Every ship’s captain must know when to trim the sails, change course, and jettison excess baggage.  It is time for me to take firm control of my destiny and do all three.

My number one and only priority until November 1 will be my health:  emotional, physical, and fiscal.

November 26 will be my 65th birthday, and I have promised myself that I will decide by then whether I will retire or attempt to leverage my work on this site into paying gigs.

I have already decided that I will no longer engage in pro bono (free) activism and professional coaching.  I’m setting my fees for these services at $250/hour plus expenses because I know it will discourage almost everyone.  It is time for the younger generation to step up to the plate.

I did it last year.
This year I’m retired.
– Anne Caroline Drake

If you have a project you want to promote, I invite you to submit a guest column for consideration.  Y’all are familiar with my style.  Most of you are exceptional writers.  There’s no rational reason for me to invest my time to promote you or your work.  That’s your job.  Not mine.  Again, if you want me to be your PR agent or marketing coach, my fee is $250/hour plus expenses.  This should motivate you to learn how to promote yourself.

If you have published a book that you want me to review, you need to make like a professional writer and send me a courtesy copy.  I always find something positive to write about the books I review.

This course correction will give me the luxury of time to engage in adventures of my own ~ adventures I have postponed for too long.  I’m a few months shy of officially being an old woman, and it is time for me to have some fun.  Who knows.  Maybe I’ll meet somebody handsome and sexy and brilliant and great in bed.  I can dream, eh?

What brought this on?  It was the last line in this quote by Eve Ensler.  It has been too long since I’ve done any real kissing.  And, I’m tired of saying “yes” when I really want to say “no.”  Words of gratitude won’t pay my rent or buy my groceries or fund my retirement.

When I was compelled to accept that I’m not going to have health insurance or access to medical care until November 1, I realized that I need to stop yakking about taking care of myself and DO it.  Will good nutrition and vigorous exercise be a viable alternative for a pile of prescription meds?  I’m going to find out.

The one thing I know for sure is that I need to minimize the stress in my life, and this means jettisoning excess baggage that I’ve carried way too long.  It means that I need to get serious about self-help therapy.  It means that I need to focus on what I wanted to do with this site:  benchmark the best practices of successful survivors.

As I trip over valuable information, I’ll share it.  There are a lot of us around the world sailing in these ships, and we all need a damned map.  It is abundantly clear that nobody’s going to create it for us.  We’re going to have to do it for ourselves.

I wish y’all smooth sailing and abundant blessings.