“Safety is something that happens between your ears, not something you hold in your hands.” ~ Jeff Coop
The view from the deck of our temporary home in Mexico.
Do you spend a lot of time worrying about safety? The reason I ask is because that question has popped up a number of times since we decided to spend a month in Mexico. The location where we have landed is about 40 miles south of San Diego and a few miles south of Rosarito on the Baja coast. We have visited this area for the last 25 years on and off, have friends who live here full time, and have never once had an “incident” that would make us consider it unsafe. Yet, without a doubt, the first thing that anyone asks when we tell them where we are going is—“Is it safe?” [Read more…]
Even as a child I was an excellent planner. I saved my allowance and babysitting money and planned trips and purchases, while my sisters impulsively squandered their capitol. As I grew, I perfected planning to a fine art, constantly gathering information, making lists, and then working it out in my head, long before any eventuality arose. I never considered the possibility that there might be another way. From my perspective the world was made up of good planners and bad planners and I knew what side of the spectrum I belonged. That was until I discovered that there is something beyond planning. Rather than a question of either/or—this other alternative transcends the need and replaces it with intentionality, heightened awareness and an interconnected whole. 
Don’t think you have worthiness issues? Never struggle with feeling good enough? That’s impossible according to author and speaker Brene Brown. Over the weekend I came across this woman’s work and it got me thinking a lot about how even the most confident among us still struggles with feelings of vulnerability. According to Brown, the only ones of us who don’t feel at least a little vulnerable are sociopaths without the capacity for empathy. In fact, Brown believes that, “Vulnerability is our most accurate measurement of courage.” So what do you do when you aren’t feeling good enough or worthy of love, happiness and success in your life? Fortunately, Brown offers ten powerful practices that can lead to greater courage, confidence and self-acceptance for each of us.
I haven’t read it—but 70 million other people have. Advertised as an erotic romance, Fifty Shades of Grey is currently the fastest selling paperback book of all time surpassing the Harry Potter series in sales. As a woman and a writer, the success and attention of this story has got my interest, even if the subject matter is beyond my usual genre. That, and a recent conversation with a girlfriend got me asking myself why so many of us crave passion and excitement in our lives—and then how we sometimes go about finding it. Believe it or not, I’m now convinced that this book’s success is another indication of why we sometimes over-consume, over-eat, and even why we over-complicate our lives in so many ways. 
I don’t often quote the Bible on this blog but the phrase “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s…” just seems appropriate this time of year. If you, like Thom and I, are self-employed then this is the time of year when we gather together our income and expenses and prepare to do some rendering. And while it is definitely not my favorite experience of year, it serves to remind me that we have a choice in how we view things (yes—even taxes!) So here are a few thoughts on paying taxes and on other things that we might as well render while we are at it. 