A Declaration for A New Year

It's a new year, so what better time for a new tradition? Perhaps like millions of others or as in years past, you've created one (or more) new year's resolutions without thinking twice. I never much liked the idea of a new year's resolution, because for the most part I don't think they work. They more often resort to hollow promises than well-thought-out goals. They're made out of tradition or habit rather than conscious intent. So for 2009, a year ripe with change, newness, and transformational beginnings, I've settled on something more powerful than the age-old New Year's Resolution: the New Year's Declaration.

What's the difference between "resolution" and "declaration"? Plenty. Resolution is defined as "determination, strong will". It involves constancy, doggedness, and firmness. A Declaration is "an assertion of belief or knowledge". It is an affirmation, a testimony, an oath and at its most powerful, a revelation.

Resolutions take will power to live up to, and without a strong will (or rock solid support system propping up that will), they don't have a prayer. They require effort, struggle, and work. Given this, they are set up to fail; rife with more inroads to be broken or sabotaged than kept.

Declarations, on the other hand, come from a point of decision. Decision necessitates clarity and emanates from that center within each of us which burns with empowerment and resolve. Declarations are a way of saying "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead". They are more concerned with a starting point than an end result. And isn't that what renewal - each new year's gift to us all - is all about?

Here's my declaration for 2009:

I declare

• I will take action toward my dreams and goals even though I might not feel like it
• I will get started on tasks or projects even though conditions are not perfect
• I will persist even though I could procrastinate
• I will write, and write regularly, even though it might suck
• I will not use physical illness or discomfort as a reason to stop living my dream even though I could
• I will give my body the rest, nurturing, and healing it needs even though it might slow me down
• I will not worry or obsess about time even though it marches on
• I will not cocoon myself from new opportunities even though sitting home in my pyjamas is more comfortable
• On the other hand, I will allow myself the power to say no to requests which are not in alignment with my desires even though I could easily say yes
• I will do what I want rather than what other people think I should even though they might not agree
• I will dance like no one's watching even though they will be
• I will communicate from love and patience even though I'm conditioned to scream and shout
• And finally, I will live fearlessly even in the face of fear

A tall order? Perhaps, and I'll definitely need reminding and rereading of the above on a regular basis. But I declare, I'm tired of living any way else.

What's your new year's declaration? What do aspire to do "even though"?

The Financial Crisis' Money Lessons I Learned From My Parents

On the front end of a business trip to The Windy City, I recently had the chance to visit with my parents (now on the far side of their 60's) in the Chicago suburbs. They took me to one of their favorite local haunts for dinner, a cozy grill with a fine-dining menu but casual, comfy atmosphere. The hearty Midwestern fare (heavy on the prime rib and grilled meats) was good, and as always, the conversation was provocative.

Never ones to keep their opinions to themselves, my parents' outrage at the recent government bailout of the financial services industry didn't really surprise me. What did catch me off guard was their sense of righteous indignation over the state of the economy and specifically, their strong emotional reaction to all those who had "lived high on the hog" over the years seemingly at the expense of good, responsible Americans like themselves; people who had "followed the rules" and lived within their means, only to be left at the end of the day with no reward for their good behavior, dwindling retirement savings, and questionable future Social Security benefits.

My mother proclaimed her new goal was to "die in debt". Not to accumulate wealth and leave a healthy financial legacy to future generations as past and current generations are conditioned to do, but instead to spend it all first. She wants to live it up and go out in style while she still can.

Their concern over retirement savings taking a hit and insecurity over Social Security is legitimate, but their anger and bitter resentment from feeling "ripped off" confused me. I felt the generation gap open up as I asked, "What sort of reward did you expect?"

In my early 40's with siblings younger than me, I realized my expectations related to income, career, savings, retirement and happiness which I've developed as an adult are light years away from the conditioned expectations that many in my parents' generation held and continue to assume are true. I don't fault them for thinking as they do, but I do sometimes pity their rigidity and short-sightedness. They grew up in the 50's, a time of post WWII prosperity, apparent job security and well-defined gender roles. I grew up in the 70's, a period of social upheaval, energy crises, inflation, women's lib and general craziness not entirely unlike today.

