My Back 9

Where is home? Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night with a million thoughts running through your head? I sure do, especially this time of year. My brain is so jam packed with thoughts about the upcoming Holiday season; I think I will explode if I don’t somehow figure out a way to get them down on paper. Thoughts of family ( mostly my children ), home, life stage, purpose, placement, and many others have kept me awake a few nights this week. I’m afraid it will last until 2011. At least that’s the way it has been for the last several years. I have no idea how this piece will turn out, but I do know it will be different from the others I have written. You see, mostly I write from a place of inspiration. Today is a bit different. Today I feel like asking questions, contemplating on this topic, working and writing through my own “stuff”, in an attempt to gain some insight on this strange place people call “ HOME .” Not sure if it will work, but I’m at least hopeful t...

As usual, the writing of this post comes to me on the heels of an inspiring message. A deep and meaningful message that usually starts in my mid-section, marinates a bit as it rises up through my chest and throat, and eventually finds it's resting place in my brain. Perhaps my brain size is smaller than some, because I inevitably need to release this matter from my brain; as it shoots down my arm, into my hands and fingers, and ultimately makes it way to my PC. The words I am writing have been in me for some time, but I have suffered from a serious mental block over the last several months. You know how it goes; life just always seems to get in the way. A new job, constant financial pressures accompanied by a bad economy, an over-whelming new travel schedule, another move ( yes…..again ), 5 children, etc...always seem to take center stage and the all important personal growth comes to a halt. Well, maybe it doesn’t, but it sure feels like that at times. This piece is bringing...

Have you ever said to yourself, “ How much more can one person handle ?” Or maybe, “ How much capacity do I really have ?” Do you sometimes feel that the magnitude of your circumstances are just too much too bear? Do you feel that your life has become so complicated and the hole so deep that the light at the end of the tunnel has become unrecognizable? Well, if you have ( or have had ) these feelings of despair, you are certainly not alone. Most people have these feelings at some point in their lives, especially those of us facing mid life difficulties. Children growing up, parents aging, people in our lives dying, career changes, financial difficulties, relationship difficulties; just to name a few. The bottom line is that everyone has a story, and everyone deals with pain and hardship. The real question becomes, “ How do we deal with it ?” To dive even deeper, “ Are we even built to deal with it ?” I was having lunch with the pastor of my church a few weeks back, and we talk...

OK…let’s start with a show of hands, “How many of you fine folks out there know that it is Earth Day tomorrow?” My assumption would be that only about thirty to forty percent of the people reading this blog actually knew that it was Earth Day. Don't sweat it if you didn't know, after reading this you will. If you were to ask me that same question just a few short years ago, I would have been in the population of folks who didn’t know, and quite frankly, didn’t care. But things are different for me now. Now I pay attention to these types of things. Now I pay attention to the environment, GREEN initiatives, and the overall wellness of our planet. Heck, I have five kids, and I’m sure some of them will have kids and the beat...hopefully...will go on and on. I certainly don’t want future generations of Caico’s living on a planet that is not safe. How about you? Earth Day, designated on April 22nd each year, is a day that has been designed to create and inspire awareness and ...

Indulge me, just for a minute if you will, and drift back into your memory bank to the exact moment where Dorothy ( of Kansas ) meets the Scarecrow ( of Oz ). You remember, right? She and Toto, without the aid of MapQuest or a navigation system, start out on their journey to the Emerald City after receiving very direct and poignant advice from the fine folks in Munchkinland. The Follow the Yellowbrick Road song is fading into the background, and low and behold, they come to a crossroads where this colorful road goes in two directions. Dorothy hears a voice, Toto goes crazy, and we anxiously await our introduction to this pivotal character, the Scarecrow. Our first image of this straw-filled, nervous-looking dude is of him with his arms pointed across his body, spouting out the words “this way.” Of course, he’s pointing in both directions, so Dorothy really doesn’t understand what he means. Why? Well, this fine fellow doesn’t have a brain. No brain? Really? I think not. If he didn’t ha...