I had the good fortune to grow up in a neighborhood with true diversity where there was no saturation of one type of people. Without a predominate group to which we needed to assimilate, I was allowed and encouraged to be who I wanted to be. My mom is pretty laid back and is one of the most accepting people I’ve ever known.  She gave me the gift of “let go” and trust. My dad was a rebel in spirit.  He told me things that allowed me to not feel like I had to conform to any expectation that I didn’t place on myself.  A Bon Mot of his was, “Piss on whoever made you feel like that’s what you HAVE to do!” and “Be bold about it!” Both have encouraged me to travel and read. Each shared the Bon Mot of “Get lost!” So I did. I got lost in books and I got lost in other countries. My first journey was to another world in the book “Wizard of Oz.”

Reading and traveling has left me with an understanding that I have no control over how other people’s story should end and positioned me in life as an observant visitor. I’ve learned to accept everything and cling to nothing. Accepting people for who they are and not needing them to be different to please me is my repeated lesson. When I am not accepted and asked to conform, I boldly rebel. It’s created a mind that challenged teachers, preachers, my parents and myself.  It’s created a space for my mind to be open and ask questions. I’ve followed the yellow brick road and found that it’s shaped in a circle.  You go out so that you may come back with experience, new appreciation and a greater knowing of you!  Being lost on the yellow brick road (walking through the uncertainties of life trusting the guide intuition), has taught me a few things.

My greatest and hardest lesson was to love all those contrasting experiences like loss and heartbreak as they are powerful opportunities to experience the deliciousness of life. Those times are temporary and the opposite ends of loss and heartbreak are the experiences of Connection and Love which are so much deeper and more profound after contrast. Imagine being a lover who has been without sex for a long time then finally making love to the best lover you’ve ever had!  Imagine having to go to the bathroom and being stuck in traffic. Then imagine getting home and the sweet release. The “Ahhh… finally” feeling is a great moment! It’s like coming home. The truth is we are love. We come from love. When we are not in a space of love, it hurts like hell. Love is free, calm, peaceful, wild, sexy, exciting, joyous and every wonderful feeling you’ve ever had. Life is kind enough to allow us contrasting opportunities so that we can hurt like hell once in a while. Life has gifted each of us our own yellow brick roads (intuition) to lead us away from hell to come back home to our true selves…Love.  Go out and get lost! Don’t be afraid of the hurt. Trust. Let go of things to which you’ve been clinging.  Be bold about it! I promise that you will come back home renewed and feeling those great moments of Ahhh…finally.

I’d like you to come with me on these journeys through contrasting experiences as well as the wonderful experiences.  Like a tornado, we all get tossed about in life. The damage is always unknown and when you don’t know what to do and your heart is broken, it’s a scary place (scarecrow, tin man and lion).  We are never the same afterwards.  Our journey to get back to the normalcy we once had  is full of constant threats (witches), we get caught up and loose track of where to go and what to do (yellow brick road), but together, we can learn and create something beautiful.  If we’re lucky we can take all of the Bon Mot’s that show up on the way (good witch) and use them as a guide to help each other get to that safe place (home).

“There’s no place like home.” L. Frank Baum- Wizard of Oz.

HELLO ROCHESTER, NY! xoxo