It's All About Me

I used to think that to focus on oneself was selfish, arrogant.....egotistical.  That to do so was a not so slow march towards narcissism.  Eventually. 

It took a long for me to get here, but  I no longer think this way.

You see, I have a natural affinity to care for others, some may even call it a gift or talent.  Whatever it is, at the very least it is a nurturing spirit.  I want to heal the broken, take away what is hurting, and above all, help in whatever way I can. Sometimes I can, and sometimes unfortunately I cannot....but man do I try!  Somewhere in the middle of this though, I've learned to put my own emotional well being on the back burner.  Sure, I took care of everything else over the years, work, family etc., except this one area.  

Why?  Because I believed to do otherwise would be selfish.

 I was wrong.

Truth is, even a gift can be like a curse if not managed properly.  

Case in point. For as long as I can remember, anyone with a problem seemed to be drawn to me like a moth to a flame.  And when I say anyone, I do mean that.  It is not unusual at all for me to meet a complete stranger and have them pour out their life to me in a grocery line.  No kidding.  The point is, I love to help hurting people and they love me right back.  Unfortunately as with any thing that is wounded, one must exercise caution. The same is true.  Hurt people, hurt people.


Over the past year I have learned a lot about myself.  I know that we are all instinctually what God created us to be.  I know that I will always be a nurturer at heart but there has to be some changes in my life. After all, if I am upset, frustrated and sad, what help am I to anyone else?  For this reason, it is indeed all about me! 

 I choose to focus on being the positive glass half full gal that I am and take time to nurture myself and the things that are dear to me.  Only then will I be able to give anything back....that is worthwhile.  

Cherio!

Beauty Mark? or Holy Mole-ey!!!

Angelina Jolie - Actress & Human Rights Activist

Are people with moles hotter than non mole-ey people?  Hmmmmm.  Well I did a little digging and here is what I found.  Dr Veronique Bataille, from the Twin Research Unit at King's College London, who led a study on this said: "The results are very exciting as they show, for the first time, that moley people who have a slightly increased risk of melanoma [skin cancer] may, on the other hand, have the benefit of a reduced rate of aging."  As a person with a few moles myself, I was a little concerned about the "risk of cancer" mentioned so the hypochondriac in me kicked in and I dug deeper. Thankfully, the news got much better after the mention of Melonoma.   It was actually discovered that people with moles live longer, look younger and are healthier than the average person. Well, according to the studies anyway. 

Marilyn Munroe - Actress 

Now usually I would say this is just hype but I actually know for a fact that there is some truth to this.  My grandmother who passed on the mole-ey genetics to me is 95 years old and has always been in optimum health......the woman also has more moles than I can count.  She looks a lot younger than her age though and hardly any wrinkles!  I sure do hope I inherited that gene, pretty p-l-e-a-s-e. 


When I was younger I asked about the mole on my face and my grandmother calmly informed me that my mole was a beauty mark.  And so, from that moment on I saw it as just that.  I never thought about it until very recently when I stumbled across the research done on this subject.  Seems like grandma knew this stuff already...but then, she is smart like that.

I remember when Cindy Crawford was in the height of her modeling career, she rocked the heck out of her mole.  Then guess what, women everywhere starting making moles on their faces with eye pencils and such.  So funny.  Sometimes the mole would be on the left side on the woman's face, but the next day it would be on the right side. oooopsie! 


Now I know there are people with a gazillion moles and they totally hate them.  I come from a mole-ey family so trust me, I know.   Don't let it get you down though, if you love yourself the way you are, people will pay attention to you and not your mole.  Morgan Freeman is a prime example of this.  This man has mad swag and the moles just makes him more interesting.

Morgan Freeman - Actor

Here are some celebrities who fully embrace their moles.  And if truth be told, they are not only aging slower, they are muy caliente.  Long live the mole!


Cherio!

Tamera Mowry - Actress

Eva Mendes - Actress & Model

  Enrique Iglesias

Kelly Rowland - singer



 Robert DeNiro - Actor

Janet Jackson - Singer & actress

 
 Goldie Hawn - Actress

Natalie Portman - Actress

Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm

A few years ago I was in South Beach Miami hanging out with one of my best friends.   Out of the blue, and a very talented and sought after European Artist approached me and asked me if I would mind being his muse for a painting.  Of course I was very flattered but I wanted to know what that meant exactly.....hopefully nothing that involved me being nude.  Well, as luck would have it, he just wanted to paint a painting based on his perception and overall feelings about me.  He proceeded to talk to me for about two hours and a week later this is what he painted.  He dubbed it Wandalania!  

