I will readily admit that my strongest career mentors have been older white men. That’s not because I didn’t want Latina mentors. Rather, they weren’t there (at that certain place and time) and others were willing to help me “learn the ropes.” And, let me tell you, I am so grateful to them!

We take our advice and counsel from those who can (and are willing!) to help us. Building those alliances and forging bridges is important. At the same time, when I am truly curious about what is possible and how to navigate challenges of the kind that are unique to me, I want to hear from other Latina women.

Those Latinas who have gone before, been incredibly successful (in all areas of their lives,) and learned the lessons are the ones I look up to and want to emulate. I can learn lessons from others, but I can never be anything other than what I am — a Latina. This is, of course, in part why I started the PowerfulLatinas website.

And this is also why the support organizations that bring together Latinas to learn from, and build together, are so important. I have been a member of a number of these organizations, but let me highlight one right now (more later).

This past week I was at the National Hispana Leadership Institute’s Executive Leadership Training Conference. For those of you unfamiliar with NHLI, NHLI is the only national leadership development program in the United States focused on future Latina leaders.

They have an amazing executive leadership program, but they do so much more! Like other Latina networking, business and social community organizations, they bring together wonderful women to share their stories, motivate and inspire each other, and provide mentors to the younger generation coming up. I was so impressed with the caliber of Latina professionals I met at the conference and the work they are doing (you’ll be hearing more about these individuals in the upcoming weeks).

I was also moved by the strength of the camaraderie between the women. The women call each other “sisters” and they treat each other as such — with warmth, caring and (not a little dose of!) humor. :)

And, in spite of the fact that this was my first NHLI conference, I was (as were others) warmly received, welcomed and brought into the fold.

This is the true sense of sisterhood. When we can go into groups of Latina women, appreciate what each of us brings, celebrate and honor it (and each other!), it builds a stronger community for EVERYONE.

Adelante, mujeres!

To learn more about this amazing organization, go to: www.nhli.org and read about their programs and all the ways you can get involved.

Growing together, sharing, competing, quarrelling, crying and laughing: sisters have something unique that no other kind of bond can duplicate. Your sister is the one that shares your blood, your infancy, your first habits, your history, your first experiences of happiness and sorrows. Therefore, she brings some means of companionship that no other connection can replicate. Parents might pass away, men in your life might leave, children grow ad try their wings but sisters are always there for you.

A sister is the woman that you both love and sometimes hate, the only person that you can not fool, and your competition that will eventually become your strongest relationship. She is your mirror and your complement, the best friend that you can not get rid of, a gift of life, a friend to the soul.

She is the teacher that will not lie, the one that will teach you what everybody else is hiding from you, the only one that will understand when nobody else does, and the one that will stand next to you and make you invincible.

You and your sister grow together side by side; you learn to confide in each other while at the same time both discover boundaries.  You protect each other, feel secure and never lonely. And yet at the same time you both learn to deal with betrayal, frustration and then reparation and forgiveness.  Very few other relationships teach as much, very few can survive the roller coaster of emotions and even less can forge such a strong and everlasting bond.  Sisters are forever.

Spanish Version:

A los hermanos… no se los escoge

¡Qué rápido se olvida lo bien que se pasaban aquellas tardes lluviosas cuando no había nada que hacer y sin embargo, en compañía de los hermanos, uno se divertía tanto! Igualmente ¿cómo se puede dejar de lado la camaradería de las travesuras infantiles, las memorias compartidas, las lágrimas y risas por vivencias familiares que solamente los hermanos pueden recordar? ¿Cómo olvidar el lenguaje secreto que utilizaban los niños cuando llegaban visitas no deseadas o cuando mamá obligaba a comer aquella comida intragable pero que era tan maravillosa para la salud?

Graciela no es la excepción. Tiene seis hermanos y siempre han tenido una buena relación. Pero desde que su madre falleció y cada quien se fue casando, construyendo sus propias familias y mudándose a distintas ciudades, la relación se ha ido distanciando y enfriando. La lejanía los ha hecho un poco extraños en sus vidas diarias.

