Coming to an Internet Cafe Near You: Furbook

*Sigh* It was bound to happen sooner or later. The attention from Li'l Grey having his own blog, Twitter account, and Facebook page has gotten too much for Bootsy to stand. After dropping several hints recently, wherein all twenty or more pounds of my oldest and largest son crawled up on my lap (top) for a rather pointed cuddle, I have acquiesced to help Boo start his own Facebook page too as a way of launching his writing career and work on his memoirs, The Cat with a Thousand Names. He was, after all, the first of my katz to show a real interest in social media and doing research online, so it's only fair that he get to start down that road too after giving Li'l a head start. Sandy/Dustin/Li'l Grey was my first feline soul mate relationship, so that was definitely fair. However, Bootsy thinks he's given him enough of a lead, and he wants to get started working seriously now that the parade of kittens has stopped.  

Bootsy Trying to Figure Out Fairyland on Facebook

Bootsy Reading His Mom's Facebook Page

Bootsy Branching Out Online

I knew it would come to this eventually, but it seemed that his interest had waned a bit after the staggered arrival of three kittens in this household in the past couple of years. First, in January of 2011, I adopted little brother, Li'l Grey, who took to blogging and writing his memoirs right away. Li'l Grey is also Boo's former older brother, Dustin, as well as my first cat, Sandy. Confused? No worries. All will be explained and re-explained until you can tell who's who and what's what. At least with a few pictorial cue cards. Although he's called Bootsy in this incarnation, he started out in my life as Van Gogh, a name HE changed to Bingo because he did not appreciate his mother's wry sense of humor. Bingo fit his fun-loving, gregarious personality better than the more serious, and somewhat depressing sound of Van Gogh. I have to agree with him, but when you see a photo of Bingo, you'll see where the name arose. It really was logical, if not appreciated by some of the cats in my life.  

Bingo the Stray Cat Who Stayed

Anyway, this evening, after much wrestling over control of the laptop in the living room, Bootsy has announced to me, none too subtly, that he too is starting his own Facebook page. Really? I litterally (snark!) couldn't wrestle control of the keyboard from him until I promised to let him. It's not the I don't want him to, because there's nothing I could be happier about than helping Bootsy to launch his own writing career and social media network, but you parents of teens get it. There are only so many laptops in the house. I do need to use more than one for work because I have to use them unplugged from the wall. Otherwise, the electromagnetic waves get to me. At least one laptop is always in the wall recharging. Perhaps I can just let da boyz have total access and control over Auntie Jan's old Windows XP laptop. It's a little slow, but sheesh! It's not like they don't have seven or eight hours a day to take turns working on it. The rest of the time, they're sleeping. You know how teenage boys are with all the sleeping they do. 

Well, I suppose it's not fair to lump Bootsy in with teenage boys. He's fully grown now, hopefully. If he gets much bigger, I'm going to have to build him a special cat tree. Although he's a bit on the filled-out side, Bootsy isn't fat. He's simply enormous! He's a big boy Maine Coon cat. If you've ever had or seen a Maine Coon cat, then you'll understand. It's more like having a furry small pony. Thank goodness his litter mate sister got some different genes mixed in there because, while she's beautiful and furry, she's only about half his size. My back really appreciates that. I think Bootsy and I are going to need to do some renegotiating into between lifetimes next time around. As I age, I think that it might be a good idea to get slightly smaller models so I can at least pick them up. I can pick him up now, mind you, but we're beginning to push those boundaries seriously. It doesn't help that Boo has the spinal column of a slinky either. If he doesn't want to be picked up, he simply turns himself into a glass of water and pours himself through your fingers. That's the only way I can explain it so you have a prayer of comprehending one of his many unique talents. 

Liquid Bootsy

Anyway, after winning me over last night to his view of things, we started working our way back to the bedroom for the night. By the time I was out of the bathroom and getting into bed to write this blog to introduce Bootsy, he was already ensconced in bed at the top of the cat tree. Even that didn't come without a bit of a tussle for da Boo guy. After having been a fairly easy-going (i.e., pushover) big boy, Bootsy has finally grown a pair (five years post-neutering, no less) and decided to stand up for his rights in the pecking (purring) order in this household. He has been, after all, the "eldest boy" in the house for nearly three years now, but he's such a gentle fellow that he has pretty much let everyone push him around. Last night the pendulum swung way to the other side. 