In spite of or perhaps in rebellion against a suburban upbringing that despite the times remained relatively sheltered and conservative, AND many lectures on fiscal responsibility, savings, and planning from my father aside, here are the lessons I learned about money from my parents along with my take on how they stand in the cold light of today's financial climate:

• Lesson 1: Stay out of debt (i.e. Live Within Your Means)
  I wildly flunked this lesson after getting my first credit card in college. Of course, I'm among that virgin generation of college students to have been offered consumer credit without having a job to finance it. I have since flunked this lesson on various occasions post-college as well, yet I can truthfully say this about being in debt: necessity is the mother of invention. Carrying debt has at various intervals 1) motivated me to work harder and smarter to pay it off, 2) motivated me to advance my career, 3) allowed me to take risks otherwise not available to me, and 4) has allowed me to improve my standard of living.
  
  On the downside, I've seen what it's like to live beyond my means for material gain alone (not worth it) and have succumbed to the trappings of American consumerism more than once. And I've had my fair share of living with large amounts of debt hanging over my head and the unpleasant feeling of digging out of it. Yet, I've been lucky enough to always have been able to earn my way out of it.
  
  The upshot? It's not debt that's evil, it's why you decide to take it on and how you manage it that can cause suffering. Be a smart shopper and go for the lowest interest rates available. Consolidate, refinance, and be vigilant about liabilities management. Use credit for what matters (like buying a home, a car, building a business or seeing you through tough times), rather than to buy rapidly depreciating luxury goods or worship at the altar of consumer consumption. And in the final analysis, you'd better at least have a positive net worth in case those loans get called or the credit cards demand payment.
  
  Lesson learned: Living within your means is generally a good idea, but taking the occasional risk can also pay off. Living wildly beyond your means without commensurate reward for the risk is never worth it.
  
• Lesson 2: Go to College and Get a Good Job (Otherwise known as "How to Become Risk Averse Part A")
  I've got nothing against a university education. In fact, I have a great one, and it cost me dearly. I left four years of out-of-state college with thousands of dollars of student loans even though my father had saved for my education. But in all fairness, it wasn't enough, and I was the oldest of four which didn't make things easy. Of course, after all that credit card debt I racked up in school I had to get a good job to pay it off, but really the intended lesson here was that the path to career success and financial reward was a "good job", the kind of high-paying job with benefits you can land only with a college degree.
  
  When I graduated the University of Michigan in the late 80's with a BA in Communications , starting salaries for journalists were $13,000 a year. You couldn't live on that twenty years ago much better than you can today. So I took a "safe" job in marketing that payed me twice as much, and it slowly whittled away at my happiness along the way. Over the years what little concept of company loyalty and career longevity I saw my older peers cling to rapidly eroded and I realized I wasn't going to get anywhere I wanted to go by working for someone else, making either a company or those at the top rich while I toiled to maintain my standard of living on their terms.
  
  The upshot? There is no job security, and there never really was. You are your brand, you are your own company, and only you and you alone determine how much you're worth. The lessons I really learned here are that it's worth a little (or even a lot) of risk to do what you love, and that when you DO do what you love, the money will follow. Chasing a high paying job for financial security isn't worth the price you'll pay unless what you do at that job is your genuine and burning passion anyway. On the other hand, we all have to get started somewhere, we all pay our dues.
  
  Lesson learned: Get the education you need and can afford, and pay your dues as quickly as you can while the tuition is low, then create life on your own terms while you're young enough to enjoy it. True freedom comes not from the ability to earn what other people say you're worth, but the ability to decide for yourself what you're worth and how to produce that corresponding income.
  
  
• Lesson 3: Follow the Rules & You'll Reap Your Reward (or "How to Become Risk Averse Part B") My parents taught me to live within my means and to follow the rules. I quickly learned that living within my means and following the rules was a) boring and b) the rules are for the most part, rigged against the average person. Yes, the so-called formula of "college degree" + "good job" = comfy house in the suburbs and financial security was created by the wealthy elite to keep the underprivileged aspiring to all become the same, and to keep average people dependent upon the empires that the wealthiest created. The formula is bogus, for there are many other formulas that work just as well if not better. But it's especially bogus because it assumes that financial security equals happiness. It doesn't account for "life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness" only the pursuit of income.
  
  True wealth generation, when not corrupt, comes from extraordinary passion and risk-taking even more so than intelligence and hard work, although action toward specified goals should not be discounted. A college degree is not a dependency, and a white collar job is not a requirement. Entrepreneurship usually is. The rules are flawed and sadly, many in my parents' generation (including them) did not think to question those rules and have lived to regret it. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs did not finish college before starting their businesses. Andrew Carnegie didn't even go to college.
  
