About Me (Barbara Weibel)

Barbara Weibel After years of working 70 hours a week at jobs I detested, I felt like the proverbial "hole in the donut" - solid on the outside, but empty on the inside. Searching for meaning in my life, I abandoned my successful but unsatisfying career and set out on a six-month solo backpacking trip around the world to pursue my true passions of travel, writing, and photography. My blog features stories about the destinations I visit, people I meet, the crazy things...Read more here....


Monthly Archives: April 2008

When I was 27, I purchased my very first home. It was an old house that needed a lot of work and my Mom was the first one to pitch in. She arrived with toolbox in hand and started helping me tear out an old plaster and lathe wall. Later that day she began to feel sick. She broke out in a cold sweat and said she just needed to take a cool bath. I was worried, but I ran the bath and helped her get in the tub. The bath didn’t help much but Mom insisted she just needed to lie down, so I helped her get to the bedroom and put her to bed. By this time she was so weak she could barely walk. I suggested we call the doctor but she refused, again insisting that she would be OK if she could just rest.

Thankfully, my friend Mary just happened to be visiting that particular weekend and she convinced me to call an ambulance, despite my mother’s objections. Mom was having a heart attack. I missed all the signs, and if it weren’t for Mary, Continue reading

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Yesterday I drove 15 miles north to the Bishop Planetarium in Bradenton, which is open late the first Saturday of every month. My plan was to attend the various shows that run throughout the afternoon and maybe grab a bite to eat before heading home. I got WAY more than I bargained for. Upon arriving, I found the town’s annual Seafood Festival in full swing. Bradenton Seafood FestivalBradenton Seafood FestivalSince I arrived at 11 a.m. and the first show at the Planetarium was not scheduled until 2:15 p.m., I strolled along the river and wandered around the town’s quaint little downtown, listening to live music at several stages set up around town and checking out the food booths. Mmmmmmm! Rarely have I seen such a display of Continue reading

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If you have been reading my blog lately, you know that I have just emerged from a bout of depression, the likes of which I haven’t experienced for many years. My life has changed so much in the past two years and I sometimes question whether I have made the right decisions. I walked away from the world of real estate, where the money was enormous and the egos gargantuan. I left a beautiful home on 12+ secluded waterfront acres on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and moved into a small two bedroom, one bath apartment in Sarasota, Florida that my dear friend, Joan, offered to share with me.

I am pursuing, with some success, a career as a freelance writer, but I am learning that even though writing is my passion, there are elements of this business that I don’t much like. Between freelance assignments I have continued researching and writing my book, but by the time I spiraled down into the depths of my depression earlier this week, I seriously questioned whether my book was a ridiculous folly.

I did a lot of things to get out of that depression. Yoga. Meditation. Energetic rebalancing. Acupuncture. Walking miles. Talking to friends. Praying. Aromatherapy. Letting myself sit with the pain. Too much sleep. Too little sleep. Believe it or not, I even took two Continue reading

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If you wish to accomplish something, focus on the WHAT, rather than the why and how. Focus on the WHAT and visualize the outcome, using the five senses through which we connect with the world.

What does it sound like?
What does it feel like?
What does it smell like?
What does it look like?
What does it taste like?

Focus on the WHAT and visualize.
The Why and the How will take care of themselves.

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Yesterday:
Two double shots of espresso
One iced coffee Chillate with whipped cream topping
One Cafe mocha

Oh yes, I am feeling better!

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I am WAS depressed. For the last few days I have felt myself spiraling down into the depths of depression. I have no idea what sets it off. It doesn’t seem to happen for any particular reason or occur at regular intervals. I begin to question the endlessness of it all. I ask myself what I have really contributed. And through it all I wrestle with the idea that my life has had little value. I have left a successful career to write a book but sometimes when I read what I have written it seems like so much drivel and I wonder if I am kidding myself; who on earth will care what I have to say?

Fortunately, I have learned that I have tools to combat this depression and I never hesitate to employ them. AA taught me that when we share what is going on, we take away its power, so today I called two good friends and “told on myself.” I one case my friend, Patti, talked Continue reading

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