March 2017: A little touch of March madness.

Happy March! I am sitting outside enjoying some much needed sunshine (it's been rain, rain, and more rain here in San Francisco lately). And just as I sat down to write my note to you this month, my two cats came blazing through the backyard in a game of chase - clearly enjoying a bit of spring fever. Now the older cat, Sable, is pretty sly and immediately heads to a safe spot behind a nearby bush, but the younger one, Bandit, decides to hold his ground firmly out in the open. Eventually, he got bored and flopped down on the warm earth. And as soon as he let his guard down, whoosh! Sable pounced! What came to mind as I watched this play out is how I used to believe that this is how relationship worked! You chase, pursue, scurry after the thing you want and then as soon as you let your guard down - bam - hurt again, betrayed again, left again. It has been a journey for me to learn to leave these negative patterns behind so that I can enjoy a healthy, fulfilling relationship, free of all of the fear, and being ever watchful for pain. I share a bit about how I did that in this interview I did recently with Melanie Tonia Evans. I hope you'll check it out and perhaps find some freedom from your own relationship "madness". Watch Now! Very best, Watch this video to learn some strategies for staying out of toxic relationships. Did you know that less than 40 percent of children who are sexually abused tell anyone - and a fraction of those cases end up being reported? Learn more about one survivor's experience. What is something that you believe about relationships that keeps you in the "madness"?

BOOK OF THE MONTH Come Back: A Mother and Daughter's Journey Through Hell and Back by Claire & Mia Fontaine In powerful parallel stories, mother and daughter give mesmerizing first-person accounts of the nightmare that shattered their family and the amazing journey they took to find their way back to each other. Claire Fontaine's relentless cross-country search for her missing child and ultimate decision to force her into treatment in Eastern Europe is a gripping tale of dead ends, painful revelations, and, at times, miracles. Mia Fontaine describes her refuge in the seedy underworld of felons and addicts as well as the jarring shock of the extreme, if loving, school that enabled her to overcome depression and self-loathing. Both women detail their remarkable process of self-examination and healing with humor and unsparing honesty. READ MORE HERE!