...and I'm off...

I once overheard someone describe me as “that woman who levels with everyone although she’s a bubble off center herself”.

I chose to be amused, rather than offended, by that description since it contains a kernel of truth with which I can be comfortable – as long as the bubble leans left!

Ralph Waldo Emerson hit the nail on the head when he offered:

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate and to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”

I live to make a difference.

For nearly 3 decades, I have been a Social Worker in a tertiary level pediatric hospital in the Midwest, covering the Emergency room and child abuse cases.

I have seen the worst that human beings can inflict on each other and I have witnessed incredible acts of bravery and compassion.

I know that the power of Evil, like the power of Love, is real.

I live to continue tipping the scales, trusting in Gods promise that Loves power will truly get the last word.

I live well; not in the sense of having material wealth, riches or the ‘things’ that Madison Ave declares as essential for happiness, but in seeking balance, beauty and truth.

I am low tech and low maintenance.

I like to have fun and be irreverent.

I surround myself with relationships and objects that bring joy to my heart and a smile to my face and which serve as antidotes to the poison with which I have daily contact.

I am not an interior designer nor am I a master gardener.

I will not post pictures taken from books or online magazines featuring the most perfectly staged environments.

There is a place for the sites offering this unattainable visual eye candy – but this isn’t it!

I’m writing this journal for myself.

I have no store on Etsy or Ebay; nothing to sell; no point of view looking for converts

Fair warning: while for the sake of my clients’ privacy and my continuing employment, work situations will be modified for anonymity, my descriptions and my reactions to them will NOT be.

I live in the real world – and it’s a glorious mix of ugliness and beauty. In these posts, as in life, I will struggle to get the balance right.

I therefore offer the experiences that comprise my days, my thoughts, my reflections and those visual delights that speak to me.