SORRY ALL FOR GRAMMER AND SPELLING ERRORS I COULD NOT FIND MY SPELL CHECK...IDIOT'S DELIGHT!

I received a mail just yesterday from a young man who is an old friend. He spoke of his disillusionment with "hype" mainly around environmental issues and earth causes as these were the issues that moved him into action to do something about making changes for the preservation and good of this beautiful planet. Full of hope he engaged in whatever he could to become a part of this movement. Today he is feeling a bit cynical about it all. It is always tough to enter into that which you believe in both actively and with a strong spirit for making it "right" only to discover that those who wield the power may not want to achieve the goals we began with. This is not new! I remember it well, in the days of believing in peace, in equal rights for all,

in the power a society can have when everyone works together towards a solution to whatever ever problems emerge as critical in whatever ere we are in.

Back in the sixties (which many people would like to forget) that power was in full swing...there was a gathering of the people that held such a force that those who would choose to turn away were made to listen, to see. It was a frightening time for politics and corporates because it was not just a samll gathering here and there which could be controlled and made to fade away. It was not, at that time something that could be turned into profit or used as a front to make us all believe that our leaders agreed! It was the only time in my life so far where the people got past those who had an investment in "no change"

One of the major aspects of the success of that ere, and believe me it was a success was that it was the young students who made us all wake up and see that we were agreeing to live in a world that cred not for "all the people" by the people! There voices were the first to say NO MORE WAR...(Vietnam) The first to demand equal rights for all citizens of any coluer or sex...

soon there efforts were picked up by lawyers, doctors,musicians.. a growing movement coming from the church's...followed by housewives...laborers..dentists... et al.

The jails were full of citizens, not criminals but ordinary people who were bearing witness..I went to jail with the ladies who lunched and played bridge....my son went to jail with Joan Baez...my dentist was held for two weeks for protesting ! imagine a dentist in the local jail!

The point was that it was a time when we were strong enough and aware enough to see through those who were in control and deman our right to be heard on this terrible war that was causing so much loss and pain to everyone.

Around the same time, another storm was brewing in America, in the deep south...word was spread all over the states from those who had seen the poverty, oppre4sion and humilation of our black citizens.

One day, an elderly black woman refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a local bus. She was tired, she had worked all day for her white boss....she was tired also of a system that every moment of every day made her feel unwelcome in the country she was born in. Her name was Rosa Parks...she lit a fire that consumed a nation and the civil rights movement was born!

From these days forward my stories are many.... I was fortunate enough to be there, to see what the power of the people could do and yes, also what it would never be able to achieve. I to was dissapointed in many of the issues that occured while we were living in an era of significient change. Not all was possible, for example I saw the destruction of many good and csring clergy as the rich parisheners wielded there pocketbooks to keep gays and blacks from the doors of their posh cathedrals....but not without a fight..believe me! more to come on all of this for any of you who are interested.

My blog today is for my friend who has every right to be cynical and deeply dissapointed as he sees the charade of charities and do gooders who behind the scenes are not working for change but rather for "big bucks" It is good that you see beyond your enthusiasm...good that you have a bitter taste in your mouth because only when you can see clearly what you are up against, what the big picture really is....then and only then you will find from within the resource that is waiting to be tapped to make change. Go ahead, be cynical! but never give up hope...hope is the very thing that reminds us each day of what we are doing on this planet, for this planet and for all the people on it.

To begin, it took me approx half an hour and a bit of help to find my way back to my blog! Clearly I need a lot more work on the magic of the internet! Now I'm here and this is my first try at blogging I don't know what to say! I started thinking about it this morning while walking Angus, why do people want a blog? When you finally get one...What do you do with it?



Well I guess it's time to find out. Most of you who log onto this site will be surprised to learn that I am in fact quite shy...exposure, although I have certainly had enough of that, frightens me and makes me go all quiet. But this is ridiculous since I have always got an opinion about everything and seem to have no trouble having something to say here at home.....and.....I am indeed the carrier of many many stories spanning over 50 years and including literally hundreds of people.



I made a decision to do this when my granddaughter Stella put me on FACE BOOK...wow! suddenly I was hearing from so many people that made a difference in my life! Trying to answer everyone or write on a bunch of walls just didn't work for me....so here I am on the "BLOG"



For those of you who know me and for those of you who may come to know me I will start with a bit of who I am and why it may be worth while to tune into my blog.