To be honest, when I first saw the painting I could not get past the nudity!  When asked what I 

thought about it, all I could gasp after a very long ackward pause was ".......uhhhhh..ummm........its cool"  Trust me, it was not cool. Nope, not even a little bit.

 You would think being an Artist myself, I would be used to seeing this by now, but somehow this was different.  This nude figure is his perception of me.  Why am I naked?!!!!!.....did he perceive me as being provocative?.....a diva?..........incomplete or conflicted?  I hate to admit it but I went deep into the cerebrum on this one, I completely over analyzed his art, which by the way sold for thousands to one of his wealthy South Beach clients.  Of course that didn't mean anything to me, so, I filed the picture of the painting away and totally forgot about it until yesterday. (I was sorting through old stuff)

Now that I am looking at this with fresh eyes I see so much more than what I saw at first.  I see my love for animals, water, plants and the earth.  I see myself on a path fully embracing the journey with confidence and swag.   Try as I may though, I dont know what the little figure disappearing into me is....maybe it symbolizes growth, like as I grow, the older weaker me is swallowed by the more stronger better me?  What do you think, any ideas? 

Cherio!

Beauty.... Is It Really In The Eye Of The Beholder?

Beauty, what is it really.  Is it in the symmetry of the face, high cheek bones, eye color, hair length, or is it characterized by poise, or grace?   Can it be found in impeccable taste, attention to detail or does it just happen........ organically? For some real beauty is all of the above but for me, it's so much more.

There is no denying that physical beauty is all around us, and it is unfortunately the standard by which we are judged.  We are bombarded by it on television, in magazines, on bill boards, in food stores, literally every where we go.  Products promising to make you look younger, thinner, taller, your teeth whiter .......   But is this really true beauty?   I think not.  In my opinion, looking beautiful is not the same as being beautiful.  True beauty radiates from the inside out.  When you respect and love the person you are on the inside it feels natural to present the best on the outside. The outward appearance is simply mirroring the inside.   


The most beautiful people to me are those who choose not to hide who they really are but instead develop and celebrate their own uniqueness.  People who have the confidence and resilience to not let society compress them into a generic mold.  People who are free in every sense of the word.  


Whether we realize it or not, what  we present to the world is a combination of  what we want to show and what we cannot hide.  This is why even gorgeous people seem ugly after a while once their inner selves are revealed. By the same token, a person who does not meet society's beauty standards at all can be beautiful. Yes, beauty is more than skin deep. 


 Being beautiful is a package deal.  The outside is intrinsically wrapped up with the inside. So, to be  truly beautiful one must fully embrace everything about themselves, both inside and out.

It is  impossible to be jealous of another person or compare oneself to another when you know that you are special, unique and one-of-a-kind.  No one compares to you, thats a fact.  This is the confidence that makes us shine. When you know who you are, you are able to uplift, celebrate and love others unconditionally.  And you know what?  Whether you are in a tent or a palace you will always be beautiful because you are not defined by anything external.  Your beauty comes from  the heart.  


Stay beautiful everyone!  


Cherio!

Gray Hair And Galactic Boots

I have a question for you.  Do you have the chutzpah, the kahunas,......the I don't give a hoot-ness to rock gray hair?   Well, I think I do.  Not because I am all that, although I am not exactly lacking in the self esteem department..... at all.   No, it has nothing to do with that.   I think I can  rock gray hair simply because I actually like this look.  Gray hair if done well is regal, gorgeous and oh so fly!

Now I know most women won't welcome these little silver intruders with open arms.  As a matter of fact, most of us at the first sighting of a few gray strands leave skid marks in the driveway in our haste to get the "Fixer" in the little bottle.  L'oreal, Clairol, Garnier, wehatever our favorite hair color brand is, we fix the gray pronto!

Well, I on the other hand have been proudly cultivating my few gray strands with joyful anticipation.  I can't wait to have enough  to get a little streak or something going on.  Why? Because it's fabulous!  I am so in love with gray hair.....but then again, I come from a genetic pool of creative, stubborn, spirited and nonconformist people so sometimes I can cook up some stuff in my head that even amazes me.

Do you see these galactic boots ( I named them that), well, my sister bought these because she just knew, that if anyone can rock these, she can!  See what I mean?...this is the gene pool I came from.  As for gray hair, here are some beautiful examples of how beautiful and modern this look can be.  To me it is the glorious evidence that I have been blessed by God to live this long, its a silver/platinum crown, and its down right fierce!

Cherio!