This has been a year of firsts...Katrina ravaged the entire city of New Orleans, whoever would have thought that could happen? Then, unbelievably, another hurricane hit the Florida coast. The poor people didn't even have enough time to get their lives back in order before yet another hurricane hit. This time it was Wilma. A category five which was, thankfully, downgraded to a category three. Sounds a lot better doesn't it? Unless you happen to be in the storm, surrounded by wind and water and rain and chaos and debris. Wilma was another first....the fastest growing hurricane ever! It's also the first time that meteorologists have gone through all the names available for hurricanes..they have now resorted to using the letters of the Greek alphabet...beginning with Alpha.
Not exactly the kind of firsts the world wants to see. So, here's a thought. What if we started a new first? What if everybody began to face their fears? What if we all just decided to make happiness the first priority in our lives? Can you imagine what that would feel like? Seems a long way away from the devastation of bad weather, illness, war and so much more. Seems alturistic to be sure, but what is there to lose? Let's start a revolution! Living la vida fearless, Jan

Every year on the street I live on the adults have a costume party. It's always the Saturday before Halloween so, it's just around the corner...literally. I am always amazed at the work that goes into some of the costumes...There's always a theme. One year it was drinks so there were blue angels and pink ladies and, of course, Harvey Wallbangers and Sex on the Beach.....Another year it was favourite bands...Gene Simmons was aptly represented in several KISS renditions, Elvis apparently, had not left the building and Janis Joplin made a rare appearance that night. Spooky stuff. This year the theme is Viva Las Vegas.....having never been to Vegas I have my own version of a costume but I wonder what else I'll see there. My guess is there will be a Wayne Newton or two, a black jack player, a card shark, a few chorus girls.....one of the guys in the group always dresses like a girl. He'd make a great chorus girl, I can't wait to see what he has decided on. Celine Dion may be represented by the most masterful costume maker in the group. This girl starts planning her costumes weeks in advance. She was the blue angel drink...she was so good she glowed and twinkled just like an angel would. Amazing.
Somebody always brings food that has fake fingers sticking out of it. Somebody else always brings jello shots that are very popular....who knew jello could taste so good?
Me, well, I just have fun. I don't even try to compete with those more creative types. I am not worthy so I bow to their brilliance and marvel at their mastery.
Picture the Griswalds in Las Vegas...sort of...or maybe the crazy cousins of the Griswalds. That's us this year. Tacky tourists! Blue polyester suit, white spats and bright red Hawaiian shirt for my husband. Leopard print tights and mules for me....curlers and bright red lipstick! Can't wait to see what everybody else is doing.
Not so much about facing fears this time....unless you count all the scary people we meet on the way to the party!
Living la vida fearless,
Jan
www.tobeyourbest.net

The cooler weather here in Ontario always makes me think of baking. There are lots of fresh apples just ready to be plucked from the trees, the fruits are harvested and it just feels good to be inside a house full of baking aromas. I said think of baking 'cause I am not really a baker. I am more of a "throw it all together, add a pinch of this and a pinch of that" kind of person. I like to experiment and see what happens. Not so much a cookie cutter kind of person in the kitchen I'm afraid. My daughter is the same kind of person in the kitchen. When she was little we encouraged her to "make concotions." Sometimes we ate them, most times we didn't. Blue soup, green pasty stuff, pasty things that didn't resemble anything at all....Those were the not so good mixtures. But,and it's a big but, there were some fantastic successes too. She can make a flat bread that rivals any baker, she can pull together a meal out of things in the fridge, or local meadow, that match any organic cuisine at a spa. No worries about her ever starving. That got me thinking about cookie cutters and the connotation of cookie cutters as ordinary, or sameness, or not special.
Cookie cutters, ordinary, has it's place sometimes. I love the shapes of gingerbread cut out at Christmas. The angels, and little gingerbread people, little bits of icing to colour their hair and clothes.....If they're hand done then you are guaranteed there will be some differences.
The thing is, cookie cutter doesn't work all the time. Living a life of ordinary brings ordinary results. I want to experience different, grandness, majestic...things that put me on the edge of fear and force me to cross over to the other side. Triumphant in my bliss, in my knowledge that cookie cutters have their place....but not in my place! What about you? What is your fearless dream? What will put you at the edge and then move you beyond it to live a fearless life? I can guarantee you, the moment you pick the perspective of overcoming fear, you will never be the same. Honour yourSELF....trust your intuition...No more cookie cutter living...Living la vida fearless, Jan

