Personal renaissance: new year, new outlook, new book!!

What a journey!

Last year I had a lot on my mind, as most people do at the start of a new year. Never could I have imagined what actually happened.

A Global Pandemic…something I never contemplated writing about in any form.

I don’t like scary movies. I never have. So, to actually be in one was a rather out of body experience.  I have to imagine most people could relate to this thought. I remember when the world switched for me, and this time became real, not just a story in the news about a virus on another continent. 

 My husband and I had just come back from dinner with friends in early March, and we turned on the television to catch up on sports. That was the evening the NBA shut down for the foreseeable future. The first Covid positive player had been discovered. I remember watching the news and trying to process what was happening…the beginning of shutting down our country.

 Each day brought new unsettling information. Each day I tried to figure out what was actually evolving and what would be next. I was in Illinois at the time, we were in the process of selling and closing on our home. Businesses began to close. We tried to figure out if we could move, and how we would complete that process. It was a nightmare. The buyers called us as we were putting our last items in storage, and said they needed to postpone, and rethink. They were scared about taking on the financial risk… So, we worked with them, and devised a strategy to delay. Thus began the long waiting game. And what a waiting game it’s been.

Today, I see glimmers, which are turning into flashes, which are becoming beacons of hope. We know so much more. Thanks to science we have a vaccine that will enable the world to find it’s new normal. Living with this pathogen, but having a tool to defer it’s ability to wreak havoc on people, societies and economics. It’s come at a great price… over 2,000,000 deaths. Yet I see the tide beginning to turn. I have hope.

Renaissance.

I looked up the meaning of the word itself, not just the historical time frame which it is known for:

“A movement or period of vigorous artistic and intellectual activity.”

 “REBIRTH, REVIVAL”

That’s where I am today, January 26th, 2021. I am in my own personal Renaissance. After this year, which I have survived, along with my family, I am grateful and energized and hopeful.

So what’s next? I am pivoting, redirecting, rethinking, redesigning my life. This is a time of options and choices, a time of ripping the bandaids off. Looking forward, while remembering what we have all just come through.

Part of this redirecting is turning my attention to my new book, published by Vinal. It will be coming out later this year. I can’t wait to share it with you! The Right Monster for Reese is a story about how shifting from boredom to possibility using the imagination.

My new motto is, “Why Not?” What a thrilling time to be alive!

Until next time,

Pam

What can we do to create a better world for our children?

Hi All,

As I sit here, 4 days out from one of the most important elections in history…. I believe this to be a time of change, and I have both faith and hope that the people of this country will loudly declare their intent to end this phase of soulless disregard for decency and integrity.

If you have not voted yet, I urge you to examine your soul and look towards not your future, but the future of the children of this nation, and the world. We as adults have the responsibility to lead and to leave our world a better place for them.

Please, take a minute to think about what our children need…

Children need to be loved, to be honored, to be secure that the adults in their lives will protect them and provide a better world for them than the one we were given.

Let’s use our power of a collective nation to do this for our children.

Until next time,

Pam

In the land of ???????

Hi all!

In the land of crazy… which is where we all live… how are you doing?

Last week I wrote about what my thoughts were about what one person can do…

Now… I just think we all have to acknowledge that we live in and are living in a time that is unprecedented for most of the world population unless you are 102 years old.

There are days when I am seemingly fine… then I think about the simplest thing I used to do, and realize that most of what we all considered normal parts of our daily routine, are altered … in almost every situation.

I find myself dreaming of “when”…. when can we return to a new sense of normal, without the numerous steps and safety measures that are now recommended as part of every day life.

I was thinking the other day, about how the simplest tasks we all used to do, now have caveats attached… just going to the grocery store, gathering supplies, even thinking about dinner!

As we enter into Autumn and the weather gets colder in many places… will life once again get even harder???

How is your mental health? Mine, is ok for now, with bouts of crazy…. I find myself longing for the chance to not even having to think about going out to dinner… to visiting people openly… to enjoying a night out with my family and friends… to actually going to a wedding, or party!

But, until that time happens remember this:

BE GOOD TO YOURSELF AND ALL OF THOSE WHOM YOU LOVE

That can help make our time in the land of ????? more tenable….

