Signs of Hope
They aren’t big or flashy. They are about the size of a bread-box. But they are eye-catching. I’m talking about the signs I noticed in my neighborhood: the first one, a hopeful sighting, the second, an affirmation, and the third, a trend. I was on a Sunday evening...
A Sea of Pussy Hats
The Oakland Woman’s March, 60,000 strong, snaked around Lake Merritt and through the streets of the city on a windswept, mostly dry, Saturday. The mood was celebratory – and defiant – following the inauguration of Donald J. Trump the day before. Pink, rose, and...
Travels with Mohammed, a postcript
When I began the Travels with Mohammed blog, I called it a "blovy," a combination blog and love story. As our journey began, we were over the moon with excitement, our itinerary a list of beautiful adventures free of the constraints of reality. If you...
Retirement and the loss of identity
Work has always been a refuge for me. It signified perhaps more than it should have - that I was valued, worthwhile, accomplished. Like many Baby Boomer women, when I first began working in the early 1970s it was still unusual for women to have careers outside of...
An Unexpected Gift
by September Vaudrey My guest on "That's the Way Life Lives," September Vaudrey, is a warm, engaging writer. We first met through social media and this blog. After several years of "virtual friendship," I met September last May while doing a reading in Chicago. Our...
An Upward Spiral
My daughter died 24 years ago on April 6,1992. While more than two decades have passed, the impact of Maya's short life continues. Grieving for Maya invited me to mature spiritually and emotionally, and to reach a new understanding of the meaning of love. Love, in my...
It’s a brave new – digital – world for authors
Many writers are excited about publishing and promoting their work online. So many options, so little time. It can seem overwhelming. So when fellow Dream of Things author Madeline Sharples asked me to join her on a panel at the Greater Los Angeles Writers Conference,...
Letting go
As we greet 2016, I'm celebrating a clean slate - emotionally, physically, financially, and spiritually. The past year was a parade (some might say a circus!) of "let goes" which brought an avalanche of good into my life. If only it was easy. But part of the value of...
A Spirited Woman
Nancy Mills loves to connect and empower women. A dynamo with seemingly boundless energy, she recently called me before breakfast to be sure that the links I'd submitted for the 2016 Spirited Woman Directory were working properly. Nancy is both a visionary and a...
Eleven: eleven
Some people have lucky numbers. Others, unlucky ones. I have a sacred number: 11:11 in the morning, the hour and minute of my daughter Maya's birth. When 11:11 popped up on my iPhone screen this morning, I thought, "Aha, beloved girl. There you are, waking me up...
