My Life is a constant experiment in pushing the envelope on self-discovery… and in never giving up.
Photo Credit JOHN ANNESLEY II, Copyright 2008
Born at home under a full moon to a farmer and his wife in the middle of the Reaganomics Era. Raised in a cult-like community on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Singer by age 3 (on-stage and internationally, I might add), award-winning artist by age 5 (well, if county fair blue ribbons count…), writer by age 6 (song lyrics and started a neighborhood newspaper that had at least half a dozen regular subscribers…), award-winning writer by age 13 (wrote and published a book and placed in the top 100 out of 7,000 contestants for an international contest…), professional free-lancer at 17 and again at 24 (that first $100 check was a dream, but the last $250 was such a hassle I haven’t looked back…), opera singer by 19 (despite never finishing my Vocal Performance degree, I still sang professionally on multiple pre-college occasions…), devoted single mother at 25 (see: Letter To My Son series).
And in between times?
Live-in nanny, muralist, silk flag painter, pin-up model, singing waitress, archery instructor, fat-tire downhill-riding speedaholic, Civil War Nurse historic re-enactor, pilot of a single-engine Cessna (for about five minutes), costume and set designer for a working theatre, highest paid actress in two major tourist towns, child advocate and sex-trafficking antagonist, interior decorator for a small design company (I once designed a tile mantle piece…as if I had a clue what I was doing), environmentally-friendly singing cleaning lady and… Lady Liberty waving a cardboard sign on street corners to name a few.
From an early age, I chose to create a powerful expression of Life every day.
Photo Credit: JOHN ANNESLEY II, Copyright 2008
I began consciously manifesting at age 12, at first “using” my newly discovered “power” to win several art and writing competitions against my peers.
I learned the Power Of The Life List at age 15, when I first sat down and sketched out 50 Goals To Achieve Before I Die. I put things like “sing opera professionally”, “have a baby”, “travel to Scotland” and “get paid to write articles”… and by age 25, the List was 90% done, and the last few items no longer interested me, so I dumped the List and started over!
This new list isn’t a “Before I Die” type of list… it’s more fluid, flexible and changeable than that. It will grow with me as I walk through Life, and I’m not afraid to delete and edit as my desires and dreams change.
I took inspiration from people like Bill, who once told me: “You are perfect just the way you are.” He said that before they turned it into awesome song lyrics, by the way. And my Dad, who said: “You are my little Michaelangelo. You can do anything!” And my brother Ben, who told me: “I believe in you – there are no limitations but what we think.” And John, who loves me and supports all my dreams even though I broke his heart a million times. And finally, Orion, my tiny son, who tells me “Ahh, goo…*gurgle*” every single morning, and I know exactly what he means.