person over dinner last evening, and caught up on the last 44 years (88 years of life in total between the two of us!). We got a comfy booth and settled in for some serious talking.

 

She's an amazing, brilliant, accomplished person who's lived an incredible life full of achievement, contribution and international recognition.  I am quite in awe of her, and so honoured and excited that we're going to stay in touch.  We do have a lot of life experience in common, share similar views, and I feel we still have our friendship bond formed 44 years ago. 

 

I am so glad to have her back in my life, and to no longer wonder and worry about whatever happened to...

 

Todo bien.  (It's all good.)

 

Fingers Crossed Obama Wins

Here is a visual of the USA's debt problem that I photographed from the TV screen when CNN was on (financial reporter Christine Romans).

As you see in the banner title at the bottom of the screen - "Bush-era policies account for the largest chunks of American debt." This is according to the Congressional Budget Office. The Bush Wars (in Iraq and Afghanistan) are represented by the tan and red layers in that graph. The financial crisis (caused by Bush policies and cronies) is the next medium blue layer. Obama's stimulus spending (to try to counter the effects of the mainly Bush-caused financial crisis) is the lighter blue; and, finally, the black layer represents all the accumulated past deficits (Democratic and Republican) to date that combine to make up the rest of the debt. And somehow Republican Romney, is touted by the Tea Party and other neo-conservatives as the future financial and economic saviour to cure America's debt woes? Really? Obama didn't cause any of it; he's simply been trying to clean up from the ravages of everything Romney proposes to return America to. And if Romney wins, wave goodbye to the middle class. (Romney et al will be giving them the financial and social equivalent of the middle finger.) Go Obama, go! Todo bien.