Taking the Leap

Sunsets and New Beginnings

The Week Kicks In

As with most Mondays, mine kicked off yesterday with a flurry of activity . . .

getting ready for our upcoming blog anniversary (woot! woot!), catching up on email and social media stuff from my mostly-unplugged weekend, composing a long overdue response email to one of my besties, working on a few writing projects, paying bills online and checking accounts, updating Quicken, running external backup to my hard drive, laundry, cooking, house-straightening, dog haircut and tick check, computer assists to Beau for his business, airport run to pick up documents arriving from Nassau, delivery of said… Continue reading

My Love of Music

Music. One of my passions. From as early in life as I can remember, my home and heart have been filled with music.

The music of my childhood.

Both of my parents played instruments as youngsters, have good singing voices and love music. Throughout my childhood in the 70’s, joyous sounds of singing and old records regularly flooded our home.  My dad even enjoyed moonlighting as lead singer in a band when he was in graduate school and I was in pre-school.  (Those were the days when a little girl could ride on the gas tank… Continue reading

Wow! A Better Life Profile

Well, Better Lifers, here’s another first. A delightful blog has published a profile about me and Choosing the Better Life! I am amazed, honored and extremely humbled.

You may recall that I recently wrote a book review for two lovely women, Lois and Victoria, discussing their newly published book, A Little Book About Something Much Bigger. We first “met” via Twitter (@LittleBookAbout). Part of why we connected online initially was our shared beliefs in living from a place of gratitude, following those inner nudgings, and otherwise living by Choosing the Better Life kinds of principles.

Lois… Continue reading

Do You Miss It? (Big Life Change)

Last week, I posted about things I miss (and don’t miss) as it relates to the specifics of island living. Today, we tackle the bigger picture of what I miss (or don’t miss) as it relates to the major changes I’ve made in leaving the practice of law and life in a big USA City for life on a tiny island.

So, in that context, do I miss it? The general answer is a resounding no. Particularly, when people ask me if I miss practicing law, I surprise even myself by answering that I haven’t missed it or looked… Continue reading

Not Just A Pollyanna!

I’ve been ruminating on this post for a while. As you can tell, I try to have an upbeat approach to most things. Yet, sometimes, with these blog posts, I’ve wondered if readers ever roll their eyes or think I’m just some fluffy Pollyanna.

Background

Although I have always been a glass-half-full optimist, I believe that I’m also grounded in reality. I was fortunate to enjoy a stable, protected, happy childhood as a solid foundation from which to springboard into the world. As I entered adulthood and life brought its various experiences – good, bad and otherwise – my world… Continue reading

How Did You End Up On An Island? Part 2

If you’ve been reading along with me, you’ll know that the answer to Part 1 of this question involved opening myself up to broader possibilities and taking the leap of quitting my job as a lawyer. As I wrote in that post, my job for the next year was going to be to design an exciting new life, one that was more in alignment with my true self and how I really felt inside, now that I would have the luxury of time to sift through the clutter of our hectic lives and figure mine out!

Okay, So You… Continue reading

How Did You End Up On An Island? PART 1

“How did you end up living on an island?” This question is posed to me on a near-weekly basis. The end result was a few decades in the making, so it defies any succinct answer, but I’ll give it a shot.

Where Were You Before You Moved To The Island?

After graduating law school and obtaining a Master’s Degree in Education in the Midwest, I moved to South Florida (where my parents and brother had relocated) and worked for four years as an educational/legal consultant to school districts across the southeastern United States.

Then, for a variety of reasons, I… Continue reading

Before & After

This blog’s “About” page narrates a bit about my life before and after making the decisions that led me to life on an island. That’s the big picture. But all kinds of minutiae really drive home how my life has changed – for the better – from BEFORE to NOW. For example:

Before – The alarm clock would jolt me rudely awake in the morning. Now – I never use an alarm. Instead, I awaken naturally around 6:30 a.m. – give or take 15 minutes – as the light filters in. If I’m really drowsy, my back-up “alarm” is the… Continue reading

Welcome to You, Happy Anniversary to Me!

Welcome! Today is the launch of my new blog, Choosing The Better Life. I am so pleased that you are here with me. Together, let’s explore day-to-day island living through my eyes as a “recovering lawyer,” along with the musings that these life changes have brought about for me – all peppered with the striking characters, funny oddities and other random tidbits that cross my path or come to mind. Thank you for joining me on this amazing journey. May you also choose the better life for yourself, however you define it!

Today’s blog launch is also a… Continue reading

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