Testing The Waters

We are all trying to figure ourselves out. There are tons of TV shows, magazines and books dedicated to help us with this inner search. It seems like I'm asking myself the question "Who am I?" more and more often. Because I remain open to change and personal growth is my life's goal I'm usually asking myself "Who am I... right now?" At other times "Who am I? "pulls sharp focus on my past, my family history, and my genealogy. Ethnically I am Italian/Puerto Rican but I was raised with my Italian side of my family. For most of my life I've identified with my Italian ethnicity.  I was raised with all the Italian traditions and on Sundays I'm usually making gravy (that's Tomato Sauce to you Non-Italians). I have no real connection to my Puerto Rican side except that my dad was born in Ponce, PR and I happen to be an AMAZING Salsa dancer. Since my dad died when I was a child I never really experienced my Puerto Rican heritage. Who

Some of you may not know this but my father was murdered, he was killed when I was still a child. I think this is one of the reasons why I find myself drawn to real life CSI shows on TV and most news stories involving homicide and our legal system. Recently, I came across one story that is a truly inspiring example of forgiveness. The story revovles around the Whitaker family. The family consists of parents Patricia and Kent and their two son's, Kevin and Thomas. In Sugarville, Texas on December 10, 2003 the family was celebrating Thomas' college graduation from Sam Houston State University. Kent and Patricia had given their son a Rolex as a graduation present and the whole family went out to dinner. After dinner the family came home and upon entering the home they were each shot by a gunman who had been laying in wait for the family. Kevin Whitaker was pronounced dead at the scene, and Patricia and Kent were airlifted to a nearby hospital. Patricia subsequently died

You've all heard the old adage, "Life is about Peaks and Valleys." Its origin is unclear but we've all heard it. It's an emotional pick me up. A motivator to keep going. I know I’ve said some derivation of it to a friend when they've needed comfort AND admittedly at times the person I’m telling it to is myself. There are different variations like: “Life ebbs and flows” “What goes up must come down” "Highs and lows"  "To and fro" "Good and bad times"  Because I'm a visual person I like the image that is created with “Peaks” and “Valleys” P eAKS are by definition the highest point. I like thinking of the summit of a mountain. Its symbolic of the times when I'm feeling positive and on top of the world. When everything I do is working. These are the "wins" in our liv es, the "high" times BUT we can not surviv e at this altitude for v ery long because a

I was walking around my neighborhood today and by looking at the shop windows I couldn't help but notice that summer is winding down. The windows are dressed in gorgeous Autumn colors and Halloween pumpkins are everywhere. Its not officially Fall until Saturday, Sept 22 but I am already eagerly awaiting the change of season. During my stroll I came across this cool little shop, in its window there were these cute journals - one just jumped out at me and I had to share it - this is the cover of the journal: To me "The Heart" is our human compass. More specifically, it is our NORTH .  It communicates to us directly through our intuition.  But how do you know you are listening to your heart? The answer to this question can be found by examining your life. The answer is reflected back to you in your personal friendships and relationships. It is in how you deal with your success and failures. We have just entered the last quarter of 2012, there are 118 days left i