Paco, el hermano menor, decidió visitar a Graciela y a Marisol, la hermana mayor, a quienes no había visto desde hace tres años. Llegó muy contento con un auto que acababa de comprar y deseaba lucirlo frente a sus hermanas. Quería mostrarles lo bien que le estaba yendo en su nuevo trabajo. Los hermanos se reencontraron con grandes abrazos y compartieron gratos recuerdos. Graciela cocinó un rico guisado que recordaba a la comida de su madre y Marisol trajo un pastel hecho por su hija especialmente para su tío. Pasaron una tarde muy feliz.

Desafortunadamente la felicidad no duró mucho. A la mañana siguiente cuando Paco llevó a Graciela al trabajo en su auto, una patrulla los detuvo y acusaron a Paco de manejar un auto robado. Lo arrestaron inmediatamente. Paco insistió en que él le había comprado el auto a su compadre de buena fe. Sin embargo, éste último tenía el teléfono desconectado y nadie pudo localizarlo.

Graciela estaba desolada. Tenía ahorrado un dinero que lo había guardado para el día en que su hija se casara. Pero se trataba de su hermano, aquel que la había protegido de los niños peleadores, que le solía rogar a su padre que no castigara a su hermana por sus travesuras, el que la había acompañado todas las mañanas a pie a la escuela y con el cual compartía un fuerte lazo sanguíneo. Graciela creía en su inocencia y haría todo lo que estuviera a su alcance para ayudarlo. Por eso fue inmediatamente a pedir asistencia a sus hermanos. Quería que entre todos contrataran a un buen abogado para representarlo.

Grande fue su sorpresa cuando sus hermanos se negaron a ayudar. Cada uno tenía sus motivos, desde tener que atender a sus propios problemas hasta cuestionar la integridad de Paco. Incluso, uno de ellos le aconsejó a Graciela que continuara con su propia vida y no se enredara en los problemas ajenos.

Con mucha tristeza Graciela se preguntó a donde habían ido parar todos los años compartidos y que significaba ser hermanos…

Recetas para la Vida™

Hermanos, compañeros en la vida

Ingredientes:

1 taza de solidaridad

2 cubos de apoyo

3 rebanadas de perdón y entendimiento

1 manojo de lealtad

2 cucharadas de hermandad

Agregar familia e historias compartidas continuamente

Condimentos:

Gentileza, respeto, tiempo, atenciones

Modo de preparación:

1- Un hermano es más que un amigo. Los hermanos son para toda la vida y comparten historias que los amigos desconocen. Cuando se logra tener un fuerte vínculo con un hermano no es indispensable buscar un buen amigo, sin embargo, cuando se busca un amigo se espera encontrar alguien que se asemeje a un hermano.

2- Entre hermanos no hay secretos y es más fácil perdonarse. Se comunican con un lenguaje íntimo donde basta con una simple mirada para entenderse, comparten palabras que no precisan explicación y secretos que no necesitan ser mencionados. Se ayudan en periodos de crisis, celebran triunfos y comparten preocupaciones.

3- Son los más sinceros maestros en la escuela de la vida. Son los únicos que desmienten y dan un toque de realidad por más dura que ésta sea. Explican lo que los padres o maestros no se atreven a decir.

4- Hermanos y socios. Su lealtad y solidaridad hacen que los sobrinos sean como hijos propios, dándoles siempre el mejor consejo, protegiéndolos y compartiendo la responsabilidad de criarlos.

“Con un hermano te puedes pelear a muerte, sin embargo por tu hermano peleas hasta la muerte. Hubieron veces que querías vivir sin él, a pesar de que realmente no puedes vivir sin él. Un hermano es un fiel compañero por el largo camino de la vida.”

Copyright © 2008 by Recetas para La Vida. All rights reserved

Compra y colecciona las tarjetas, pídelas!

www.recetasparalavida.org recetasparalavida@gmail

Although playful and fun when at a costume party (and who doesn’t enjoy dressing up and playing make-believe from time to time?), we often wear masks in our daily lives to keep others from getting too close, from seeing each of us for who we truly are.