As I mentioned, he was on the top tier of the cat tree in our bedroom after we'd had our serious discussion about him having his own Facebook page. He was thoroughly settled in for the evening when I came in and started getting situated in bed with the "nighttime laptop." Yes, I do sometimes write from bed. How else do you think I keep up with all these blogs and websites? Anyway, Yeti came in and tried to oust his big pushover cousin, as has been his habit in the past. Much to his surprise, Bootsy didn't budge an inch. I somehow got the impression that the light bulb went off in Boo's head last night that he really is the "BIG GUY" in this house. He might be a heavy weight, but he looks and acts fluffy, adorable, and sweet. I think in his mind all this time, he was still a tiny little guy. Only last night, there was a noticeable paradigm shift, and Yeti, who can be pretty insistent, and who has gotten rather big himself, simply could not move Boo off the cat tree. I had to laugh, despite my shock. Go, Bootsy! I have to say that I like this new, more assertive Bootsy. Given what a lion-hearted small guy he was last time, I have wondered how this much bigger boy turned out to be such a Pollo (his actual rescue kitten name). Now it seems that, although he may have started out somewhat timid, he is now "large and in charge," as his auntie is fond of saying. 

So now there will be two of my katz online starting this week. I asked Anjolie last night if she wanted to join her brothers in their social network circle of literary lions, but she just wanted to head butt me and cuddle. She may reach the point where she wants to write her memoirs about being the ass-kicking stunt double kitten for Anjolina Jolie's character, Lara Croft, tomb raider, but I think there may be some incidents along the pages of her life that she doesn't particularly want to remember right now, just when life has thoroughly calmed down for us. Maybe later if her looks go. Right now, she's still strutting her gorgeous princess stuff and enjoying it. Being a princess is good work if you can get it. However, that doesn't mean that she won't decide to have her own Facebook, or "Furbook," page, as my katz call it, in the near future. We shall see. 

Join the Solution Revolution (Reprinted from SolutionRevolution.com)

Have you ever noticed that in an emergency situation--tornado aftermath, hurricanes, floods, etc.--people don't waste time complaining about the situation? They just get to work to make the situation better to the best of their present ability, and most people who get to work don't limit the help to themselves only. They get to work on behalf of their neighbors too generally, particularly those unable to do the work themselves. We know in these circumstances that complaining will never solve the problems. 

Why do we forget this when it comes to every day issues? Why don't we all try skipping the bitching for a change and go right to problem solving? Do what you can every day to make the world a better place right where you stand. If each of us did that, no matter our abilities or disabilities, the world would be a better place. Let's start today. Find something in your immediate world/environment and make it better. No complaints. No blame. Simply take some kind of action to improve the situation given your present abilities. 

I'd like to see this become a way of life for most of us. Are you up for the challenge? Even if all you do differently is make a point of disposing properly of a piece of litter every day, there would be 365 fewer pieces of litter on this planet every year. If 100 of us did this every day...36,500 few pieces of litter per year. Don't stop there. Get creative about finding ways to leave your world a better place daily. 

I've lived through hurricanes and windstorms of all kinds, and I can tell you that the devastation afterwards is overwhelming to behold. The mess from these storms and any natural disasters don't get cleaned up quickly. It can take months and sometime years of daily effort to make things right again, but over time, the mess is cleaned up and the damage that can be repaired is finally repaired.

There are a lot of problems facing us in this world--pollution, hunger, war, unemployment, homelessness, etc. Looking at the problems can feel overwhelming. No one is asking you to solve all the world's problems. But I am challenging you today to join me in taking the pledge to make at least one positive change a day to help make the world a better place. Start where you are and do the first thing you see that you can conceivably do in the space of a few minutes. Pick up a piece of litter. Plant a tree. Write a letter of support to your senator or protest to the president of a company that makes products that pollute the environment. Get involved. Complaining isn't the solution. Actions are the solution. Start small and right where you're standing today.

Join the Solution Revolution today and make a positive difference every day. 

Beth Mitchum is the author of seven novels, two collections of poetry, one collection of biographical essays, one collection of spiritual essays, and one music CD. She is also the editor and contributing poet in the Sappho's Corner Poetry Series, which now includes: Tulips Touching, Wet Violets, and Roses Read. All of her works are available at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, BethMitchum.com, BookshopWithoutBorders.com, and numerous other online bookstores. They are also available by special order through nearly any independent book store. Go to http://bethmitchum.com for more information or to her author page at Amazon.com. First chapters of her novels and memoirs are available at bethmitchum.com. Beth is also the founder and senior editor for UltraVioletLove Publishing and the many websites run by this entity.