Until next time,

Pam

WHAT CAN ONE PERSON DO?

Hello all!

If you’re like me, there are many days where I ask myself this question.

What CAN one person do?

I will not try to sound like I have all the answers, because I don’t… but I can speak from my personal perspective and experiences.

2020 has been quite a year to this point… one that I am sure, no one truly had anticipated. I know that at the beginning of this year, I was so exceedingly hopeful… then… reality crashed in.

I have spent days, and even weeks, in moments of despair. I caught myself seeking information constantly, I wanted some sort of clear path out of this. I looked for leadership… and honestly, hoped for a “quick fix”.

It was unfathomable to me, that in the year 2020 we would not have technology, pharma, science to solve for X…. the equation we needed to get out of this Covid mess.

As I sit here now, the 7th day of October, i am of a different mindset.

Somehow, regardless of X not yet being solved, I am able to see progress.

Science, pharma, technology, intellect are coming together to help us, as a collective world, find our way through this, and hopefully soon, to the other side.

There’s a company who’s slogan I have heard and I like it: Build Back Better….

This could turn out to be a true gift to humanity… I am saddened by the level of discrepancy and suffering… and no matter what anyone would like to say otherwise… it truly is divided on economics, race and country. Just study the information, and you can’t talk yourself out of that…..

So, what can ONE person do?

I have decided to continue to hunt for information, to stay informed, to pivot and see what I change in myself.

I have decided to contribute to a variety of causes, on the level of affordability for myself and my husband… this I think is what every PERSON can do.

By doing something, by trying, by engaging in lives other than just mine, I know that makes a difference.

What to DO? … decide how you can help…. how that looks for you. It doesn’t have to be anything more than even a smile, or kind word, or awareness and acknowledgement of the possibility, that you helped someone.

Let’s all stick together and work for the benefit of all….not just ourselves.

Step out of your world, and try to help someone else.

Until next time,

Pam

Musings from a person who is trying... :)

First, I have to say, that I am still trying… I wrote this post, and then pushed a button to delete one word… and the whole piece deleted!!!!

So, here I am trying again! Round two:

Hello all!

It’s Labor Day weekend, the unofficial end of summer… and the beginning of a new season, even though Fall does not officially begin for a few more weeks.

How are you? How are you doing?

How is:

Your sanity?

Your health?

Your family?

Your job?

Your financial health?

I know that on any given day, I am working on managing all of the above, and trying…. that’s the word of the day, to do it to the best of my ability… which varies, given the day!

I would imagine that is not unique to me…

Did you every think you’d be in this situation you are in now? Did you even think about it… even consider it?

I didn’t….. I have thought about a lot of different things to worry about in life …that I can do pretty well all on my own without the help of a germ I can’t see!

At the beginning of all of this I was anxious, fearful, worried, unsure of what to do….I am assuming those feelings are not out of the range of what many, many people felt.

But…. now, isn’t it interesting how people are feeling and responding and figuring things out?

I am not going to politicize this piece…. I am however, going to say that the variety of ways people are responding to this, is interesting.

Through it all, it is interesting how we can adapt…

Maybe that’s one of the best qualities of us humans…. we … can…adapt!

I know that I am trying every day, some days with better success than others, to find my way through this process until we get to the other side. One thing I do know, is that we will get to the other side of this….I am hopeful that it is sooner rather than later… and that alllllll those people trying to get the right medicines and protocols, are succeeding in their work!

So, I say Kudos to us this Labor Day weekend… we have learned A LOT!

Let’s keep trying, all of us until we get to the other side of this… let’s use this time to learn, evolve and try!

What’s the motto heard throughout childhood????

Try, Try Try again…

Let’s keep trying, all of us, and we will get to the other side of this!

Have a great weekend!

Until next time,

Pam

We have to change our collective thinking...

Hi all,

Our world has changed…. just like that we are in the movie set of The Contagion… or any number of films like that.

So… the question is not when will this end…or how it will end…BUT WHAT WE WILL DO… AS COLLECTIVE TO CAUSE THAT!

During these many weeks now… and I am sure most of you will acknowledge that although it is just weeks… it feels like a whole pardagim shift… days … weeks… months that to many feel far longer than that.

