Let's get this party, I mean blog started

Good morning! I thought I would start my blog off with a new face and a new thought.

I love to blog. I will blog about any and everything. I blog on almost every site I am a member of and I blog vividly. I am now taking my train of thought and blogging here from now on.

Before I get started....meet me! Try me on for size. If you like, come back, if not blessings!

I live in a quiet and beautiful suburb of Atlanta (OTP for those of you familiar with Atlanta). I live with my partner of seven years, our daughter's neurotic cat, a ton of kitchen appliances and fish. I am pretty much wysiwyg (wissy wig) - what you see is what you get. I've been misunderstood by some, embraced by other, turned on and everything in between.

I am educated (fingers crossed for law school acceptance), queer (not that this matters nor do I broadcast it - and part of my blog today will deal with that), plus sized, gorgeous, a jazz lover, an opera lover, a ballet lover, a lover of all that is beautiful - from nature to creation, a Mother, a Sister, a friend and a lover.

Practically every morning I read my life coach's blog and this morning he talked about...faces or that which we portray to the outer world. It was also a topic in one my morning meditation books so I decided to addresss it.

I have a 19 year old biological daughter in college. Getting her to college was quite the challenge. She's a brilliant child - no doubt. Creative, walking to her own drum, articulate, a hard worker (when it is something she wants to do - but hey...we all have some of that in us), talented, musically inclined and published (to name a few). Somewhere along her path, she perceived that conforming meant selling out. Now, how does this translate to faces - she has a set of friends and I guess for her to fit in, she felt she must put on the less than intelligent face, the I'm not priviledged face, the schools not for me face, and whatever others she felt necessary. She wears a face when I talk to her of sometimes not wanting to be where she is. I wear a mask when I talk to her - like I don't miss her as much as I really do.

Young adulthood transitioning is difficult for all - they are clawing to get out, the parent is clawing to keep them in. Where and how do you find balance. For some of you, such as myself, you may never find it. I've learned to step back, breath, center and then proceed. My mind wants to know every detail of her life, where are you? Aren't you supposd to be in class? Did you do your assignment? etc. but my reality is that she is an adult - she is in charge of her life and as I explain to her....always know the consequences of your actions. I am not sure she is ready to accept the consequencs of her action however, all I can do is advise and lead.

Back to the masks that we all wear. My partner is attending a retreat and this is new for us. We rarely spend time away from each other - it's new, it's uncomfortable and we miss each other. In her absence last night, I began a thorough clean. I decided a few days ago, when I knew this retreat was impending, to make some changes. Throw out this, give away that, move this, cook this, use this, etc. Isn't it funny how we hide ourselves behind the mask of others? So we not only have to deal with our mask but the shared mask from others. I wear the mask of our daily routine until the routine is thrown out of balance and in this new space, we are unmasked so we begin to do the very thing we should have been doing all along.

More to come...