Reason #1298 that I love living in the Seattle area (even though I don't live there any more): You can't out-thank a Seattle-ite. That's one of the first things I noticed when I moved out there in 1993. No matter what you thank them for, they'll find a way to thank you back, over and over again. I shared this one time with a colleague at the Southcenter Waldenbooks where I was working in Seattle at the time. She happened to be a native to the area. Her response? "Thank you for sharing that with me."

I just got off the phone with my credit union out there--BECU. I still have my accounts out there and will have until I die, no doubt. It's the best credit union EVER in my book. I had to giggle by the time I got off the phone b/c of the thank you contest we were having. It was downright funny. They are just so darned nice. I used to get a kick out of my customers in the Seattle area Waldenbooks stores. You could always tell the natives, and the ones who had been there long enough to have been assimilated thoroughly, from the transplants who just refused to get with the friendly and grateful program. The Seattle-ites would keep thanking you until you were both pretty well exhausted.

The politeness went beyond thanking too. Jean Godden, a longtime Seattle Times writer wrote about the politeness level of Seattle folks. She mentioned the 4-way stop phenomenon where you could just about pass out from all the politeness. "You go." "Oh no, you first." It was simply hell if four cars with Seattle drivers got there at the same time. It could take an hour for someone to proceed through the intersection. At least that's how it was when I first got there. By the time I moved away, things had shifted somewhat with all the folks moving there from other places. Some simply didn't assimilate well.

Opening doors for other people was pretty hysterical too sometimes. Men used to look at me askance when I opened doors for them in North Carolina, but they didn't feel at all threatened by such behavior in Seattle. It was simply the norm. If you got there first, you opened the door, not only for your companions, but for whoever else came along while you were standing there with your hand on the door. Then sometimes the door person would switch to someone else who noticed that you'd been there awhile. Usually there ensued a few moments of friendly banter during the changing of the guard. I love that kind of polite friendliness. I loved it even more that I fit right in there in a way I never did in Florida or North Carolina. Florida is getting much friendlier though, for which I'm, you guessed it, thankful.

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Beth Mitchum is the author of seven novels, two collections of poetry, one collection of biographical essays, one collection of spiritual essays, and one music CD. She is also the editor and contributing poet in the Sappho's Corner Poetry Series, which now includes: Tulips Touching, Wet Violets, and Roses Read. All of her works are available at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, BethMitchum.com, BookshopWithoutBorders.com, and numerous other online bookstores. They are also available by special order through nearly any independent book store. Go to http://bethmitchum.com for more information or to her author page at Amazon.com. First chapters of her novels and memoirs are available at bethmitchum.com. Beth is also the founder and senior editor for UltraVioletLove Publishing and the many websites run by this entity.

(Reprinted from my Facebook note from 4 March 2009)


I love this Navajo prayer. Years ago, I used to chant it while I walked for exercise. It turned my fitness walk into a meditation walk. I think I should start doing it again. There are variations on it, but I particularly like this version. 

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In Beauty may you walk.
All day long may you walk.
Through the returning seasons may you walk.
On the trail marked with pollen may you walk.
With grasshoppers about your feet may you walk.
With dew about your feet may you walk.

With Beauty may you walk.
With Beauty before you, may you walk.
With Beauty behind you, may you walk.
With Beauty above you, may you walk.
With Beauty below you, may you walk.
With Beauty all around you, may you walk.

In old age wandering on a trail of Beauty,
lively, may you walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of Beauty,
living again, may you walk.
It is finished in Beauty.
It is finished in Beauty

.

Mitchum is the author of six novels, one collection of poetry, one collection of biographical essays, and one music CD. Her works are available at Amazon.com through the following link: http://tinyurl.com/bethmitchumbooks

Ruby Beach in Washington State

Another Lego Refugee Washes Ashore

While I've been doing time, er, sorry, while I've been spending time in Florida with my friends and family here, an intriguing thing has happened. An 8' tall Lego man washed ashore on Siesta Key (Sarasota, FL). While that in itself is a pretty funny sight to behold, what has piqued my interest is the enigmatic message on his chest. "No real than you are." There is too much of the editor in me not to fill in the word that was left out. Should it not read, "No (more) real than you are?" That in itself is quite a statement, given that said Lego man is made of fiberglass. Although a brand new Legoland theme park has just opened up nearby in Winter Haven, on the grounds of the former Cypress Gardens, the park claims that it had nothing to do with the big Lego float. While it would be a great publicity stunt, I suspect they're telling the truth. If they'd been responsible, I think that it wouldn't have a typo on it, and they'd take responsibility for it and claim the object for the park.  Why not? 


