​A friend sent me an email with a humorous look at walking. It started me laughing and then thinking about the word walking. I will share her email at the end. But first, the obvious benefits of walking from the Mayo Clinic Staff: Maintain a healthy weight and lose body fat. Prevent or manage various conditions; including heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, cancer and type 2 diabetes. Improve cardiovascular fitness, strengthen bones and muscles. Improve muscle endurance, increase energy levels, improve mood, cognition, memory and sleep. Recover balance and coordination, strengthen immune system and reduce stress and tension.

​At the age of 17, in my junior year of high school in Ajo, Arizona, my goal was to attend cosmetology school in Phoenix. A year later and a month before my senior graduation, I knew I did not have the funds I needed and withdrew my application in a letter to the school. Fortunately for me, in their reply, I received a full scholarship to the cosmetology school. How well I remember my gratitude for the gift of a career that would sustain me for a lifetime. 

The beauty industry has taught me the value of relationships, the benefits of education, the skills of technology, management, patience and competence. Although it is certainly a work in perpetual progress, because of the scholarship, I have lived a life worth living. 

​Although science, research, books and articles have been dedicated to prove ‘multitasking’ isn’t possible, I believe women are capable of ‘multitasking.’

Last week, coming home from work, talking on the phone to my friend Karen, I simultaneously checked my mail box, sorted the mail, threw the junk mail into recycle garbage can outside and continued having a conversation with my friend. Easy ‘multitasking’ at my best.
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Or so I thought. Until I sat in my office to pay my bills later that evening. (Yes! I still right checks. No judgment please. I do other tasks well.) Going through the statements, I realized I had thrown away the self-addressed envelopes for the statements. I looked everywhere on my desk. Could I have thrown them away with the recycle junk mail. No Way! I am a skillful ‘multitasker’. I would never have made such a mistake.  

I found this beautiful piece in the summer issue of Magnolia magazine on Flourish. It reminded me of the spirit of summer, to nurture ourselves. 

As summer vacations and travel begin, this year in particular after not traveling for two years, people are running to other parts of the country for vacations, reunions and self-nurture and growing relationships.
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I trust you will enjoy the words and essence of the article as much as I have.   

“You’re like the seed from which a plant grows: almost everything you need to be fully who you are is already inside of you-waiting for the things that nurture you, the things that bring you to life. 

​CATCHING ANSWERED PRAYERS

I don’t know what others do when they’re struggling. I pray. I pray for answers or a change in the circumstances I am struggling with. I pray for gratitude to take me over instead of the struggle that has absorbed me. I pray to catch the answered prayer when it comes to me.

On January 22nd of this year, I woke up early with the strong desire to have a word with God, or whoever was not listening to my prayers for the past several months. I needed help. Samantha and I had worked 6 and 7 days a week for the past year and a half, keeping up with our salon clients. While following the rules of social distancing, sanitizing absolutely everything, taking temperatures, masking and breaking out with rashes around our mouth and nose and experiencing a dull headache from not getting enough oxygen, we were exhausted. We were working hard and with Samantha pregnant, we needed prayers answered.

Recently I presented a talk at ASU to a group of students in their undergrad senior year. They are attending a Political History and Leadership program.
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As much as I try to read my audience when speaking, the best confirmation of their connection to the subject and presentation is afterwards, when they ask questions. Several raised their hands. 
One of the students asked what keeps me motivated and inspired. Although I gave him an answer that at the time made sense, I kept thinking about the question days after. What does motivate and inspire us as we grow older?

And as ‘chance’ would have its way with me, days later I received my favorite monthly magazine, American Essence, in which an article, "A Constant State of Growth, The pursuit of curiosity and its key to a happy life" by Poppy Richie, confirmed what we know about motivation and inspiration.  

I collect words. I read and write them and I accumulate sentences that find their way into my mind and emotions. I think all of us do. Some of us notice the effects and recall the moments when they mattered most and others wonder, ‘where did that came from?’
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Here are a few of my favorite words, that I currently think matter. Two weeks ago in March, I visited my children in San Diego. My 3-year-old grandson Finn, is speaking in sentences. His sister Willa, is saying words, mostly sounds and she is sure she is speaking in sentences. As a grandparent, nothing sounds more beautiful to us than the words our grandchildren name us. To my grandchildren, my name is Hana. Mostly, it matters to me most when I hear their words, ‘I love you Hana.’ Words Matter. 

Most Pluma clients know her as Samantha. Her official name is Ibtisam Nisan. She was born in Iraq forty years ago. At the age of nine, along with her mother and four siblings, they escaped from Iraq and the warfare of Saddam Hussein.
Along with hundreds of others, Samantha’s family walked for several days until they reached Turkey. While the people walked, many carrying their children and whatever belongings they could hold, American planes dropped food and water to keep them alive. She remembers little about this walk, except they were frightened, cold, wet from rain and they were exhausted and their mother kept them moving forward.

​Milton Hershey… more than a Chocolatier…an Inspiration

Born in Pennsylvania in 1857, Milton Hershey had experienced hunger and poverty throughout his youth. With limited choices and a routinely absent father, he left school at 14 and began a series of apprenticeships; he found success in the candy making industry 12 years later, as owner of Lancaster Caramel Company. After selling his caramel business for $1 million in 1900, he built Hershey Chocolate Company near where he grew up in Derry Church, Pennsylvania. There he mass-produced affordable, delicious, milk chocolate candies, created employment opportunities for others and utilized the rich, creamy products from the dairy farming community. 

​I’m inspired by a new year. The changing of the seasons has the same effect as do pregnant women. And my grandchildren inspire me to appreciate what is growing and what is anchored in our lives. It’s easy to tumble into what scares us and holds us back from growing and enjoying what is still in front of us to discover. The sun comes up, the holidays roll across our calendars, our children become adults and we have multiple decisions to make on a daily basis…. this is life unfolding. And for some, everyday life is inspiring. 

Inspiration may come knocking at our door.  But we must invite it in. Every day, any day can be inspiring, the invitation is wrapped in our ability to let it in.