Take Back Your Life!

The other night, Jimmy and I decided to watch a movie. He flipped through the choices stopping on The Adjustment Bureau (TAB) starring Matt Damon. At first I said, “No way am I watching another film where Matt Damon plays a buff but emotionless character, (usually some kind of assassin or hero), or a character without emotion.

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Hello readers,

As the holiday to give thanks approaches, it reminds me how fortunate my life has been and how difficult others’ lives have been. I wonder why does it have to be that way? Why can’t we all live fortunate lives?

I’ve been distressed about the young women and children forced into sex slavery. Big subjects speak to me. I don’t care about some jacket going on sale at The Mall, I care about humans made to do horrible things against their will. It’s a growing, very profitable “industry.”

It took me a good year of reading books, watching movies, reading articles, but I finally had my newspaper column published, The Sex Slave Next Door. Please consider checking it out. Some folks won’t read it because they say it’s too hard to read. (more…)

Over the weekend, a murder happened in the small town I grew up. Allegedly, a young man referred to as a star athlete (football/track) slashed/strangled his ex-girlfriend’s throat most likely in his parents’ garage. They’d dated for three years before she broke up with him a few months back. Reports suggest he’d become withdrawn and angry post breakup. Yet, she remained friends with him and agreed to meet him after work. Perhaps, she wanted to keep the peace. Perhaps, she didn’t sense the impending danger. Perhaps she never believed he’d hurt her. (more…)

Hey friends,

I first became aware of mountain top removal in Appalachia a few years ago. But I didn’t give it much thought. Hey, that’s down in Appalachia. That’s their problem. They can fight for themselves. I’m working hard to save the beauty in my own backyard.

A documentary I watched in December called “Burning the Future: Coal in America,” helped me see that I was wrong.

It’s all my backyard and yours, too.

We’re in this “thing” called life together and the sooner we realize that, the sooner it may dawn on us that Earth is Heaven and we’ve been turning it into hell by not speaking up. (more…)

Hey thinking ones,

I used to watch tons of TV in my twenties. Somehow I got involved in the usually miserable lives of the folks in the sitcoms and dramacoms and mini-series — to the point where I wasn’t involved in my own life. I’d refuse to go out on certain nights to ensure I didn’t miss an episode. I swear my brain started to get numb. If you recall the movie Repo Man, Otto’s parents sit like automatons in front of the TV set whenever the camera pans into the home. Not convinced it’s a stereotype anymore.  (more…)

Hey feisty folks,

I’ll get right to the point.

NOTHING IS WRONG WITH YOU.

Yes, that’s right. We come into this world genuine and adventurous and loving. Those qualities get hidden under cloaks of “must do isms.” At first others put these cloaks on us, then we willingly put them on ourselves long after the cloak-putter-onners no longer have the power to do so. Sometimes the cloaks get so heavy people collapse under the burden of trying to wear them, suffocated by the weight. You’ve seen these folks or, perhaps, even been one yourself, crawling through life, feeling unbelievably heavy. (more…)

Hey rebellious ones!

It’s perseverance.

When I set my sights on something, I take a personal vow not to give up. 99% of the time, whatever I want to happen does indeed happen. But only because I didn’t give up. I didn’t give in to that human tendency to “run back to mommy” at the slightest bump in the road.

It wasn’t always that way. I used to throw up my hands in fake disgust and give up really easily. I gave up jobs and boyfriends and hobbies. I gave up living my best life. Looking back I can see that either I didn’t really want those things or I didn’t really want to fight for those things because I could have had them with a bit more determination and grit. True grit, that is. (more…)

Dear great thinkers,

Am I crazy or are more and more of us experiencing distraction overload?

About five years ago, I was in a Whole Foods parking lot unloading my groceries. Then my mind started to drift. When I “came to” my cart with a few bags still in it had rolled down the slight grade into the hands of a twenty something young man who caught it before, presumably, it dented his car.

I have never forgotten what he said as he returned the cart to me, “You weren’t in the moment.”

Until he said that, I’d never given any thought to being in the moment. Now, I’m aware how easily we can be distracted and the consequences it has for our safety, for our emotional health, for the direction of our government and for the quality of our lives. (more…)

Hi fellow wishcasters and other adventurous folks!

I wish for you to see your life not as a chore or something to get through, but rather as an Alice In Wonderland type of adventure.

Will you wake up and feel like you fell down a rabbit hole? Yes. Will strange things happen to you? Yes. Will you meet strange people? Yes. Will you be strange? Yes. Will any of it make sense? Probably not.

Yet, that’s the real beauty of our precious lives. They are not meant to be controlled, to be figured out, to be made 100% safe. They are meant to be wild and crazy journeys where anything can happen because it’s all unscripted.

Forget following other people’s scripts. They have no right to tell you how to live your journey at the bottom of the rabbit hole because there is no right, there is only what is. Remember these folks don’t know any more than you do. It’s all posturing. You know more about you and your life than anyone. Please don’t forget that when they bust into your life screaming and madly waiving their script, accusing you of not following it!

I can almost guarantee that if you start to look at your life as an adventure that you own, you will wake up every morning feeling braver and more powerful!

Muse thx,

Giulietta

Hey Awesome Folks,

About ten years ago, I tapped into my ability to see what’s awesome about a person. Something the person often can’t see in his or her self. It’s this inability to see our own awesomeness that holds us back from living an amazing life.

If we let it, life can beat us up and beat us down. When that happens you’re more likely to accept what you believe is fate – a life of mind and soul-numbing mediocrity. I’m sure you see it all the time. People at work, people on the subway, people at parties all exhibiting an overall lack of enthusiasm for life.

I’m here to tell you that you can get back your childhood enthusiasm and zest for life.

Yes, you are awesome!

Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. Institutions and people treat you like you’re mediocre to keep you from breaking out of your cage because they erroneously believe that people are better off in cages.

Much of the emotional pain and suffering in the world happens because people do not understand that they have the power to leave their cages any time they want. No one can keep us in there. Way too many people only figure this out on their deathbed. I’m guessing you don’t want to wait until it’s too late or you wouldn’t be reading this.

We all have something magnificent about us, something that will make the world a better place and make our own lives worth living with gusto. Our life challenge is to figure out what it is and release it to the world.

Here’s a baby step you can take towards finding your life challenge. Make a list right now of 5 things you do well and that you love to do. How often do you do them?

I’d love to hear one awesome thing about you. Please tell the world by writing it below!

Muse thx,
Giulieta