Just because they aren't behind the stunt doesn't mean it isn't one. This is not the first of its kind. So far, I've found videos of two other nearly identical figures that have washed ashore. One in 2007 at Zandvoort in Holland and one that washed ashore in the UK at Brighton Beach. That was in 2008. Given that a new park just opened up in Florida a mere ten days before the arrival of the giant Lego man, I had to wonder if the appearance of the other figures coincided with other park openings, but upon further investigation, I discovered that the appearance of giant Lego men didn't start 2007. The park in the UK opened in 1996 and their big guy didn't appear until 2008. While I do think it's a publicity stunt, I don't think the Lego folks are behind it. According to an article in Sarasota, Florida's Herald-Tribune, an artist in the Netherlands, one Ego Leonard (name on the back of the giant Lego dudes), is responsible. They emailed the guy at his website and got a response in first person from Mr. Lego himself. The email reads:


"I am glad I crossed over. Although it was a hell of a swimm," the email said. "Nice weather here and friendly people. I think I am gonna stay here for a while. A local sheriff escorted me to my new home."


Apparently it takes this fellow two ems to "swimm" around the world. That is one hell of a swimm after all. 


What I want to know is, how many more Lego men will show up? The one that landed in Holland had the number 9 on his back. I haven't been able to find the number on the UK man, but since the Florida one had the number 8, I suspect there are more to come unless the great white sharks out there are giving themselves indigestion by biting into these fiberglass babies. Blech! 


If you want to learn more about Lego Man, a.k.a., Ego Leonard, he has his own website (of course he does!).  http://www.egoleonard.nl  And a Facebook page: V=http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001127118502&sk=wall He's also tweeting apparently. https://twitter.com/#!/egoleonard I just signed up to follow his plastic tweets. To read more about the first (known) Lego Man washing ashore, I refer you to: http://www.marketingvox.com/giant-lego-man-washes-ashore-in-holland-032233/ More about the Florida incident can be found at: http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20111025/WIRE/111029721/-1/new?p=1&tc=pg and more about the UK one can be found in many places, but here's one link to get you started: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7702121.stm 


Happy Lego-ing. Thank you, Ego Leonard, for an interesting topic to occupy our idle hands/minds while you promote your art. Very effective marketing trick and nice pun off the Greek word for I (ego), as in I, Leonard, and the word Lego, which makes for an interesting subject for art as well as a statement about the plastic state of the world in general. Well done!


Videos of the Lego Finds:
Holland in 2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=i5ezlcanXaY
UK in 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su9MtRJ-3cY&feature=related
USA (Florida) in 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB8ay2DojAA&feature=share


 Beth Mitchum is the author of six novels, one collection of poetry, one collection of biographical essays, and one music CD. Her works are available at Amazon.com through the following link: http://tinyurl.com/bethmitchumbooks

Finding Balance in a Sea of Raging Hormones

I've heard a lot of women complaining about psychotic mood swings arising from perimenopause. I hope you don't take ten years to figure it out like I did. I lost a lot of valuable time and jeopardized relationships by taking too long to figure out how to return to sanity and hormonal balance. I’m using a homeopathic menopause remedy made by Hylands to smooth out the bumps in my emotional path.  I plan to continue to use it until I am long past menstruation.

http://www.hylands.com/products/menopause.php

If these don't work for you, I implore you to try something else that is natural before you resort to hormone replacement therapy (HRT).  In some cases, HRT might be the only thing that works, but at least make sure you get bio-identical hormones, if you go this route. Some of the stuff out there is made from horse urine. Yes, you heard me right. One of the names it  goes by is Premarin. Not only is this a form of cruelty to horses, but ew! Who wants to ingest horse urine?

