Ah, yes, I have been strangely silent for a few days. I have learned that when this happens I must just “let it be” and allow the process to happen. These are times of great introspection. Sometimes, the result is an epiphany. Other times, the stillness allows me to hear the answer to a question I have been contemplating.

Since walking away from my lucrative real estate career to pursue a life of travel, photography, and writing, the way I see myself has changed significantly. During my six-month trip around the world in 2007, a friend insisted that I print up business cards that said I was a writer and photographer. Initially I resisted. Although I had been blogging for some months by then, I still didn’t see myself as a writer. Thankfully, she finally convinced me that this was a necessary step. The business cards shifted my belief about who I was – it was in print, so it must be true. Gradually, I began to tell people I was a writer whenever they asked what I did for a living. The more I said it aloud, the more real it became.

Upon returning from my around-the-world trip I began soliciting freelance writing assignments. I had some small success but soon realized I was writing about subjects that did not interest me just to get published. Simultaneously, the blog morphed from a narrowly focused travel site to Read the rest of this entry »

I had lunch the other day with a friend of mine here in Sarasota who is a real estate agent. I’ll call her Suzie (for reasons that will become obvious, I’ve changed her name). Midway through lunch she began to tell me the story of a situation that occurred with a new client last week. The previous Wednesday she’d contracted a bad case of the stomach flu that put her down for three days. On Friday morning, still flat on her back in her sickbed, she received a phone call from her friend, Clarice. The conversation went something like this:

“Hey, Suzie. I’ve got a new client for you. He wants to write an offer on a million dollar house.” “Hi Clarice. Can we do it tomorrow? I’m sick in bed with the flu.” “Nope. He insists it’s gotta be done today.” “Well, can we at least do it late this afternoon? Maybe about 4 p.m.? “Sure, I’ll set it up.”

Later that afternoon, Suzie dutifully dragged herself from her sickbed, gathered the necessary paperwork, and drove to the client’s house. They spent a couple of hours preparing a low-ball offer of Read the rest of this entry »

If I could do my life over I wouldn’t change a single thing. Not the painful elementary school years when I was the butt of ‘four-eyes’ and ‘fattie’ jokes. Not the two car accidents. Not the two divorces. Not my experience with chronic Lyme Disease. Not even my struggles with addiction. Although it may sound bizarre, I am grateful for these things because I believe they have made me the person I am today.

There was a time in my life when I did not look at things this way. Because I was unable to succeed at marriage, because I was ego-driven and friendless, because I was unable to stop drinking – for all these reasons and more I considered myself a failure. I went so far as to think that I was a bad person. The path between feeling like a failure and becoming grateful for the adversity in my life has been long and arduous, but also rewarding. I had occasion to think about this whole issue recently when I read the Harvard University commencement address delivered this past June by J.K. Rowling, acclaimed author of the Harry Potter novels.

Rowling said that what she feared most as a young woman was failure. That statement struck a chord with me. I also had a tremendous fear of failure, but mine was a fear of Read the rest of this entry »

You can tell a lot about a person by the way they write. The good writers are wide open. They don’t pull any punches. They’re honest about their feelings – sometimes to the point of being raw. They’re not afraid to integrate their lives, their feelings, and their experiences into what they write.

I am constantly appalled at the poor quality writing to be found on the Internet and in published materials. Conversely, I am always delighted when I discover well-written blogs that make me cry, wonder, sigh, gasp, ponder, or even laugh out loud. The following are a few of the later. I share them because I am sure you will enjoy them as much as I do: Read the rest of this entry »