  The upshot? Somewhere along the line what was aspired to by many Americans became the formula for success (if not also happiness) for most WITHOUT ANYONE QUESTIONING WHY. People opted into the easy, prescribed plan for making a living instead of being taught to pursue their passions and take risks. The formula became the end instead of a means to an end.
  
  Lesson learned: The rules are meant to be broken (as clearly they have been) because they are constantly evolving. Break them corruptly and karma will get you. But break them passionately, revolutionarily, and you'll soar despite the odds. The bottom line: Safe is boring. Don't play it safe, life is too short not to be doing what you love. There is no magic formula for wealth generation or success, because we each define that for ourselves anyway.


• Lesson 4: Save For a Rainy Day
  On this one, I have to agree my parents have it right. Hedging your bets is something all good gamblers/investors do. A little bit of foregone pleasure today for peace of mind tomorrow is not a bad tradeoff. In diversity lies equilibrium. Not to mention, compound interest is just about the eighth wonder of the world. Yes, despite my proclivity for risk and spending over the years I've also always saved, and don't regret a penny of it.
  
  The upshot? Decide what you really want and realize if it costs money, you'll have to make short-term sacrifices for long term gain. All the living in the moment and instant gratification of today isn't worth being homeless as a senior citizen to most people. On the other hand, hoarding can make you miserable and as the Law of Attraction tells us, a lack of outflow prevents inflow. Balance is the key, and will continually need to be rediscovered throughout life.
  
  Lesson learned: Money is a tool. Use it consciously and wisely. Have clear stated goals and revisit them often. The world certainly does change. Perhaps most of all, don't get too attached to a significant nest or retirement egg. You can't, after all, take it with you.
  

Like all generations we learn from our elders by filtering what they've done and simultaneously emulating and rejecting their example. We repeat what has worked in the past, then dump it at the point of diminishing returns. We're all a product of our environments, my parents were no different. They did the best they could given the knowledge and circumstances they had to work with.

My hope for those with most of their lives ahead of them and for future generations is to realize financial lessons are not learned once and put on autopilot for life. Understanding the intricate connection between wealth, success, money and happiness is a journey, not a destination. People, markets, and systems are unpredictable and fluid. Safety and security is an illusion. Corruption and greed exists. And most of all, life is too short not to do what you love and find a way to make a living at it.

So the next time you're feeling resentful, bitter or deprived; or if you feel like you're just feeding the machine, working for the man, ask yourself: "Did I rebel, or did I just do what I was told? Did I take risks?" And most of all, "Did I ever ask Why?"

Never stop questioning. Something tells me come 2009 well be doing plenty more questioning and investigating of our government, our business leaders, and our politicians when it comes to our money. Which makes me think one money lesson is timeless: sometimes you have to learn the hard way before the learning sticks.

Non-Voters: Opt-Out or Cop-Out?

I've gotta sound off about non-voters, of which my sister is one and always has been. I'm guessing most of you reading this are not in that category, so enjoy the video humor below and forward the link to the non-voters in your life.

I have a sister in her late thirties and as far as anyone knows she has never voted in a Presidential or mid-term election.

She and I are long past being able to talk about this, so I just don't say anything anymore (except here). All the more surprising that she emailed this today:



Obviously someone sent her the joke, which she forwarded to family with the comment, "Okay, I am ALMOST motivated to vote now". Well sis, whatever works!

But here's how I really feel, because I can't just slam my sister, I've got other non-voting family members who shall remain nameless (and should be thankful I'm feeling so generous). The reasons they don't vote vary from "it won't matter", to "it's rigged anyway" to "I don't like the choices." Yes, I've heard those and more such as "it's just a lesser of two evils contest anyway", "the system is flawed", and "my vote won't be counted". But the one that really, irritatingly sticks in my craw like a stuck piece of toilet paper where the sun don't shine is this explanation: "I just don't care".

Really, you don't care? What will it take for you to care? Hmm, let's see. How about losing your life savings in a bank that goes under? How about being underwater on your mortgage? How about no health benefits? Higher taxes? Rising gas prices? How about your son or daughter in Iraq doesn't get to come home next year?