http://antiagingguide.com/prempro_horseurine.htm

Homeopathy is a safe, alternative way of approaching wellness. It's been around a very long time. It's not always fast acting, but it does work for a lot of people. I take the menopause remedy every night (3 tablets) before I go to bed and any time I start feeling sad, depressed, weepy, bitchy, etc. I usually need them only once a day, but if I need them more, I know I can take more b/c they operate on infinitesimal dosages. I also use their insomnia remedy for the perimenopausal sleeplessness. I’m sleeping much better. Now if I can only convince my kitz that I need to sleep more than six hours at a time, I’ll be set.  For you younger ladies, this same company has a menstrual remedy (PMS) as well.

http://www.hylands.com/products/pms.php

Women's wisdom about women's needs used to be passed down from generation to generation, with wise woman healers helping women through difficult patches. We got disconnected from this chain of wisdom and are out there being tossed about on the stormy seas of our hormones. I've been taking the menopause remedy for about six months or so, and I'm back to the more gentle, easy-going woman I used to be. If I start feeling too weepy, I take an extra dose of the stuff and maybe some of the Calms Forte formula too until it subsides. The Calms stuff (various formulas of this) usually works really fast on me and has none of the side effects of Zanax or the other things being pushed onto women in times of anxiety.

http://www.hylands.com/products/calms.php

Part of our midlife anxiety arises from the stress in our lives, but most of it is hormonal and needs to be eased back into balance rather than controlled by drugs. You need to control the mood swings in order to deal with the real sources of the anxieties. You may need to make lifestyle changes. You may need the spotlight to focus on the areas of your life that are out of balance. You may need to establish some boundaries or leave relationships, but more than anything, you need to be the one making the decisions about your life. Don't let the medical authorities take over for you. Empower yourself to make whatever decision you need to make by becoming informed. Menopause is not a disease any more than menstruation or pregnancy. Sometimes they get too complicated and you need medical people to intervene. But most of the time, all we need are food, herbs, and gentle alternative remedies (homeopathy, aromatherapy, massage, sound healing, flower essences, etc.) to return our bodies to a more balanced state.

Using synthetic hormones to treat normal and natural hormonal changes is like dropping a boulder on the other side of the scale to balance the weight. You might feel as though you need something that drastic to make the craziness stop, but you really don't, if perimenopause is the only underlying cause. Start experimenting with gentle, natural remedies as soon as you can to ease yourself back to balance.  I’ve been studying women’s health for a couple of decades, so I’m very accustomed to taking charge of my health issues, but by all means, please consult a naturopath, if you’re unaccustomed to taking charge of your own health and don’t trust your research capabilities and resources. Once you find what works, keep doing it until you bid these crazy swings goodbye. Just bear in mind that you might need to treat yourself for a decade or more, which is another reason going the natural route is a better idea.  Ten or more years on synthetic hormone replacement can cause other serious health issues.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/38211-side-effects-synthetic-hormones/

If you decide to use HRT to treat the symptoms of menopause, please insist on bio-identical hormones over horse urine. I don’t understand why any woman would knowingly choose to ingest horse urine. The problem is that they are not being informed about what they are taking, so you have to inform yourself. Don’t take my word for anything either. I’m not an expert on your body. No one knows you better than you. Not even your doctor. Your doctor is taught about pathology and not necessarily about wellness. There is a huge chasm between studying how to treat illnesses and studying how to prevent them by creating a lifestyle of wellness.

http://www.get-healthy-enjoy-life.com/synthetic-hormones.html

Don’t be like a lamb led to slaughter when you go to the doctor. There’s a good chance that your doctor is being influenced by the powerful pharmaceutical companies out there, who are looking only to make a profit.  Sure, it’s easy just to pop a magic pill to calm the storm, but what sort of perfect storm are you setting yourself up for later down the line when the side effects all come together to create a true illness?

Menopause is not an illness, even though it sometimes feels like mental illness. I know I was feeling pretty insane by my 51st year. I was weepy and needy at times and angry and enraged at others. Mostly I was quietly depressed with episodes of sudden anxiety that had absolutely no basis in what was occurring in my life at the time. These bouts started slowly and infrequently around the age of forty and increased with age.  None of these emotions felt like me, and yet I knew it was coming from inside my body for the most part. I was also opening up psychically at the same time. Increasingly I started picking up on other people’s energy.  From what I’d read years ago about the crone stage of life, I knew this was part of perimenopause too, becoming increasingly empathetic towards others.  I learned to shield myself when other people’s energy started impacting me too much, and I learned how to discern which emotions were mine and which were coming from someone else. I also figured out that the erratic mood swings were because of being perimenopausal, but I still didn’t know what to do about it.  Finally when the crazies got too out of hand, I went online looking for natural answers.  I found what works for me, and it was a combination of homeopathy and herbs, along with aromatherapy, massage, and trying to maintain a more peaceful, simpler lifestyle.