Many days we rush around so busy, working to get all the tasks done that must be accomplished in our lives, and fail to stay aligned with our true purpose, and our calling of why we’re here, and instead of doing what really matters, we get caught up in the pequeñesas (little stuff).

Over the past month, I’ve been encouraging you to step into your power, to recognize and honor the magic that is in you, and to celebrate the sparks you give to and receive from others in your world.

What are the masks we wear and why?

You probably know the mask of the “queen” — the mask that tells everyone that you have it all under control and no one can knock you off your game. While this can be a mask of power, it can also be a mask of fear — especially when it keeps us from asking for help or from sharing our burdens with others.

Another typical Latina “mask” is the mask of the martyr. Ay ay ay, I do everything for everyone else and am not appreciated! This mask is usually paired with manipulation that is wielded through the tool of guilt. It again can be a mask of pain, when we lack the ability to communicate our deep needs without demanding that others capitulate to our demands, and also the characteristic of irresponsibility when we fail to take care of ourselves and our own needs (claiming that someone else must do something for us).

Yet another mask is the mask of the victim — the wounded one, when we use our pain once again as an excuse to fail to take action. If we don’t work on healing ourselves, how can we expect anyone else to do it for us?

Quitate la máscara, mujer, and be the Powerful Latina that you are!

Part of my calling is to help us, as Latinas, to share courage, strength and wisdom through our stories. Our interviewees have been candid, and shown their own vulnerability, by opening up and telling us about the masks they’ve worn in their own lives and what they do (or have done) to take them off and be more authentic. Have you reflected lately on your own story? I know you have a unique and special one, too.

I know that I have my own masks that I put on to keep myself “safe” and sometimes even to deceive myself! It is a daily practice to figure out where I’m sending my energy and to make sure that I’ve got my priorities straight so that I can do what I really need and want to do… (and I’m constantly challenged, I’ll tell you that!)

Over the next couple of months, I’ll be unveiling a program to help we Latinas stay *grounded* in our power by reminding us of the truths we know deep inside us, and have been shared with us by our interviewees. I’ll be re-framing some of these stories we’ve heard, crystalizing the lessons for each of us to help them stay at the forefront of our minds and hearts, even as we each live the busy lives that we have.

What are your masks? Why do you wear them, and how do they keep you from being who you really want to be? How do they keep you OUT of your personal power? If I’m any indication, the masks can be subtle and tricky, and change as we heal one area of our lives and shift to work on another. It’s important to have the self knowledge of where we come from, where we’ve been, and where we are now, to be able to better direct where we’re going.

Let’s work on it together!

For a quick brush up, let me share with you a bit of the history of the holiday. I especially enjoy Dia de los Muertos because it gives us a chance to remember those that have gone before us, and honor their memories in a warm way. We recollect the items our loved ones enjoyed, a bit about their unique characters, and hopefully also express our gratitude at what they brought into our lives.

According to Wikipedia, Dia de los Muertos: is a holiday celebrated in Mexico and by Latin Americans living in the United States and Canada. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died.

The celebration occurs on November 1st and 2nd in connection with the Catholic holiday of All Saints’ Day which occurs on November 1st and All Souls’ Day which occurs on November 2nd. Traditions include building private altars honoring the deceased, using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts.

The Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico can be traced back to the indigenous celebrations. Rituals celebrating the deaths of ancestors have been observed by these civilizations perhaps for as long as 3000 years.

The festival that became the modern Day of the Dead fell in the ninth month of the Aztec calendar, about the beginning of August, and was celebrated for an entire month. The festivities were dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl, known as the “Lady of the Dead,” corresponding to the modern Catrina.

In most regions of Mexico, November 1 honors children and infants, whereas deceased adults are honored on November 2. This is indicated by generally referring to November 1 mainly as “Día de los Inocentes” (Day of the Innocents) but also as “Día de los Angelitos” (Day of the Little Angels) and November 2 as “Día de los Muertos.”

