Tragedy in Newtown

Hello All,

Twenty children and six adults went to elementary school on Friday and died before lunch. It seems as if no place is sacred anymore and the fact doesn’t change that we could still be next. I am heartbroken. The parents of Newtown could have been any one of us. It is so important to remember that but simple remembrance isn’t enough.

I am full of emotion right now because how young do the victims have to be and how many children need to die before we stop the proliferation of guns in our nation? Back in the early 1930s, the first major federal gun control laws were enacted in the wake of Al Capone’s St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. In the 1960s, the back-to-back assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy pushed Congress to enact the Gun Control Act of 1968. The attempt on President Reagan’s life led to 1993’s Brady background check law. Since that time, there have been one shooting after another. We can't just do as we did after Columbine, after Virginia Tech, after Aurora. Without any significant gun control reforms nothing has changed.

There is more on the table than just ready access to powerful weapons-we must also address mental illness. No longer can we pass these issues off until the next tragedy. Now is the time to take a careful examination of gun laws and the treatment of those who are mentally ill. President Obama spoke a powerful word when he said that this has happened too many times. Each time the cost becomes so much more unbearable, inconceivable and beyond measure.

Columbine……Virginia Tech………Aurora………and now Newtown.

I encourage you to hug your children and tell them you love them every single day. Become involved in school and political matters and make your voice heard. We must make a change-NOW!

Peace & Blessings,


Robin

My Eat, Pray, Love Moment

Hi Everyone,

I’m back from a five day cruise. Let me tell you...I needed that!!! No phone, no Facebook, Twitter or email (ok, I scheduled my posts through HooteSuite before I left). I really needed to be totally disconnected for a minute to rest, relax, reflect and renew my spirit.

I spent my days and nights dilly-dallying and lollygagging. While my daughter had fun with her friends, I spent time with my childhood friend from elementary school and family. I even gained a new friend (Monyer), ran into my line sister (Jackie) and saw a fellow SCSU classmate (Tammy). I ate and tried some of the best food ever, prayed every morning, worked on my second book, took in a couple of shows, got cozy in my bed, took in the night life, almost finished reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, and loved myself like never before. All of these things seem so ordinary to most but, for me, they were very cathartic.

For the past few months, I’ve felt very overwhelmed with everything. There were so many days when I felt like I was having an anxiety attack because there was so much to do, not enough time and someone somewhere was not going to like something I said or did. Even if I did something great for mankind, someone would find fault in it.

It’s like I couldn’t win for losing.

Like millions of people, I’ve spent so much of my time doing for others, pleasing others and sabotaging my own dreams. It’s like we all crave acceptance at some point in our lives. This trip helped me to tune out the world and listen to the deepest part of me. I came away from this Eat~Pray~Love moment of self-discovery deciding that the next phase of my life will be spent feeding my soul, chasing my dreams, and satisfying my wants and needs. At last!!!

The one key thing that resonated with me during my time at sea is the countless times I've let the wrong people in my inner circle-those who drain the spirit instead of encouraging it. It’s time to honor and value myself....treat myself with kindness and compassion instead of criticizing every little thing. I must celebrate my accomplishments and learn to love and accept my shortcomings.

I’ve always known about the power of positive affirmations but somehow I let the outside noise become louder than my own voice. Big mistake! Every day before my daughter and I leave the house, we read the following affirmations posted on our bathroom mirrors:

I am Blessed....I am Beautiful...I am Amazing...I will be better today than I was yesterday…


A line from Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-seller “Eat, Pray, Love,” reminded me that in EVERY moment, God is still present. The healer…The deliverer…The way-maker…The redeemer… The counselor. HE is accessible. And He is available NOW.

So, I want to encourage myself and you to break bad habits and ways of thinking about our life, love, friendship and career. We have to trust and know that God and the Universe are working in our favor. Finally, we must be in peace with contentment with the life that God has given us and know that the best is yet to come.


One Love,

Robin