Being Rich Waterfall

A phrase I heard often before taking one of my most monumental steps of blind faith- when I moved from Toledo, Ohio to Pasadena, California with no job, one suitcase, and a plan to stay only 3 weeks- was  Do it afraid.  Another, perhaps more popular saying on the same note is about courage. Courage is not doing things because we're not  afraid, rather, courage is, despite our fears, doing it anyway. Nelson Mandela said it like this: "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." One reason I set myself a goal to write and post weekly blogs was because it seemed far less intimidating (fearful) to me than writing a book! Writing has always been something I do, but not always something I share. Even after getting a degree in "Creative Writing," I had lots of fears to creatively write anything for a public audience! But, as I approached a very defining an...

I considered titling this entry "Expectations Part II" as a follow up from my last post about  Expectations . Whatever your expectations are for the future, here's a little message I've been pondering about my own: I don't know too many people who don't  like their birthday. I just had my 31st, hence, one reason for a delay in writing and posting this week. In my life, birthdays really do keep getting better and better! I was reflecting on how sad I feel when I hear people complain about getting older or connect their number of years to a degrading quality of life. It's true that as we get older, our bodies certainly change and even, possibly, our health may decline; our energy is definitely not the same as a child's, but our capacity and wisdom will grow year by year. If we allow, our compassion expands, our love endures, and our opportunities for loyalty and faithfulness grow and develop as well. Age, in my opinion, or "aging" is such a won...

This past week, at the start of my ninth month of pregnancy, I took my first prenatal class. It was a free, virtual session offered by my provider, where a counselor at a Postpartum Mood Disorder clinic discussed postpartum expectations, including information on different mood disorders like PPD (depression) anxiety, PTSD, etc. While I agree that it is important to be educated about mood disorders, along with their appearance in a woman's postnatal season, I don't agree that these disorders are the norm, or even that they should be mentioned as "to be expected". It's definitely important to know what symptoms and feelings to look for after giving birth, and if they escalate, when to reach out for support and help. Unfortunately, this class was taught with an underlying tone to expect these mood disorders, and it was possibly one of the most depressing lectures I ever attended!  When talking about what to expect when leaving the hospital with a newborn, the instru...