Jeannot, Worry gives you nothing positive……….the only return on worrying is negativity. I never worry……..I do have genuine concern when problems arise. I ask myself if I personally have the power to change anything. If my answer is Yes, I go about doing what I can to make a change. If the answer is NO……..I let it go. I can guarantee you if I hadn’t had this attitude I would never have survived all the trauma life has thrown my way. You know it’s like the difference between Sadness and Depression Sadness is a normal healthy emotion…………Depression is an abnormal mental disease. I think we use the word Depression so lightly…………..If we’re SAD………….just feel it! Work hard not to let it slip into a depression………….I know it’s not easy. I’ve been both places. Be good to yourself.

Lily, Which ones? Starting optional $3T wars? Having sex on your boss’s desk? Hedge funding your way into a $30M Hampton’s ‘beach cottage’ leaving a trail of broken lives behind? Staying in a downy bed for the rainy weekend with stacks chick flicks, bottles of champage, boxes of Godiva? Being freeway overpass tagger? Take away the excesses and there’d be no comedy or tragedy…or isms and not much art.

Suzanne, these youtube moments caused my heart to soar….and that dolphin just turned it inside out!! I do love animals and all wildlife and so glad that you included that. I hope that you are continuing to enjoy your visit and was totally impressed with your 18 mile walk. You have imspired me and I continue to send you much love and happiness to guide you through in your present journey. Cheers to you…..

Excerpts from: PATHWAYS by Maizie Lucille James INNER VOICES Inner voices Restless thoughts Desires yet fulfilled. Secret dreams of carnal pleasures; Lust… erotic thrills. Grand ambitions, aspirations In search of fame and power. To become the best at SOMETHING! To have a grandeur hour. Yet duties claim me; obligations Wretched boring tasks. Dreadful, dreary daily pressures Entrapped and bound unmasked. How disheartening to surrender, Dreams of secret passion. That to grasp, take hold of pleasure, Like thieves, for frugal rations? For still those somber inner voices Shout out, in stark disdain, Life is mostly bound to duty! Not pleasures, play, nor fame. While hope directs us to believing The gifts that joy might bring Recognize in truth … that also, Life’s joy gives birth to pain. Thus, Inner voices Those grand delusions Though reluctant, Acquiesce. That duties burden forever bounds us To those our daily tasks. Maizie Lucille James May 1978 _______________________________________ VANITY How pompous we are when we put on false airs How trite we become covering up dark affairs We make every effort to hide from our sins We shamefully dismiss our woes deep within Our faults we attempt to cover up with great speed And we’ll go to great lengths to shun our misdeeds We resist to make known all the wrong that we do No matter how frequent; no matter how true Yet we all have our problems, heartache, and strife For there is no place to run to when we all must face life If we were to strip down to the depths of our core We’ll find that our faults are like opening a door Disbelief then becomes a harsh blow to face Revealed, we deny that we’ve stooped to disgrace While we’d like to believe the good which we’ve done We can’t forgive hurts which we can’t overcome So we put up defenses to gloss over our shame And we manage to paste a smile on our pain Pride then becomes an immutable truth We practice it daily; indeed from our youth For it is fool hearted believing that perfection exists Because we all make mistakes and problems persist Yet when honest we come to accept who we are We then get through life with boast and with scar And no matter how good or content we might be The walk in our life comes with hushed vanity November 2002 Maizie Lucille James ___________________________________________ DEATH WISH ‘I wish I was dead…’ Is what the voice said I heard it again in my head. ‘I wish I was dead…’ ‘I wish I was dead…’ Through hushed murmurs Is all that was said. When suddenly over a period of time The cry out for death became loud. And answered it was, That voice in my head Through another voice bellowing loud. ‘Die, Die!!…’ ‘Go on and Die!’… You’re almost dead anyway. You died when you stopped wanting to love Ah! Forsaken by others, you say. Yes, ‘Die, Die!…’ You’re better off dead, Than seeking self pity… Be Shamed! For to live, You must be willing to give And to let YOU, Love YOURSELF, once again. Maize Lucille James March 1977 _______________________________________ WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED DEATH What is this thing called death? That people should mourn. Shivering at a burial site, Dressed in Black; Yes, dressed in black. In black, no less. In Black! The ritual so distressing: Bowed heads with wrinkled brows Widows hidden behind dark lace. Teardrops trickling down the face. In sobbing cry they moan out loud. They moan out loud, no less. And the script calls for certain parts to be played: And they play their parts so well. No rehearsal here; one performance. And they play their roles no less. And they play it well. A lifeless body on display. A … ‘special loved one’… they all will say ‘Cherished, but now he’s gone’…. Then in perfect unison they mourn, They mourn, no less; they mourn. What is this thing call death? That people should mourn. Such silly acts played out so well… Ironic too it seems to me. Why, at death ‘tis time to sing! For until we die, our souls are trapped With the burdens and torment in living When at last in death, are our souls then let free Transcend in glee with rejoicing!! Death is the door where we all will take flight No matter the time: at dawn, noon, or night. Cast away burdens, heart ache, despair Why death voids our duties, anguish and care. What is this thing called death? That people should mourn! Then. Mourn no more. But shout with glee… In endless sleep a spirit set free! In peace; no less. In peace. Maizie Lucille James Winter, 1972