After all is said and done, you may still need something you can get only from your medical doctor, but don't acquiesce to radical medical treatment without doing the research and exploring gentle, alternative methods first. They’re usually much less expensive, but because they aren’t generally fast acting magic pills, you need to take charge before the next crazy episode. Start talking to other women in this age range and the ones who have gone before you. We have a wealth of knowledge and wisdom collectively. What works for me might not work for you and vice versa, but if we keep talking to one another, perhaps we’ll all find something natural and gentle that works. Then when our daughters and granddaughters reach this time of life, we’ll have more knowledge to help them through this as well. 

The more connected women are to each other, the more solutions we can find together. If we remain in isolation, we are targets for those who want to tell us what our bodies need. They know medicine, but we know us. If you have a medical condition, then by all means seek medical help. Menopause is part of life...like giving birth, having periods, and letting go of loved ones when it's their time to leave. None of these things should fall under the auspices of medical treatment unless other issues arise in conjunction with them. There are plenty of women out there who have researched these things and some of them have done so with medical degrees to guide them. Dr Christiane Northrup is one of them.

http://www.drnorthrup.com/

Be aware that the pharmaceutical industry is the driving force behind much of what doctors are prescribing. I hope you've read enough to see how much harm indiscriminate use of any drug can cause. Or indiscriminate use of herbs too for that matter. Drugs originally came from herbs. They are strong medicine and not to be taken lightly either. The point is to be informed and talk to other women. If we remain isolation in our frustration and embarrassment about feeling so out of control of our emotions, then we are vulnerable to doctors and pharmaceutical companies who want to take over our health care. No one should ever take over our health care unless we are entirely incapable of handling it. If that is the case, then I'm pretty sure you're not reading this blog.

Beth Mitchum is the author of six novels, one collection of poetry, one collection of biographical essays, and one music CD. Her works are available at Amazon.com through the following link: http://tinyurl.com/bethmitchumbooks

Gearing Up for What is Next

Since I don’t know where to start this blog, I might as well jump into the middle. That’s where I am in my life anyway-- midlife. At least as long as I live to be 102, which is unlikely. Truth be known, I’ve been having midlife crises for quite a while now, for at least a decade, I guess. This is partly because I’m perimenopausal and partly because of the strange times we’re living in these days, though they’re not really as hard as some make out. It's not like it was in the Great Depression when there were people who had to go to work on empty stomachs because there was nothing to eat, no money, not enough work, and no unemployment checks coming in weekly.  People really should read a little more history to keep things in perspective.  Even given these “troubled times,” a phrased overused a lot in the past couple of years, most of us still live like royalty in America in comparison to Third World countries and even mere decades ago. Most American households have multiple televisions and computers, among other things. I don’t watch much television when I live by myself, and I even have a nice one now. Of course that is because my best friend was visiting me while I lived in the Puget Sound area and she wanted to be able to watch sports during her visit. I owned a cheap 19-inch color television, but since her vision is less than stellar she bought me a 32-inch HD television with an LCD display. I've enjoyed watching DVDs on it and the Weather Channel of course. I even break down and watch a show now and then.

I’m a writer by trade, so my royal wealth is revealed mainly in the number of laptop computers I own. Yes, multiples, because of their tendency to develop weirdnesses after a few years.  Since I have to be connected to the internet a lot to keep my various businesses operating, I buy a new laptop if my main one starts behaving badly. I usually keep at least one backup just in case something untoward happens to my main one. I recently acquired an extra, older laptop that had been retired by my friend who doesn’t wear them out the way I do. I think she replaced this one because it didn’t have a keypad, which is okay with me, since I’m used to not having one anyway. I use numbers a lot less than I use letters. She, on the other hand, is a high school math teacher. Thus the need for the keypad.  Getting her old one brought my total collection to four. I just passed one on to my nephew, otherwise I’d have five, which is a bit excessive even for my tastes. But I digress.