I read an article yesterday that asked can you remember what you did the day the world shifted??? To me, that was March 10. The day the NBA acknowledged a player tested positive… that the whole league was going to cancel it’s season… the days that came after that felt like a Tsunami washing over us all.

I like to make meaning out of events, I like to problem solve and look for solutions… yet as this all began to roll itself out… I could not find the answers I was looking for.

I found a lot of sites that provided information… that shared statistics… that hypothesized about what/ when/how… yet none had THE answer.

And as time has passed, and facts have been observed, and discovered, and as more data becomes available… it appears to me that the only way out of this is to go through it, and to decide how we do that as a collective. A collective of all peoples… everywhere.

During this time, I have taken to watching Governor Cuomo’s news conference each day. At first, I watched because our oldest daughter and her family live and work in NYC… and needless to say, I was exceedingly concerned for her family… physically, emotionally, and fiscally. She and her husband are both business owners in food. She has a cheese business, and her husband has a rare breed meat business. They lost 80% of their business as soon as restaurants and bars were told to close.

Each day I watched to learn and be informed. Governor Cuomo leads with facts… he makes me laugh when he refers to the analogies he uses and his 20 something daughters tell him no one will get it… but “just the facts”, everyone gets that even if you don’t know who Joe Friday is.

Today, he talked about what NYC and it’s many coordinating departments will do to keep the subway and public transportation clean for essential workers. As we all know, we need them to keep going to work, not just in NYC, but everywhere. They are essential, because without hospitals, food, gas, police, EMT’s etc, our society could not function.

So, in listening to his plan today, it made me realize that the only way we all get to a new normal… as he says “build back better” is to work together as a collective. No one has even undertaken cleaning the subway system, along with the bus and transportation sector every 24 hours… BUT THEY ARE GOING TO DO IT!

We can not accept “NO” as any answer. We have to all shift… look to thinking outside the box.

The way we all get through this is to seek “HOW” and look towards that as the only acceptable answer to any question asked.

We can not as a nation and a world collective accept anything less.

COME ON PEOPLE…. LET’S FIGURE OUT HOW!

Until next time,

Pam

Where do we go? What can we do? How do we get out of this????

Hi all,

I am sure like everyone of you, that at times you’re going a bit batty.

I never watched any of the scary movies about contagions and what happens… I feel like being scared is not something I would welcome! Actually, given the type of person I am, I actively seek ways not to be scared.

However, right now, that can be a bit of a task.

Prudence, not panic, is a phrase I like to use… (yet I am finding that challenging on any given day….)

With Covid 19 … well I think that’s a plan that will get us out of this.

I am not ANY sort of expert. I do spend a bit of each of my day now, trying to look at the latest updates, and also have a done a variety of research on sites that are purely numerical… modeling, I guess, is the right word.

As we get further into this, and start to see the actualities and facts of the science associated with this new virus, we will have a better picture of what we need to do and how we will find our way out.

I have learned through what I have been researching, that the predictability of this can’t be pinpointed… but there is a range that can be seen from areas that have been in this further.

I don’t know about all of you, but I need some sort of hope. I need some fact based best of what I should be and could be thinking.

I was thinking about trying to provide a series of ideas here as an assist through this process. BUT… I actually can just provide my own opinion and share information that I have found.

So, to that end… here are some sites that have provided facts with numbers and modeling that I have found useful.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

http://www.healthdata.org/

https://www.kinsahealth.co/

I am an information freak… especially in times when I feel like I truly have no control, or very little control over a situation.

So…. hang in there. And if this information can help you, like it helps me, I am glad.

Until next time,

Pam

What to do?

Hi All,

I haven’t written for a while… that thing called LIFE has gotten in the way.

We personally have a lot of stuff going on, but then again who doesn’t?

All 3 of our kids are now full fledged grown ups… so although I thought life would get simpler when your kids are grown, the answer is… IT DOES NOT!

When our kids were little we were all busy in one way… that type of busy is usually more physical than when your kids are grown… until they have kids of their own, your wonderful grands! Then you get physically busy again, and hopefully you’ve given yourself the chance to stay in shape … so you can do all that physical stuff!

I am trying now to figure out what to do.

I bet a lot of you are too.