Maybe you're somehow unaffected by those things so let's take it down to the local level you can't escape. How about the school district re-zoning which now puts your kids in the overcrowded old school with the low income "D" students instead of the shiny new one? Or the referendum proposing a property tax increase? Or the state constitution amendment banning gay marriage? I hope you like your neighbors, because they'll be deciding those things for you. Do you care now?

I've watched these "I don't care" non-voters sit lofty in their ivory towers or if they can't stand to watch us peons from there, bury their heads in the sand. They say they have as much right NOT to cast their vote as to cast it. Technically that's true, no one is forced to vote or penalized for not voting. Realistically, what is truer is that there are always consequences - for action as well as inaction. Flawed non-voter logic overlooks this fact, preferring instead to believe consequences happen only when you do something instead of fail to do something. Witness Presidential elections 2000 and 2004. Point made.

So non-voters, you can claim not voting takes you out of the picture altogether, but that's just denial. What failing to exercise your right to vote does successfully do is remove you from making a choice and living with the consequences of your choosing. And yes, that's a lot scarier and takes a lot more conviction than burying your head in the sand.

Take a Dr. Phil moment to get real and ask yourself: by not voting are you are opting-out or copping-out? Unless you're planning on signing on with another country, I think you know the answer. Go ahead non-voters, you just keep those excuses coming. Because if you argue for your limitations, they will most certainly be yours.

America, Growing Up At Last

The tide is turning, and it's about time. After years of ranting about Americans having been alarmed down, dumbed down, numbed down, and steadily swamped with dread into paralytic complacency, I'm seeing a shift. It's an at-long-last, we've-had-enough sustained upswell away from fear toward what for lack of a better description, I call awareness. Awareness that, despite the smorgasbord of dread and despair served up daily - if not shoved right under our collective noses - we don't have to eat at that fear-mongering table. Once tasty morsels have lost their appeal now that they're exposed as nothing more than gluttonous empty calories.

Arianna Huffington summed it up here and I agree. The theater of American evolution is playing out in this historic presidential election. As if our choices weren't distinct enough in 2000 and 2004, the universe has dumbed it down for us, reducing circumstances to their most simple and obvious. "Crank up the contrast, literally present them with black and white, and maybe they'll finally get it," fate must have reasoned. Like a patient adult waiting for a small child to chose the red or green M&M and providing as many gentle nudges as he could muster before commanding, "just pick one already".

On the long tail of years of stagnation and months of yo-yoing unsettledness, it is nothing less than EXHILARATING to feel the tide turning. It feels like people as a collective are stepping up to determine the future they want rather than remaining willing pawns in a game determined by a select few. Everywhere support of Obama is growing as the choice for our future rests literally between light and dark.

Speaking of her, I had the joy of meeting Arianna Huffington last Wednesday where she was the keynote speaker at a conference I attended. She herself is a bright light, working on several levels which those who are listening will hear.

As I spent the last week traveling cross country from Palm Beach County, Florida to Phoenix Arizona through Dallas - talk about covering Obama, McCain, and even Bush territories - I couldn't help but overhear snippets of conversation from many walks of life. Praise of Obama grows on many lips. Even as I spent most of the week in Phoenix Arizona, hotbed of McCain support, I saw the Obama supporters vocal, emerging, surging. So take heart, if that’s not the case in your neck of the woods, realize you’re seeing just a very small piece of a very large whole.

My husband is a frequent international traveler and American citizen by marriage which gives him a unique outside-in perspective on this country. In the past month he’s been to Mexico, Brazil, and France. All reports from foreign fronts are that support is overwhelmingly for Obama. Even this morning on my way into the Phoenix airport through security, I met two Hungarian reporters covering the election for Hungary’s major (only?) newspaper. Their trip was limited to campaign headquarters sites - Phoenix first, then Chicago. Without disclosing my preference, I asked them if they had a favorite candidate. They said Obama, and that most of Hungary (if not also Europe) was hoping for the same.

All those I know and have recently met who are passionately interested in what they do are Obama supporters; everyone else is either on the fence or for McCain. The line of demarcation grows bolder by the day. You can tell by the energy, the personality and for lack of a more quantifiable factor the simple "vibe" of who you meet where they stand. Either they’re moving forward confidently and eagerly - in life in general - or are enslaved by their circumstances, resisting and afraid. Little to no middle ground remains. What's really happening here? We're not just being asked to choose a president. We're being asked to choose a way of life.

