Title: Peace Warrior

Gender: Female

Age: 39

Sun Sign: Virgo

Chinese Sign: Metal Dog

Location: City of Angels, CA

Well, what shall I say about myself? I've gone through many incarnations in my life, and I'm on a new one again, which is the one I think I'll tell you about.

It all started two Thanksgivings ago, it was about two years ago on Thanksgiving, when my friend and I went up to visit Alice…No wait. That's Arlo Guthrie's story.

My current story begins about 2 years ago (August 2004), when a series of life changing events happened in a span of 3 weeks. A relationship that I'd been in for about a year came to an unexpected end. BAM! Then a week later my dad had a heart attack. BAM BAM! Then a week after that my brother was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. BAM BAM BAM! And she's down with a mean right hook! Will she get back up, folks? Yes, she got back up.

The morning I found out about my my dad's heart attack, it was a typical day in corporatedom for me. I'd been up since 5:00 AM dialed into the network at work on my laptop/leash, working on something earth-shatteringly important to the corporate machine I was indentured to. The phone rang at about 6:30. It had to be my mother, she's the only person who would ever call so early. I fumed. She was always calling me in the morning when she knew I would be busy getting ready for work, and she always made me late. Didn't she know I was working on something earth-shatteringly important for God's sake?! I let the machine get it. “Hi honey, it's Mom. I just wanted to let you know Dad's in the hospital. He's had a heart attack…” The scene changes to slo-mo, while my inner dialogue kicks in. “Fuck! What the fuck am I doing?!” I raced to the phone to talk to my mom, then immediately called my boss to tell him I wouldn't be in for a few days. Then I headed out to my parents' house to be with them. My dad survived, and is still OK.

A week later I was back in my shackles at work, when I got another call from my mom. My brother's got cancer, and it's bad. What?! What the fuck?! My head was spinning. My knees buckled and I fell to the floor in my office.

What the hell was going on? Why was this all happening at once? What was the universe trying to tell me? Maybe that it's time to slow down and think about what's important in life. Maybe this life I'd been living, being a slave to corporate America, pimping myself for a bigger fatter salary, Prada shoes, a title, an office with a view - maybe it was empty and meaningless. Maybe my life was slipping away from me while I was busy chasing the carrot. Maybe this wasn't the best use of my life. Maybe I could create a life that actually honored what I value instead of compromising it.

So I devised an exit strategy and 10 months later I left corporate America. There is a Zen saying that goes “Leap and the net will appear.” So I did. Because of all the health problems that have plagued my family, I decided that I wanted to be a holistic health practitioner. I want to help people access their own innate healing potential. So I started by training as a massage therapist. I've finished my advanced training, and next I'll be embarking on a doctoral program in naturopathic medicine, with an emphasis on holistic nutrition and nutritional approaches to disease prevention and management. Someday I hope to have my own wellness clinic. Quite a switch from being a software development manager at an insurance company.

So my old life was a script that was handed to me, and I never questioned it. I just did what I thought I was supposed to do. My new life is a script I'm writing myself. I write a little bit each day, and I have no idea how it's going to turn out. But I'm curious to find out.

P.S. I haven't worn the Prada shoes in over a year!

Member Since: Wednesday, August 16 2006

Last Visit: 102 days ago.

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