With all that’s going on in the world, I think trying to figure out what to do takes up a lot of time!

First, I have been trying to figure out how to get all the stuff in our house organized… and there’s a lot of stuff… 25 years full of stuff, as we are selling our home to a wonderful new family…

Second, I am trying to figure out how to take my authorship to a new level, as I have been offered a traditional publishing contract from a small start up company…

Third, I am trying to figure out where to go, after we close on our home…

Fourth, I am trying to figure out exactly what stuff I need to take with us, and what I don’t

Fifth… in the midst of all this is this new virus…. WHAT TO DO????

Sixth… and then there’s the election … WHAT TO DO??? I think I have this one figured out, at least for myself.

I guess the bottom line here, is that as I go through this wonderful journey called life, the question of what to do is always present.

So, while we are all deciding what to do, let’s also decide to enjoy the ride, and remember to take time for life…

After all, in all the doing we do, we don’t want to forget to do the things we love best!

Until next time,

Pam

Be the right teacher....

I was just looking through some older blog posts that I wrote.

One jumped out at me…

The idea of bullying. And… more importantly how to address it.

My post was about kids bullying kids… but what about adults bullying kids? What do we do about that? How do we empower our children to know what to do and to care for themselves?

It’s hard when you’re a child. The intrinsic design of being a child, means you don’t have any power… ok, when you’re a baby you might because your needs often dictate the house schedule. :)

But… after that, and especially once kids are in elementary school, they encounter and interact with a lot of adults.

Now, there’s a line I know between disrespect and empowerment. However, how does that line of disrespect look for adults as well… adults disrespecting kids?

We all know adults like this, unfortunately. The type who are adult bullies.

I was thinking a lot about this. What are some tips, some words, some actions we can give to our children?

I am thinking we all need to have more conversations with our kids, and the kids in our lives, about just that.

Strategies… actions and words that they can use. And the most important thing, a trusted adult that they can count on NO MATTER WHAT!

Beyond the regular things we teach our kids… we also need to teach them how to know when they are not being respected by the adults in their lives. Kids… they deserve our best efforts.

I know none of us are perfect, but we need to be the people our children can trust to help them understand how to care for themselves well, and they are valuable.

Take the time to have a conversation, and please model the behaviors you want the children in your life to emulate.

Until next time,

Pam

Learning and flow...

Hi All,

I am listening to a webinar right now while I write this…

And.. I have just learned two new things:

I am continually trying to multi-task which is not necessarily a good thing, and that my technical skills still need help.

I thought I was being all cool and would write this while I listened, but the webinar stopped… maybe that was me?? Who knows, I thought I could do both..

Oh well…

What I am really thinking about is that learning and flow… the idea of trying on new roles, and new tasks is truly important to each of us. Throughout every life stage, learning I think keeps us involved and motivated. I am inspired and excited when I learn new things!

Sometimes the learning is relatively easy, and sometime its a lot more challenging!

I don’t know about all of you, but sometimes when I think “I’ve got this” … it might not actually be true, except in my own mind! BUT… that’s ok with me, because if I think I can, I usually do!

As I am continuing on this author journey of mine, I find there are moments and times of great energy… lots of creativity and exciting flow!

Then, there are the opposite times…

I have to think that each person who’s trying to create, or make something, has these moments. I watch all of my family… and yes, I think they are pretty spectacular… and that’s ok for me to say! If I don’t think they’re spectacular… well, that’s sad! :) Moms , you understand.

My family is of a creative and entrepreneurial nature. Not one of them works in what could be considered a traditional setting.

We have cheesemongers, consultants and creators of new ways and programs for schools to work better… filmmakers, cameramen, beer makers, technology leaders in livestock feed, , creative studios… well… as you can see no one is working at an office!

I guess when I am talking about all of this, it’s to say that each of us has the opportunity to continue to learn, change our flow, decided how we want to enjoy and design this part of of lives.

I just think that learning, changing your flow, trying new things is so valuable to not only the quality of your life, but the quantity of your life!

So… be BOLD… try new stuff…

If it doesn’t work out, try something else.

I had to do that just now, I was humbled by the fact that I COULD NOT do both the webinar and write at the same time…

Oh well…. I wanted to write a Blog post today!

Until next time,

Pam