Two buzz words lately....supersize and downsize. People can supersize their meals which then supersizes their bodies according to the great movie Supersize Me! If you haven't seen it you should. People can be downsized from a job or you can be downsizing your life. Making it less stressful. Kind of ironic isn't it? If you get downsized that's stressful but, if you are choosing to downsize your life ie. move to a smaller place, that's not stressful, apparently.
Me, I'm in the throws of downsizing after having been downsized from my own company, misdiagnosed and thrown into transition after the misdiagnosis. My children, now young adults, are in their own form of downsizing. They are leaving the nest, sort of, to travel again. They come and they go. Currently they are here in the house they grew up in, in the sleepy suburb they became comfortable with. Facing their fears, bags in tow, they are ready to face a new world. When they return again, it will be to a new home. My husband and I are moving to a small, historic home closer to town. We will be able to walk to the local coffee shop, we will be able to walk to work, we will be able to use only one car! So, we're downsizing our vehicles too. As I wander around my house I have to decide what stays and what goes. It's cathartic and exhausting and challenging...but it will get done. Photos stay, more than one set of anything goes. Brutal but it works. I don't need three sets of dishes...I have them but I don't need them, so, off they go. There is a local shelter near me that outfits street kids trying to live in their own places. They are always in need of things so that's where I donate my "don't need anymore" things. There are days when I feel like my house just decided to supersize itself with stuff, which is not healthy for me now, let me tell you!
It's an interesting perspective to know that you are moving. Every holiday, like the recent Thanksgiving, I walk around and think, hmmmm..this will be the last one in this house. But then, it could, realistically, be the last one ever. Who ever knows when their last day will be? So, Halloween, Christmas, New Year, birthdays...just a few more months and then the memories will begin at the new, downsized, location. So, supersize my memories while I downsize my house and work on trying to change the course of my downsized job situation! Living la vida fearless, Jan

I went out for a walk today with my old dog. She is 17 and she is not well. Every walk with her now is a reminder that this may be the last one we have together. As we were slowly moving along our street toward the park we saw another little dog just ahead. I should mention at this point that my two cats also walk with us. We make quite a little parade, the four of us, wandering through our neighbourhood. It always causes a backward glance or two from passersby when they see the dog, the cats, and me all together. Today the backward glance was from the little dog ahead of us. It was a cute little thing...fluffy and bouncy. My dog is old and black and her fur is straight so she looked nothing like this little bundle of fur. The little guy who was walking the dog was trying desperately to get the dog to walk with him but the pup had other ideas in mind and kept turning around to look behind him. It got me thinking about looking back and looking forward as opposed to just being. For a few minutes I watched the pup struggle to look back and the little guy struggle to move forward. Both had a destination in mind. Both thought they were right. Both tried to convince the other that they were right. As I watched I really became aware of what it means to be present...to not look back, to not look forward but to just be. I looked around at the trees, their leaves soon to start their own journey back to earth falling toward the green grass, the fall flowers shining in all their brilliance, my dog just sitting with me waiting until it was time to move on, the wind rustling up all the leaves on the ground sending them swirling up to the sky and then back down again. I realized that I had spent a lot of the walk thinking about what I had to do today, what needed to be finished. I had not been present of where I was and what was happening around me. As soon as I realized that the perspective changed for me. My old dog and I walked a little further, a little slower and with more purpose. I wanted to enjoy this time with her and to remember our last walks together....and so we did.
Looking forward and looking back don't change things. Looking back is living a life of regret, looking forward, while it is a good idea to have a plan, can be full of disappointments as well. Live in the moment...be present...Live a fearless life!
Living la vida fearless,
Jan
www.tobeyourbest.net