I was born in San Francisco, California...went to a public high school in the days when dancing was all about having plenty of room to move around on a highly polished wood floor to music that you simply had to move to. It was a time before drugs but beer and wine always seem to be available. We loved beach parties, drive-ins, Cadillac's and Buick's, Friday nights with the girls taking in a good movie then meeting up with guys and walking barefoot in the sand along the beach's at the end of the tram lines....Sat night was date night and it was dismal if you didn't have one! I would spend most of saturday either at the beach getting a tan so I would look great for Saturday night or preparing myself for that moment around 8:00 when whoever was picking you up for a night of dancing in Larkspur! I never did get used to the small space of disco's after that....



We were into our football or basketball teams....and there was a lot of seasonal falling in love going on as some of the girls loved to be dating the local star of the season! Others were true blue and went "steady" then you got to wear your guys "block" on his jacket or sweater which made you truly important!



We got drunk, got into trouble, some of us got pregnant and in those days that meant early marriage! Most of us survived and even now past a half century we still keep in touch and compare notes.



I was then and remain now a rebel! I fought for the causes I believed in, equal rights, gay rights, no more war and so-on. Many of my friends were shocked and disappointed in me but I was always true to what I thought needed to change in my country. This was the beginning of a life full of amazing happenings and some of the most eccentric or creative people one could hope to meet in the span of their life.



Almost twenty years passed between the time of graduating high school and the beginning of a most exciting ere, THE SIXTIES when I already had two boys and another on the way...I was never a real Hippie, I missed that by about ten years...but in spite of my coiffed hair and "Jackie" clothes I was indeed with them for many of the principals that existed in that time...although as a mother with one son already old enough to explore the pshco-drug scene and another soon to be I was very scared of drugs...Today I am still quite wary but with far more understanding and far less judgement...WITHIN REASON...



In my early 30's I discovered a talent I had to work with people who wanted to gain awareness in a different way then drugs, to explore feelings and expand on thoughts...to discover that magical thing that Abraham Maslow spoke of...AUTONOMY....I discovered my skills by first completing the four steps developed by the NATIONAL TRAINING LABS...then going into a lot of personal therapy...and was fortunate enough to receive a great deal of training by those who were considered the best in their field which of course was psychology.



It was a time when "The Humanstic Psychology" was in full swing. I was included in that through being chosen as one of the "lay therapists" who had proven their worth and thus supported by that group to pursue what was to become my career and what I loved more than anything else in my life except my kids.



This pursuit took me further into meeting some very interesting people, some famous, some not...but many who represented the real heroes of society. Those who took responsibility for themselves and their families, who would be willing to bare witness to make the changes to their communities that mattered. Thoughtful people who through their emotions and passions believed in things like peace...integration, family life, hard work and most of all that maybe Love was indeed all you needed.



And thus my life and career went on for over 35 years, in that time the stories mounted up, the tragedies and comedies of life were a part of my day to day existence and that of my boys. I have been both famous and infamous...experienced some terrible pain and some monumental joy....my life has been shared with others and their children. I have been truly blessed and yes cursed as well....one does not choose a life with out political correctness, one where bearing witness matters without coming to some very rocky moments...do I regret my choice? Easy for me to say...NO but better as time passes and we get to blogging with each other, you can make that decision yourself.



I am at my best when questions are asked of me, I do not get on so well with just talking without the presence of another human being to spark a story....I like to be needed...that seems to be my catalyst.



That's all for now

Gram

OK THERE'S A LOT OF STUFF AROUND NOW THAT REALLY NEEDS TO CHANGE, FOR EXAMPLE WHAT HAPPEND TO THE FAMILY, HOW COME FOLKS ARE EATING ON THEIR OWN IN FRONT OF ANY OLE SCREEN INSTEAD OF BEING TOGETHER AND TALKING TO EACH OTHER ALIVE AND IN THE FLESH.....WHAT HAPPEND TO GREAT MUSIC, MUSIC THAT HAD MELODY AND MADE YOU FEEL THINGS, LIKE HAPPY. OUTRAGEOUS AND ROMANTIC? HAVE WE LOST ALL SENSE OF FRIENDSHIP,