The current issue of Time magazine has a great article on Obama, summing him up as “a mature adult for a nation that desperately needs adult supervision”. It made me a little sad to reflect that we need adult supervision, but like any lost child, or tumultuous teenager, we'll be better for it. At long last I see people "growing up" into awareness, into the realization that we create our reality moment by moment, and certainly growing into clarity and certainty about what we want that reality to be. Is it possible? Are we as a nation (heck, as a species) stepping into a new maturity? I think although we're not all the way there, we're well on our way, and I for one am reveling in the prospects of a country, a world, and a future in which the measure of maturity goes far beyond chronological years alone.

And possibly, hopefully, achingly under President Obama I will be proud to be an American again, and even prouder to be co-creating an incredible new world.

The Desperation Reeks

I've been wondering for a while now when the McCain camp would get really down, dirty and desperate with attacks on Obama and frankly I'm surprised they waited this long.

Then again, since the primaries I've been waiting for the Obama dirt to come out, and it seems the media can't find anything that sticks to the guy. I don't count an affiliation with a zealous preacher or stupid rumors that Obama is a Muslim (http://www.fightthesmears.com/) as "sticky". No, I'm waiting for some good old bribery, kickbacks, tax cheating, illegal nanny hiring or a juicy sex scandal to break. Yet nothing so far.

So with the gloves all the way off the McCain campaign is now desperate for any tidbit of information that will translate into a decent TV soundbite sparking insecurity and fear in the hearts of the undecideds. The latest card they played is the Bill Ayers affiliation with Obama. As usual, I've done my own research on the Obama-Ayers connection and as a former Chicagoan knowing how things work in Chicago, I say it sounds tame, coincidental, and if they did what they say they did for Chicago schools, downright altruistic. Hey, after all, people can change (referring to Ayers) in 40 years.

Here’s the Anderson Cooper 360 report on YouTube. It's even-handed although the correspondent sounds lame “I didn’t have a chance to ask . . .”. Shit, as a reporter isn’t that your job? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvROBLortBQ

There are two things far more worrisome than calling - or attempting to call - Obama's integrity and trust into question. The first is that it's being done to distract people from the economic disaster (hello? the Dow dropped below 10,000. Anyone paying attention?) which is still far from over. As a senior McCain campaign strategist admitted to the Daily News of their new strategy to attack Obama's character, "It's a dangerous road, but we have no choice. If we keep talking about the economic crisis, we're going to lose."

The second is that the McCain camp may have finally reached the bottom of the dirty tricks barrel, and that's not good. The bottom of the barrel is a dark, rank, desperate place to be. The latest development has Palin inciting supporters to violence against Obama. Hey, when in doubt, try eliminating the opponent (it worked with Kennedy) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-feldman/is-palin-trying-to-incite_b_132534.html.

As dismayed as I am I can't say I'm surprised, which is a sad commentary in itself. I've been considering there could be an assassination attempt on Obama for some time, and granted it's a well-voiced concern. Those trying to preserve the old, obsolete ways of doing things are always most vicious when they know they are failing.

Pathetic, deplorable, piteous and insane doesn't even begin to sum it up. As a writer, words fail me in trying to frame the current state of election politics and makes me believe all those New World Order conspiracy theorists have been right all along. My advice to the general population is to tap into your sense of reason and higher intelligence even if it hurts. My advice to the McCain campaign is to get some real dirt on Obama, or shut up and start addressing the issues. Because you know what? Your stench reeks all the way from Florida to Alaska.

In the Eye of the Storm

On the final Thursday of September 2008 instead of feeling pulled to my 7:00 a.m. yoga class I felt called to the beach instead. Living fifteen minutes from Palm Beach Florida, I don’t visit the beach (any beach, we have several nearby) nearly as much as I probably should. So that morning seemed like a prime opportunity to salute the sun in person rather than perform the usual sun salutations and downward dogs to the yoga studio mirror.

Prime opportunity, that is, until I arrived at the beach (Lantana Beach to be exact – the closest to my home) to find not only no sun, but also no beach. A shallow expanse of sand even at low tide, Lantana Beach was now covered in waves crashing close to if not onto the concrete break wall separating the sea from the Ritz Carlton and its high-priced neighbors just south of the hotel on Ocean Drive. Normally calm turquoise waters and low September surf now roiled and churned into three successive lines of gray, foamy waves.

