Just Carol Jean

Woman Is a State of Mind By:  Carol Jean (2016) Woman is a state of mind, not a number.   It is Spunk grounded by Grace, and  Beauty balanced by Wisdom.   It is Courage fortified by Convictions, and Strength earned through Experience.  It is Passion found in Presence, and  Determination fueled by Desire. It is loving.   It is living.   It is being with every breath.  Woman is a state of mind, not a number. It is an air.  It is an attitude.  And it is attainable. Musical Reflection:   Little Bird by Annie Lennox

I have spent almost my entire life living in or near the same miniscule map dot – an estimated thirty-five of my current forty-four years.   That place— exit 99, head west five miles and whatever you do, Don’t Blink!— and all its surrounding space has housed more of my moments than I have memory of.   All my secrets, all my scars, lay embedded in the dust and rust of its half-hearted attempted development.   People come, places go, names change, but the bones – the streets, all stay the same. 

Words, for me, have always been a sort of – hobby.   I’m not the most accomplished articulate, but I’d like to think I can throw around a few fancy fragments and phrases – enough to lift my level of loft up a notch or two should I desire a defined discourse or declaration.   And yet, for all of my enthusiastic English efforts – there are a few words that I find difficult to annunciate and, interestingly enough – accomplish.   Two such words with which I wrestle are - specific, and success(ful).  

One of Shakespeare's fair maidens once wondered "What's in a name?" and of course, in true curious creature form- that got me thinking too.   My answer- a bit more complex than dear Juliet's soliloquy – seems to depend greatly on the person associated with said name and its placement in their full name composition.   Most people are given at least a first, middle, and last name upon their birth.   We don’t have a choice in their selection or arrangement.   We are stuck, destined in a round-about way to become the person our parents prescribed us to be.   Even through our