| For the first five years of my life I didn’t have a worry in the world. I lived in Aruba, an island in the Caribbean. It was an idyllic life of sunshine, animals, trips to my father’s hydroponic farm, and wonderful people of many colors who surrounded me with their love. My mother always told me I was color-blind and I remember liking the sound of that, even though I didn’t know then what it meant.
 When we made the move to New York City my experience of the world dramatically changed. Unlike Aruba, the Big Apple was filled with lots of people, with very strong feelings about many things, especially race, religion and politics. At six I began to ask the question, “Why can’t people get along?” It wasn’t until I was much older that I found the answer-- and a call to action for myself.
The actual journey to write Where Peace Lives began in the second year of my Master’s Degree Program in Spiritual Psychology, at the University of Santa Monica, in Los Angeles, California. As part of our curriculum, we had to embark on a one-year unit in ‘Self Mastery.’ The challenge: do something you had always wanted to do but were, perhaps, too fearful to take on. I have always loved to write. I had wanted to write a book for quite some time. I committed to write my first book and I did just that.
Many wonderful, challenging, and growth oriented twists and turns later, I now have the privilege to invite you to bring Where Peace Lives into your life and make it a part of your peace journey.
There are many lessons I learned from writing Where Peace Lives, lessons about the power of setting intentions, creating a living vision so my universe can co-create extraordinary results with me, and persevering while being infinitely patient. I also benefited from the University of Santa Monica’s core teaching called, ‘being goals.’ They taught me that, as important as my ‘doing goals’ were -- all the things I would do to make the book happen -- my ‘being goals’-- how I would be inside myself during the process -- were as essential. What I love about ‘being goals’ is that I have complete dominion over them. No one can stop me from feeling love, peace, confidence, joy and gratitude unless I allow them to.
| For me, creating and fulfilling my ‘being goals’ has been my greatest accomplishment. Over the years I never lost heart, I rarely lost my peace, and I loved and honored myself each and every day. These were, and still are, my being goals for bringing Where Peace Lives into the world: |
To avail myself to Spirit’s calling at the highest and most expansive level. To step forward fully in my ability to serve. To experience total, one hundred percent, calm and certainty that my life is already magnificent and slated to be even more so. To hold myself and my work in the highest esteem. To have complete patience with the process. To make time my best friend. To rejoice in every adventure along the way. To fill myself with confidence. To have the most fun I’ve ever had, regardless. To fill my days with laughter, a laughter replete with loving and thankfulness. To experience deeper levels of inner freedom. To live from the wholeness of my soul and the richness of my human adventure. To have an impenetrable attitude of gratitude. To live in peace.
As a result, I now practice peace every single day. Some days I give myself an A plus, other days a D minus. But I no longer allow myself the option to not practice peace. I now understand that peace is a muscle that has to be strengthened. It is a discipline that demands consistency and practice. And I am committed to practice peace until practice makes perfect. |