I hopped the low wall separating the flooded public parking lot from the Ritz to get a better look at the coast to the south, but as far as I could see the tide was at an all time high. The sand was there, but the surf was too deep to do any strolling. The beach was officially closed; gates to the stairways down to the shore locked, and the local sheriff and city parks officials assessing the situation. A massive chunk of bluff had already been swept away, eroded by the elevated sea, from alongside the Dune Deck Café a stone's throw from the Ritz. As I ordered a cappuccino, the Dune Deck wasn’t sure how long they’d be around either.

I sighed. Considering September 2008, it was par for the course.

This September will go on record as being the most turbulent, chaotic, and ridiculously nonsensical month I can recall – ever. If your experience was anything like that of most people I know, you’re still feeling the whiplash of jerking your head back and forth between absurdity and incredulity. To say nothing has turned out quite as expected is an understatement. Predictions have been flummoxed (who’d have guessed Palin?). Both macro disasters (US economy, hurricane Ike) and micro inconveniences (I’ve now rescheduled my daughter’s eye exam for the third time in a week) have materialized – consistently so – straight out of left field. Yet the calm surface crust belies the festering magma and rupturing earth beneath. On one level, daily life continues to operate without a hitch: planes fly, garbage is collected, people go to work, kids attend soccer practice. On another, upsets bubble to the surface as banks fail, foreclosure notices are delivered, jobs are lost and Presidential debates nearly cancelled. Something is most definitely up.

Granted, astrologically we know Mercury is in retrograde between September 24 and October 15, in the sign of Libra. According to http://www.astrology.com/, a planet is described as retrograde when it appears to be moving backwards through the zodiac. Planets are never actually retrograde or stationary, they just seem that way due to the orbital rotation of the earth in relation to the other planets in our solar system. Although a powerful astrological influence, Mercury is a small planet that travels at a relatively fast speed through the zodiac, so it achieves retrograde three times a year. Yet depending on the sign in which it retrogrades, different effects can be felt. Mercury in retrograde is typically characterized by misunderstandings, confusion, and indecision. Most experts agree, the effects of a retrograde period are felt up to a month before and for as long as a month after the planet is in its apparent backwards march across the sky.

As validating as the astrological view is, I don’t need the stars and planets to tell me how out of whack things are. Just look around. I can chart an unsettled September not only from without, but from within. In the space of a week my three closest friends each experienced new and unpredictable upsets. One found herself at the abrupt and dramatic end of a seven year romantic relationship, another on the brink of chucking her twenty-year corporate career in technical engineering. The third, a bit eccentric to begin with, showed up on my doorstep one afternoon only to enact a startling episode of psychotic behavior brought on by a prescription drug interaction.

As for me, I began September with a trip to Orlando’s Universal Island of Adventure where I spent a day riding roller coasters, a fitting metaphor for the month about to unfold. Next up, a business trip to San Francisco coinciding with the expected arrival of hurricane Ike to my stretch of Florida coast. On the heels of Tropical Storm Fay, this hurricane – any hurricane – was a weather event sure to send me into a tailspin since being stranded out of town away from husband, home and child during Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Luckily for Florida, Ike had other plans. Then at the height of hurricane season I befriended a stranger via the Internet who in the space of a month went from fearing she’d be homeless, to actually being on the brink (see A Thousand Dollars From Homeless). Following her story – and sticking with it – took me on an emotional juggernaut that challenged me on more levels than I care to admit.

More mystifying than the confluence of chaos itself is the strange duality of the chaos. In every challenge September delivered, the seed of opportunity quickly burst forth into bloom. Sarah Palin generated hordes of media buzz only to have much of it turn on her and the advantage shift to Obama/Biden, at least today. Old-boy Wall Street firms and big banks have failed only to give small local banks new opportunities to prosper. In my own little world, the friend who experienced the breakup found herself liberated from a static relationship and emboldened to explore new paths. The corporate career woman heard and heeded the call to community service. And Debbie, subject of my homeless story, was saved by anonymous donors (for now) at the eleventh hour. Furthermore, her story delivered my first big writing breakthrough when it made the Huffington Post.

September simultaneously surrounded me with breakups, breakdowns, and breakthroughs. I noticed myself mystifyingly called into service – coming to the aid of friends and strangers alike. Yet through it all, I remain strangely centered in this eye of the storm, privy to a unique vantage point - a space of awareness allowing me to witness the tempest without being swept up in it.

