Born Free.

Well a couple of days ago I tried to post a poem I wrote for Jesse for our 35th Anniversary. In the process something happened to my computer and I lost the whole thing. I'll take that as a sign that I should move on and I mean that in many different ways. I know some people believe that when they have a lot of years tied up in a particular project and it just doesn't work for them any more that it means they have wasted those years. I thought that one time myself after spending 40 years in an uptight religious cult that kept me bound with ropes of fear. Once those ropes were broken, for a while I felt that I had wasted all those years. I thought about all the things I could have accomplished -- how unfair it had been to my children, my marriage, me. I called it my 40 years in the wilderness. But my husband, bless his soul, reminded me that I wouldn't be the person I am today if it hadn't been for that experience. Now....I am remembering that good advice when I think about moving on from my 35 years with him.

Sorry, My Love, it was good advice and still is. You have been a good provider and occasionally have been a good support system for me when I was afraid to branch out on my own. But all too often you have been less of a critic and more of a criticizer when I began to succeed or as you call it when I got my "ID." Now I need to take what I have learned from you about branching out on my own and run with it. I don't need to pack much. I will just take what I have learned from you.

1. You don't need a lot of money to start a new project.
2. Do your own research.
3. Don't depend on the ideas of others.
4. Solve your own problems.
5. Just because it hasn't been done doesn't mean it can't be done.
6. Make it fun.
7. Love what you do or don't do it.
8. Don't settle.
9. When it isn't fun any more move on to something new.
10. If it doesn't work blame it on someone else. (I'm leaving this one behind with you.)

I believe that #10 is excess baggage. I carried it for you all this time and I just realized that it is the weight that has kept me bogged down for 35 years. All I need to do to move on is set down #10 and run like a son of a gun. You'll just have to find someone else to blame or you can still blame me if you wish. I'm just not going to carry the blame for you any more.

I was born free and I can be free again. Free to flow with universal order using all the things I have learned along the way. So what if it has taken 35 or 40 years to pack. I'm packed and ready to go. Actually I am unpacked and ready to go. No excess baggage ...just the experience of a lifetime,

Born Free ...again.