First let me introduce myself so you know who I am. I have had a very diverse life and am very proud of most of what I have accomplished over the years. At a very young age I became very interested in nature and the complex nature of life. So as a child I was riddled with why adults act so badly.

I was captured by the images of what I saw while traveling with my parents to visit family, friends and just Sunday drives in the country. As a small child my parents were alarmed by my constant questions on life. I would ride in my fathers 1957 Cadillac while we would breeze down the highway and look up at the all the buildings and wonder what was going on in other people’s lives.

While driving through New York City I was amazed at all the different faces. As a child you do not see anything other than people. You are free. I was wondering how was it possible that so many people lived in one place yet had no idea who they were passing. I imaged that at this moment someone was being born. Someone was dying. Someone was falling in love. Someone was laughing and someone might be crying. I was always told to stop thinking.

How do you answer a five-year old when they ask really big questions about life? I was wondering how do you stop thinking! So I gave it a try. I tried very hard to put my mind at rest. Really a very difficult thing to do. It was moments like this that made me hungry for knowledge and how does life really work.

I am only an expert in being me. I  have lots of life experience so I would like to share it with you. I will be bouncing back and forth in sharing my life and what I have learned. You may find that it helps you too. My only request is that you throw away any information that does not fit and if you like what you read drop me a line.

So here goes. Why are you waiting for  your life to change? Take a deep breath and exhale. You have already changed. We have a short time on Earth to accomplish everything we set out to do. I know that to be true.  Before I was 25 years old I managed to go to college. Travel and live in England. Create a ruckus and end up being one of the first women on the road in the music industry to be a roadie, sound engineer and road manager. Of course my friend Carol Dodds is still out there and very successful as a video director. I visited India. Studied many spiritual paths. Worked for Francis Ford Coppola on Apocalypse Now and a fixture at Zoetrope Studios. Worked for Bill Graham first collecting tickets at Winterland and then worked for FM productions. Moved from the East Coast to the West Coast then back to the East Coast.

Now after 25 years old I still kept moving on. I have also engaged in a few business ventures including a self publishing company. Along the way have had some people use my ideas and actually publish stories as their own that were mine. Experienced the death of my twins and lived through cancer. Managed to make my way to finally earn a Masters Degree in Clinical Social Work. Enjoy my work and am a mom.

Now I know how to make a penny scream and stretch it until it says uncle. I use my credit cards wisely and have managed to travel round trip to Europe for $61 a ticket. Not a joke it’s for real what until you see how. I save money every week. My little Mexican Grandmother Trinidad used to say ,” If you take your paycheck and only save a penny you made a penny. If you spend it all you made nothing.” My mom says,” Anyone can speak one language it takes an intelligent person to take the time to learn two.” I say, “It’s your life, have the best one ever.”

So how do you take all of your life’s experiences and make it work for you . Well first lesson look at who you are. Not what you have. Look and look really hard. Now if there is anyone or anything you feel owes you. Let it go. Honestly, I can tell you in my private practice that is the number thing that hinders us from moving on. It is important to discuss it and work it through. You need to see where it is coming from within. People do hurt people. It is true. Just watch the news or talk to neighbors or friends. They can physically harm us but, we can let them not touch us inside. It takes so much work to get to this place. However, by learning how to care for you and know you are only human is the first step in healing your life.

Money my friends is a vehicle to get us things we need to survive. Money can also be used to give us a way to be independent. However, if we are not free from within we go nowhere. So I will be putting in my two cents in how to survive in this world financially without going broke. So today’s lesson is personal inventory. Make a list of where you are and where you want to go. I will write more about my life and how I took steps to get out of debt in so many levels. Take care and be good to yourself today.

Denise