Maybe it’s my sign. I’m a Libra, with a birthday smack in the middle of this Mercury retrograde thing. Again according to the astrological experts, during a retrograde cycle the planet's energy is most powerful (and more likely to generate critical events of universal importance – whoa!) when the planet makes a station: appearing motionless in the sky. These stationary periods occur near the beginning of the cycle and midway through the cycle when the retrograde planet slows to a stop before moving forward again. The "direct station" (when the planet halts before moving forward again) is the most powerful and can be used for maximum benefit. I wonder what unexpected birthday gifts could be in store?

Or maybe it’s the Shift, (Google The Shift Movie) which seems to be undeniably underway and which I’ll write more about later this month. Whatever it is, there’s no denying it. Chaos is increasing as multiple established systems – political, economic, and social – interact at an accelerated pace. Unexpected results and situations, that were never anticipated or intended, can and will arise. For many this will result in mental, emotional, not to mention financial and physical strain. Even as I write this the immediate future seems dire.

Yet the upside of chaos is reorganization. The sands are shifting, but they are still there. Transformation is certain to occur, and although painful in process, when it brings growth it's also liberating, if not gratifying. The challenge for us now is to ride out this sea change while staying calm and afloat. Some shores will erode if not be washed away entirely, but I’m confident that in the process new ones will emerge. It’s up to us to decide what kind of world we’ll build once we land on them. I humbly suggest you begin seriously thinking about that now.

A Thousand Dollars From Homeless

For the last month I’ve been writing about a woman who is now less than $1,000 and one week away from homeless (see Hello America – This is Your Wake Up Call Parts I-V). Her name is Debbie, she’s in her early 50’s, a remarried widow, and mother/grandmother living in Bradenton, Florida (south of Tampa). After nine months of scraping by on a shoestring income and combing every job opportunity, she’s at the end of the road. Of all the lousy times, now during the worst economic meltdown America has seen in nearly a century she’s facing eviction. In this last article about Debbie, I humbly ask all who feel moved to help prevent the tragedy of homelessness in America from happening again, and specifically to help me prevent it from happening to Debbie.

Like so many stories, Debbie’s seems to be going out not with a bang but with a whimper. Despite her circumstances, she remains selfless to the last as she writes:

“Like my landlord said, pay by the 30th or leave the house. Right now I have no means whatsoever to pay the rent, so we have no choice but to go. No place to go but our car. After 20 years it is all we own. I have already looked at rest stops and buildings with many offices and rest rooms that are in hallways thinking this is a good spot to come to wash up if I end up homeless. What a horrible thought but I have to think those thoughts, I have to. I have to have a plan and be strong and get all the tears out now so if it happens I won't upset my kids. God, I thought if I end up homeless without a plan and I fell apart in front of them they would just be so scared. Plus I don't want to make my husband feel like a failure. So I have to stay positive even in the darkest hour to spare my family any more pain than needed, I always listen to that song Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel. It gets me through sometimes.”

A year ago Debbie’s life was a lot more like yours and mine. She and her husband, Randy, didn’t make much money but both had jobs and earned enough to provide for the basics and then some. They’d never been in deep debt or on welfare. Debbie’s several grown children struggled financially and still do, but had lives of their own; save for one, a daughter, now nearly twenty, who is physically and mentally disabled as the result of open-heart surgery as a child. She is still dependent on Debbie. Debbie also raises one of her grandchildren, an eleven year old boy. Together the four of them would do simple, inexpensive things together, like spend a weekend at the beach. Next weekend, they might be living at the beach.

What a difference a year makes. Despite the visible US financial meltdown over the past week, Debbie’s life is the hidden evidence that it’s been simmering for a lot longer. She was laid off from her job last December, followed by her husband Randy’s dismissal (due to reorganization) from his hospital administrator position in January. They’ve both been seeking work since then with no luck. Randy had two job interviews last Friday. On Saturday he received a letter from one indicating they’d hired someone else – obviously he never had a chance.

Their only income since losing their jobs is Randy’s monthly unemployment totaling $1,100 (Debbie couldn’t qualify – they said she hadn’t paid enough into the system) and a Social Security death benefit for Debbie’s deceased husband – about another $900. Randy does odd jobs – handyman or computer stuff – for cash when he can, and Debbie babysits at every opportunity, but neither has been consistent nor lucrative enough to keep them afloat.

