One of my favorite magazines is the Magnolia Journal, produced by Joanna Gaines and her husband, Chip. It gives me a second thought. 
Their 2023 fall issue takes a closer look at the ‘perspective’ from where we view our lives, and why it matters that we make simple changes to our thoughts and open our minds. 
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Here’s a snippet from the article titled "Second Thoughts". The author Nicole Ziza Bauer begins with this perspective; “A single break in our everyday patterns holds potential to unlock and open our minds. 
Even in the most mundane ways, it’s easy to live on autopilot. But if at some point during that drive (home) you did something different, something unexpected, your brain would wake right up. And that inch of difference has a major payoff over time.” 

The only way to stay sane and remain happy is to engage in rational thinking and insist on being happy. It’s not easy. But here are some bits of rational happy inspiration. Always look for encouraging information. And when you find it, apply it to your life. 
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Read inspirational books, even a novel has juicy insights and characters that will provide you with a glimmer of hope. Someone Else’s Shoes by JoJo Moyes will keep you on your toes and happy to be a sensible person. The collection of books by Donna Leon, with 32 novels based on Commissario Guido Brunetti, detective in the Italian State Police, and stationed in Venice, is entertaining and gives you a bird’s eye view of life in Italy…so fun. Of course, there is always a murder, but it’s worth the entertainment value. And Commissario Brunetti is a rational thinker, and you’ll be happy you discovered him. 

My grandmother Romana, a Yaqui Indian from Mexico, came to America as a widow with three young children to work the melon fields at a farm in Mesa, Arizona in 1920. She wanted a better life for her children. She worked in the fields during the day and ironed clothes for the owners of the farm in the evenings for extra money.

During this time, she met my grandfather, Cliofas, a Mayan Indian from Durango, Mexico who worked nearby laying railroad tracks. In 1925 their son, my father Dionicio Villaverde, was born in Mesa, Arizona. 

What We Know

When you don’t know, you don’t know.
But, when you know, you can’t not know.  
                                   
A year ago, Joe was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. We did not know the processes that would consume our lives as we dealt with options, doctors, treatments, tests, opinions, waiting, and praying. Until you are the diagnosed or the caregiver, you don’t know. We now know the dance of cancer, of worry and optimism, of listening and anticipating and of genuinely knowing how precious life feels. 
Sometimes, we don’t know until we must know and sometimes, we pretend we don’t know.                         

Listening to an interview with Dr. Zach Bush MD, a physician specializing in internal medicine and endocrinology, I, once again, came to know the function of regenerative energy in our body between our health and the food we eat. Every part of our being, from our skin, organs, skeletal, neurological and blood flow system is involved in mitochondria; the energy released during the oxidation of the food we eat and the health it provides. The role of microbiome, nutrition, hormonal balance, mindfulness, and the presence to maximize the health of our gut-skin axis, improves healthful aging, and reimagines what it means to be healthy and beautiful. The underlying foundation to beauty is wellness. We cannot pretend we don’t know our responsibility to our health. 

When my son Ron was in High School, we witnessed a robbery in the parking lot of Target in Scottsdale. We were only a few feet away parking our car. I was driving when a black Chevy Camaro, driven by a young woman, drove up to an elderly woman pushing her grocery cart. A young man with dark hair bolted from the Chevy and shoved the elderly woman to the ground and took her purse. Quickly getting back into the car on the passenger side they sped away. The elderly woman laid on the ground. There were other witnesses as well who ran to help.

Of course, my son insisted I follow the car. I did. Immediately noticing they had removed the license plate and were driving too fast for me to catch up with them as they weaved around cars speeding in heavy traffic, we lost them. 

Death is a difficult subject. It is an experience we will all have, yet we dismiss the conversations to prepare ourselves to the inevitable time of leaving this earth.  

Growing up in our Mexican culture, the discussion of death was not a mystery to our family. Our introduction to death started as children during the holiday ‘El Día de Los Muertos’, two days, November 1 and 2, set aside to remember those who have passed before us. 

Is it time?
How much time do I have to be and do what I want before I run out of time?

I’m sure we’ve all heard the query, "does a fish know it’s in water?" Google says no! A fish can’t understand water because out of it, it doesn’t survive. 

Do we know our lives depend on time, and that everything in our lives is measured by time. The time you were born, walked, drove a car, graduated, married, had children, STOP! Nothing measures a life in time as having and raising children. Today I am writing this article on the day my son Ron was born fifty-one years ago. From the day of his birth to the day I became a grandmother, twice, until today, my life has been a measurement of our lives spinning through a reality we create one timely decision after another. 

There is so much to love. Where do we begin? Perhaps expanding our view of love. 
My friend Bob Day sent this inspiration on the ‘Wonders’ of love: 

A class of students was asked to list what they considered to be the Seven Wonders of the world. Though there was some disagreement, Egypt’s Great Pyramids, The Taj Mahal, The Grand Canyon, The Panama Canal, The Empire State Building, St. Peter’s Basilica, and China’s Great Wall received the most votes from the students. 

I met Karen Drucker twenty years ago when she entertained and inspired a group of women at a spiritual retreat I hosted along with two other ministers in Flagstaff, Arizona. Reverends Michelle Medrano and Michele Whittington and I organized and presented weekend long retreats for several years in northern Arizona. Karen was our favorite singer, entertainer for our gatherings.

Karen is a keynote speaker, retreat facilitator, singer, songwriter, and author.  She has produced twenty CD’s and written her book, Let go of the Shore, and performed throughout the country inspiring others with her songs and powerful message; live a life worth living. Once you hear Karen sing and perform, you will never forget her message…live a life worth living.           www.karendrucker.com

​Faith is not a vision; it is a connection.
Hope is not only a feeling; it is a commitment.
Trust is not a submission; it is a certainty.
Gratitude is not placating; it is an obligation.
Miracles are not scarce; they are abound.
Prayers are not petitions; they are comfort.
Love is not stationary; it is fluid.
Friendship is not selfish; it is a connection, commitment, certainty, obligation, abound, comfort and fluid.