This week was heavy on the bar and party scenes. When that happens you can almost guarantee that something dramatic is in store. In fact, I will go out on a limb and say that a lot of people fall out of personal integrity the minute they wander into such a scene. And, in this instance, our ladies of The L Word are no exception.

Last week I talked in depth about Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and this week we see how emotionally charged the very process of creating a defense can be as Tasha and her counsel Beech have words. He comes around with the help of his wife and what I might imagine was a “do the right thing” type of conversation. After all, whether he approves of Tasha’s relationship or not is not the issue, whether he chooses to honor his obligation to defend her is. Both Tasha and Alice seem very relieved and grateful when he comes to visit them and discuss the case. Alice even says “Thank your wife for me. I believe that behind every man who does the right thing there is a woman that got him to that place.” Clearly she is pleased about his decision to be in integrity and do the right thing.

I suppose it takes only a few moments of glitz, glitter, and fancy champagne to lead Alice to a deteriorating level of personal integrity, however. Read the rest of this entry »

This week was January’s full moon meditation gathering for our community. It is always a nourishing and enlightening time with amazing people. This month’s lesson for me was the paradoxical realization that sometimes you can actually use the chaos swirling around you to find your center. And, surprisingly it can almost be easier to get centered the more chaos that is present. How crazy is that?

Let me explain…When we meet we always spend 30 minutes or so in silent mindfulness meditation. Usually it is very quiet. Occasionally there is some ambient noise going on from pets being sequestered or the kids amusing themselves in the other room. This month was crazy surrounding noises times ten. Now, it’s not because our host did anything different or odd to have the funny series of sound come into our space, it simply happened (or perhaps we just attracted it).

So, instead of the usual mostly dead silence for 30 minutes, we had intermittent chaos. Read the rest of this entry »

This week’s episode was rich with great writing and situations that could foster a lot of discussion. I don’t know about you but so far I am finding this season the best yet in terms of the quality of the writing and really showing off the characters with much more depth without losing the viewing appeal.

Besides my general plea for Jenny to hire a real personal trainer before she pops a knee (did anyone see that awful form on her lunge in the gym?) this week I want to tackle the highly charged and complex situation Tasha and Alice find themselves in.

I want to preface this whole dialogue with the fact that I certainly don’t have the answers to this dilemma Tasha faces nor do I have any real answer for the many real life soldiers who struggle with the same inner conflict day in and day out. What I do have are some observations, questions, and a personal opinion. Yet I realize my personal opinion is just that — and truly how can anyone REALLY know unless they have walked a mile or more in someone else’s shoes.

The storyline got formally introduced in Episode 2. Tasha was supposed to ship off to Iraq but suddenly finds herself detained because she is under investigation for homosexual conduct. And thus begins what I expect will be a fairly long storyline involving the portrayal of one woman’s professional and personal experience with the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy and blatant (but legal) prejudice against gays and lesbians.

As we’ve already come to see, Tasha is a dyed in the wool military person. Read the rest of this entry »

Do you know why money is important to you? If you’re like most of us you spend plenty of time thinking about, earning, spending, and investing (hopefully) money. Yet, do you know why you do what you do? Or, is your financial life simply random chaos? Is your relationship with money serving you or are your a slave to the almighty greenback?

Recently I wrote a post on Queercents that generated quite a bit of conversation. Once again it confirms the truth that in everyone’s life money is a powerful and emotional topic. Whether you have $5 or $5,000 a month of discretionary income, the reality is it still really matters that you unearth your values. In fact I’d go out on a limb and say that the less money you have and the more struggle you are experiencing with your financial life, the more important it is for you to understand and spend according to your values as much as possible. Read the rest of this entry »

Not that long ago I finished reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestselling book “Eat, Pray, Love”. I had first stumbled upon it in the tiny (and only) café store on Monhegan Island this summer. It sounded intriguing but when I went back to purchase it there were none left. I didn’t remember the author or the book title, just something basic about a woman traveling to several countries alone over the course of a year and that it was a true soul searching sort of book (my favorite kind!).

Then, as divine timing would have it, in September Oprah was talking about the book and had Gilbert on as a guest. I knew it was the same book and I waited for an upcoming trip with my family so I could cajole my Mom into buying it for me (yes, an only child at 38 still does these sorts of things!). All I could say is I devoured the book. To me it is the kind you can’t put down and one of those rare books that taps into the deep, rich questions of what it means to live and does so in such an authentic voice and down to earth way. Read the rest of this entry »