With $2,000 in monthly income and $1,975 due for rent and utilities alone, it wasn’t long before Debbie and Randy got behind on their bills. Still, today only $1,000 would bring them current and keep them in their rental home.

The financial catch-22 of Debbie’s situation floors me. Had she not remarried, she’d have retained an additional $800 per month in Social Security survivor benefits. But as she told me herself, she wasn’t trying to live off the system, she had a job. She applied to have her disabled daughter’s Social Security survivor benefit extended, and despite doctor agreement that the daughter has several medical and psychological issues, the extension was denied. Debbie’s daughter was deemed fit for work, even though she still plays with Beanie Babies at age nineteen and has the mind of a twelve year old.

Need more irony? Because Debbie and Randy collectively earn what they do in monthly unemployment and Social Security benefits, they can’t apply for welfare. And since they are both unemployed, they can’t move to a less expensive rental or get a new lease – no one will accept them as renters without jobs.

Debbie is no fool, and she’s long past swallowing her pride. She and her husband have looked into early withdrawal from his State of California retirement pension. However, since only the state and not he paid into it, he is unable to withdraw money until age 62.

Debbie has requested online help as well, applying for a grant from Modest Needs (www.modestneeds.org). Despite it appearing an ideal resource, Modest Needs informed Debbie, “we could not consider your application because in order to qualify for a Self-Sufficiency Grant from Modest Needs, at least one person in your household must be working and your total monthly household income must be sufficient to remit payment for the cost of your monthly rental or mortgage plus AT LEAST $250.” Yet many on that site have grants pending to pay the electric bill or rent because taking their dog to the vet set them back a bit. Perhaps we need another site called “Desperate Needs” (if anyone knows of something along those lines, tell me).

Debbie has called or visited the churches in her area asking for help but again has been turned down; most of the churches sent their available funds to help Hurricane Ike victims in Houston. She’s been to the United Way, but they too have limits on the assistance you can receive in a given time period. She routinely visits the food bank, but you’re allowed only one bag of food every thirty days. In her last bag there was a bottle of mustard, baking chocolate, and dip for chips, but no chips. Not exactly a meal.

I’ve nearly exhausted my resources for helping Debbie and by the time you read this will have fully exhausted them. Nonetheless, let me emphasize how disgustingly inadequate this feels. I’ve sent her several hundred dollars of my own but it’s not enough to stop the bleeding and all I can afford is to stick a Band-Aid on a severed artery. Sadly, the more I suggest, the more she has already done. I’ve given her moral support and encouragement and yet it feels like throwing crumbs to the starving. I have wanted – more than I can express – not to feel the pain and hopelessness of her situation, yet I have cried tears of frustration and exasperation for her. They are nothing, I’m sure, compared to the tears she has cried herself.

And yet. And yet this remarkable woman remains practical and more surprising still, hopeful even through the darkest hour. As Debbie told me today, “I know the possibilities I face are real. I know there is a good chance things will get worse - a lot worse - I might have to face being without a place to live and having the things I need to beat this war on my own. As it stands today it’s more likely than not. But as long as there is just one inch of hope, I am going to keep fighting this battle. That is my job for right now. I still hang onto hope and wish for some miracle to happen.”

I doubt I would be equal to the task were I in her shoes.

It may be the end of the road for Debbie, but it is not the end of this story. In fact, I suspect it is just the beginning. This Broken America is not acceptable to me, and it shouldn’t be acceptable to you. Many (myself included) are worried about losing money in banks and investments. But at least we have money to lose. Even though we’re fed doom and gloom 24/7 on the news, and even though the light is dim now, I believe it can shine brightly again. The gift Debbie bestows is the gift of hope against all odds; the lesson of her story is that it doesn’t take much to transform doom into hope. And that’s a lesson arriving not a moment too soon.

The futility of homelessness in America is entirely preventable, but only if we prevent it. It’s not up to some agency or some Web site or some charity, it’s up to each of us individually, deciding from within to act then acting collectively. It might be a long road, and it might be a slow go, and we might have to do it one Debbie at a time, but together we can do it. One by one we come forth, we stand together, link arms, and before we know it together we've built a bridge over troubled water. So, for all our sakes, but especially Debbie's, will you help?