I want to keep a journal on what I am about to do and how I am proceeding on my life’s path as it unfolds before me. I know that I’m on the right path, but I really need some guidance at the moment and a forum for untangling the threads of thought that are currently winding their way along my synapses. I need to process, I guess, and the best way for me to process things has always been to journal my thoughts. So let me bring you up to speed. If you’ve been following my blogs you’ll know basically how I got to this place in time. If not, you might want to back up a bit, but you really should read my first collection of autobiographal essays, Slices of My Life: So Far.  That will make my life seem a little more sensible to some of you. Maybe.

I’m 51, and I’m living in my best friend’s house in Florida. This is not where I thought I’d be at this age and stage of life, but it is, however, where I am at the moment. While I’m glad to be able to spend more time with my buddy after twenty-five years away from this part of the world, I miss my chosen home, which is the Puget Sound region. It’s located in the Pacific Northwest part of the United States. I also miss having my own life. For various reasons, I needed to come back here for a time. The reasons for this return to my childhood home are nearing completion, and I’m itching now to move onto whatever is next or to go back home to the Seattle area. Only I don’t want to go home the way I got here. I had a harrowing trip getting here that was hard on me and my three cats. In fact, the oldest of my cats died about three days after we arrived. That was no fun, but fortunately my cats reincarnate and come back to me, so he’s back now, and we are even closer than we were before, possibly because of all we went through getting here. I’d really like to go back in a small RV, so they and I can roam about the country in greater comfort and at a gentler pace. Apparently the size and kind of RV I’m interested in is called a Class C motor home. Whatever. It’s not too big and it’s not too small for one person and three cats. As in the children’s fairy tale, it’s “just right” for this Goldilocks (NOT) and her three teddy bears (cats).

While the trip here was difficult, it did have moments of beauty. However, I’d like the journey back to be simply beautiful and a great time of connecting with lots of friends and family along the way, and I’d like it to prepare me for the next stage of my life. I’ve had over a year’s worth of trying to recover from all that happened to me during the packing and moving last year. I need things to be easier now. I’m not in as good a shape as I was before I started packing last year, but I do have considerably less stuff. I’d already been paring down over the years because of all the moving I’ve done in my life.  I have continued to pare down since I got here. Now I find myself paring down even more. Again.

I’d like to be able to fit most of my belongings in and on the motor home, my bicycle being the one thing for sure that would have to ride on the outside. I sold my sixteen-year-old car a few months ago after owning it for fifteen years. I love that car, but it was time to let it go so I found her a good home. Now I need to find a good home for myself and my cats. We’re just fine where we are, except that it isn’t our home, and this isn’t the part of the world where I fit. I grew up in Central Florida, but for my entire life, I didn’t feel as though I belonged here. I still don’t.  I knew I had to be here for a time, but that time is running out now, and I need to know what I need to do in order to be ready for the next step. I also need to manifest whatever I’m going to need to move me to the next place.

So I continue paring down and now I’m looking for an RV so I can join the millions of other Americans in the world who ride off into the sunset to enjoy the retired life. Only I’m not retired. Indeed, I’m in one of the few professions where retirement is not only unnecessary, but it’s also unlikely. Most writers pretty much die writing. While I have a number of years to go and lots of things to see and say yet, I will no doubt stop writing only because my heart has stopped beating. I’d be very happy just to drift off to sleep some day and never wake up. I know pretty much when that will happen. If you've been reading my blogs, you might already know that I am of a spiritual bent. If truth be known, I am psychic and work closely with angels, so I know that death is nothing to fear.

When a spiritual teacher told me several years ago that I could just ask when my time would be up, I did. It wasn’t as long as I thought, but I’m happy with all that is left of it. It’s enough time to do what I need to do before I close my eyes for the last time, as long as I stay on my path. That’s what I’m doing here now. Staying on my path. It’s not necessarily what other people think I should be doing or want me to be doing, but I stopped worrying about what other people think I long time ago. That's what makes me a good lesbian. In order to come out to myself and the world, I had to quit caring about what other people think about me and my life choices.

In the immortal words of one of the greatest childen’s writers of all time:

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”  --Theodor Seuss Geisel (a.k.a., “Dr Seuss“)

So here I go, preparing for the next step into the seeming void that will become more solid the closer my foot comes to making it.

I’m reminded once again of the Taoist teaching.  “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. “ -- Lao-Tzu


Beth Mitchum is the author of six novels, one collection of poetry, one collection of biographical essays, and one music CD. Her works are available at Amazon.com through the following link: http://tinyurl.com/bethmitchumbooks