Tierras de Vida means "Lands of Life"

I had an incredible evening last night at the Tierras de Vida Annual Gala (Agros International fundraiser).  Rick Steves as the Keynote Speaker.  I love Rick Steves and used his travel guide when we went to Europe in 2016.

Some of the things he said were: "When we travel, we get out of our ethnocentricity. Travel makes us wiser. We humanize people who are far away, and have empathy & compassion for them.  Travel helps us understand other people's baggage (not just focus on our own). We have the American Dream; other countries have their own dream."

On understanding baggage, he said, "We do things that are not who we are because of 9-11. We have the president that we have now because of 9-11."

And here is a hard one to swallow: "We, the rich, work from a mindset of scarcity. And yet, they, who are poor, work from a mindset of abundance. Why is that?"

Speak with Purpose

My friend gave me her ticket to the Seattle Women's Show.  At first, I didn't feel going especially since I wouldn't know anyone.  But since my friend kept saying, "if you are not going to use the ticket, let me know"...and I didn't want to waste it.  So I went.

Surprisingly, I had a good time.  There were lots of booths with small businesses, and some interesting break-out sessions.

This one break-out session at the end of the day, was just me and the speaker.  So I had 1:1 time with her, and it ended up being the most meaningful.  She asked me
1) right now I need ____________
2) today I am ____________
3) tomorrow I will be ____________
and 4) when I see myself in the future I am ________

And with those 4 fill-ins that opened the door for very authentic conversation.
My 4 answers were purpose, alone, busy, and ???

So she dove right in to the purpose answer.

Some tidbits from her were:
Whoever creates the narrative tells the story.
I need to control my narrative.
I need to know how I see myself, and to seek & desire purpose.
I need to take baby steps to manifest that.
Who I am helps me see my future self.
I need to groom myself to meet my future self.  Be intentional.
I need to understand who has packed my baggage (airport analogy), and to travel as lightly as possible.

All these nuggets were "wow" to me. 

I am sure she was expecting more than just me to show up to her talk.  But I sure I am glad that I got this personal time with her.  She was inspiring.  She challenged me to speak the naked truth, to let my guard down and be authentic.

No Rest for the Weary

Conversation with kids today:

Me: "Take a rest."  (J's ankle has been hurting from soccer and we were kicking around the ball.)

J: "Rest? There is no rest. Rest is homework. It's eat, sleep and lots of homework. And repeat."

Me: "What about your sister?"

J: "Soccer soccer soccer. I Love Lucy. Fool around. And a little bit of homework. Eat and sleep. More sleep than me. Repeat."

M: "NO! I have to do an hour and a half of Aleks."

J: "That's an hour and a half A WEEK." then calculates in her head..."That's 13 minutes a day! I would love 13 minutes a day of homework, even an hour and a half per day! And I would love to get as much sleep as you."

There seems to be an inbalance of homework between schools. That's quite apparent.

I am NOT Jesus

On Saturday, for St. Patrick's Day, I made corned beef in the crockpot.  I was told later in the day that my dish was the main meat dish for a party of 15 (dinner was at the Tipp's). Worried that it wasn't enough, I said to my kids, "Oh well, Jesus fed 5000 with 2 fish and 5 loaves. I should be able to feed 15!"  Jaclyn's reply was "You're not Jesus!"  So there it is. I am not Jesus.