You. Matter.

As I slumbered my husband rolled over and saw that my hands were raised above me, one hand holding up the other. He sweetly said to me, “you can put your hands down now” as he gently pushed my hands down toward the bed. I giggled, turned over, giggled again at myself and returned to my peaceful state…

I’m not exactly sure what I was thinking or dreaming about. I do raise my hand when I am in class for I enjoy being in on the discussions. I want my voice to be heard.

Each of us has a Voice. Each of us Matter. Sometimes, and maybe even oftentimes we feel unheard. After awhile of feeling we do not matter many emotions may set in…anger, resentment, indifference. If you have fallen victim to any of these emotions, the first step to recovery is to recognize this feeling. Own it; validate where it comes from and then move past it. Sometimes we become indifferent or even silenced because someone or something has squelched our voice that has beaten our spirit.



Life is about choice. We make good ones, we make bad ones, but we live Now. The choices we have made are in the past. How we react to them is in the Now. We can become victims to Life… or we can raise our hands, stand up for ourselves and Matter. You. Matter.

Seriously, I Whisper to My Dogs

I love the Dog Whisperer. I pretty much think Cesar Milan rocks. Not because of his beautiful white teeth or the way he snaps his fingers and dogs obey, but because he is spiritually in tune with a deeper connection of life. Am I crazy (don’t answer that), or what?

But seriously, if you watch this show enough times, and really watch it and learn, you will catch this inner connection of nature and nurture, you will see the way in which our energy influences so much around us…and most of the time, we as humans are completely unaware!

So we have our 3 dogs, Zion the privileged princess, who is my dog that I hate to admit, wears designer clothes and a personalized bling bling collar. Then there is Dozer, my faithful patrolling granddog that would not hurt a flea, yet I will admit has scared half the neighborhood so much that I had to rescue him from the pound after one overly dramatic mother got carried away and called animal control. She apparently had not been “Dozer Savvy” at the time. And then there is Roxee, she is Dozer’s responsibility in life, for which he shuttles her out to potty and follows her around to make sure his 65 pounds is protecting her deviant 12 lbs.! This is difficult, she picks fights on anything that is two to five hundred times her size. Big dogs, horse and such, she will leap out of car windows if they look at her wrong. We have had some scenes with this special needs pup. So we have had partial to full custody of the two Yeawhos for the past few years while Disneyland Dog Dad is still filling his oats. It keeps the house full and we love the nurturing opportunities as we patiently wait for the grandchildren to come along…



Dozer dominating Roxee to get what he wants in the "pre" Dog Whisperer days.






Now back to Cesar…last episode he was dealing with an “unbalanced dog” named Chloe from Boston. She and her owner make the trip to go to the dog psychology center as a last stitch effort in hopes of saving her. The dog has been traumatized and whenever she encounters other dogs she bites her owner. I won’t go into a play by play of the episode, but what I found fascinating was after Cesar worked with her, Chloe the dog did this little dance, he recognized it as her fully surrendering to the pack. Chloe wanted to play and be a part of the pack. She trusted in Cesar and shortly thereafter trusted the pack. Cesar immediately pulled the leash off after she did this adorable little dance, which to a lay person they may not have caught what she was doing, but in the replay you definitely caught the playfulness of her behavior. Cesar's quick reaction to allow her to enjoy and become part of the pack was exactly what Chloe needed to release her fears. She ran playfully with the other dogs with sheer enjoyment. Her owner sat in disbelief! Cesar explained how he had to honor the dogs body language and reward her immediately for she had let go of her fears.

Cesar says, “I rehabilitate dogs, I train people.” I think that is hilarious, because in every instance we always think that something is WRONG with the dog, but dogs react to us as humans. We as humans must lead dogs with a calm and aggressive manner for the dogs to be happy and balanced.

I see parallels in this as we relate to one another as people. I believe we feel one anothers energy a great deal, but do not acknowledge it in our brains. I also believe IF we reacted in calm and confident manners to many situations we would have favorable outcomes. I replaced aggressive with confident on purpose. So that is the “lesson” in this blog…you have to think about it…

Just so you know the progress with Dozer and Roxee, Dozer is no longer chasing little kids and knocking them down to steal their stuffed animals, yes, all I have to do is calmly say “HEY!” And Roxee no longer charges the TV when animals come on the screen. Her favorite show is the Dog Whisperer too. In the beginning she had to lie on her back on the couch next to me to watch the show (a tip from Cesar which calms dogs). She now is able to sit right next to me (and sit on her haunch she does) while we watch. If she starts shaking and gets a little excited, I just lean over and, I whisper to her! What do I say? That’s between Roxee and me.
This is Roxee pre "Dog Whisper" days (2009) attacking another dog on TV, we've come along way baby!

What do YOU give?

I took two mid-term exams today. Neither exams were about the environment or Green Peace, which is a non-government organization that evolved out of a peace movement and anti-nuclear protests. But the subject matter that was on the exams brought this phrase to mind, "You get what you give" of which, I agree and I disagree. May I explain?

Economically: We do not get what we give, equitably...women (all races/ethnicity combined still earn 80.2% of what men earn, and only 68.9% if you are an African American woman (IWPR.org 2009). It is a myth that poor people are lazy and the wealthy are ambitious. In America your socio-economic class is more connected to your background, the family you were born into.

Politically: as a nation we seem to hear more left and right wing rhetoric than we actually see in steps forward to solving the important issues that require compromise and egos to be put aside. Americans become apathetic to issues and voting when their representatives are bought by big business and special interests.

Socially: the status and prestige that is present in the so to speak "caste system" in America divides us into social classes from the poor to the excessively rich. When 95% of the wealth in this country is owned by 2.8% of the population, this very tight group of people can and do have profound effects on peoples lives. I am disappointed in the disproportion between two professions like teachers and professional athletes. Teachers have little prestige (and wages comparatively) in the ranks of our social classes. America elevates (and pays) professional athletes more to entertain our children than to educate them.

Physically: you get what you give. Exercise, eat right, generally works in your favor. Enough said.

Mentally/Emotionally: what you think about you bring about, thoughts create behaviors. By acknowledging and owning your own behavior and not others you will generally be more mentally and emotionally healthy. When you are mentally and emotionally healthy you have positive energy and you are a positive force to be around...you get what you give. Acknowledging your mental/emotional well-being to fluctuate and be ok with that is powerful, it is ok NOT to operate at 100%, one hundred percent of the time.

Relationships: this is one area where you get what you give...but are the motives of the two the same? Two people equal balance... which equals proportionate effort, however if one persons intentions are romantic and the others is friendship the relationship will be out of balance, you will not get what you give. Not all relationships have to be about getting, sometimes just giving is enough to fill your cup. However if you are always taking, your cup will never filleth...