Many people believe that during the Day of the Dead, it is easier for the souls of the departed to visit the living. People go to cemeteries to communicate with the souls of the departed, and build private altars, containing the favorite foods and beverages, as well as photos and memorabilia, of the departed. The intent is to encourage visits by the souls, so that the souls will hear the prayers and the comments of the living directed to them.

Celebrations can take a humorous tone, as celebrants remember funny events and anecdotes about the departed.

Plans for the day are made throughout the year. During the two-day period, families usually clean and decorate graves; most visit the cemeteries where their loved ones are buried and decorate their graves with ofrendas.

Who in your life has passed on that you remember fondly?Do you take time to re-connect with their memory, and honor the gifts they’ve given to you? Whatever ritual or practice you engage in, I hope that this time can be one of joyful celebration (even as we acknowledge the loss of no longer having them physically present).

Check out her webpage at: www.marcelalandres.com.

	The Seamstress: A Novel by Frances De Pontes Peebles (Harper Perennial) Orphaned sisters Emilia and Luzia dos Santos become master seamstresses whose skills take them to the heights of Brazilian society and the shadows of revolution.
	Names I Call My Sister: Stories by by Mary Castillo, Berta Platas, Lynda Sandoval, Sofia Quintero (Avon A) An entertaining collection of stories about sisters who share secrets, clothes–and the occasional misdemeanor.

You Are Magic

We’ve seen the multiple ways this month that each of us IS magic. We have magic, wield magic, and are the recipient of magic — when we turn on the lights, kiss a baby, or cook [insert your favorite Latino dish here – Enchiladas? Mofongo? Picadillo?]. Yum!

We enjoy magical emotions when we fall in love, or when we use our healing energy to support our girlfriends, sisters, lovers or family. We know the positive power of magic, as we know that each one of us is a powerful woman!

And yet… Sometimes we use our magic to hurt, instead of to heal. And those are the times that people think of to use the word “witch” – when we hurt each other.

When We Trick Instead of Treat

The power of words is enormous. I wonder how many of us use care with the words we wield when discussing those around us. Even if we’re not “gossiping” about someone behind her back, perhaps we are less than positive, and this can be harmful.

I know that I myself have been guilty of criticizing a good girlfriend when I didn’t agree with decisions she’d made in her life, overlooking the many amazing qualities about her and reminding myself that each of us gets to make the choices (and accept the consequences of those choices) for our own lives.

Although words are enormous, there are other ways in which we are less than supportive of each other. What about when you overlook the help someone needs if A) her son/daughter is sick, B) the “committee” has become a committee of one – your friend (!), or C) a coworker needs a little direction to maneuver office politics. When we don’t share what we can, then we are withholding the magic and the power we could offer.

Witch with a B

Now, I am certain that none of you make a practice of withholding or looking away when someone asks you for help, or engages in back-stabbing behavior. And yet, there are the little things that, when taken together, can comprise behavior that we’re not so proud of. Often we engage in bad behavior when we feel hurt, angry and frustrated.

It’s no fun to either be labeled a [insert label here – you know which ones you use/hate!] or to use name-calling on someone else. It all devolves very quickly. Let’s be patient with each other and with ourselves and remind ourselves of the true magic we each have.

Sweet Treats

Just telling someone how beautiful she looks today, how she does a great job, how much she’s appreciated for her community/volunteer efforts, or how much you enjoy her cooking/children/art can be enough to make someone’s day.

I’ll bet (if you really tried) you could think of *ten* wonderful things about each (yes, all of them!) of the people around you. It’s not so hard to think of one kind word, deed or thought (saying a prayer for someone counts) that you can do every day for those who make your world magical (and even those who may bring a bit of sourness to it).

So, mujer, will you choose to give out tricks or treats? Up to you…

It begins w/an excerpt of her chants during the velada ceremony and concludes with a very brief overview of her work, from a mythopoetic viewpoint

María Sabina: March 17, 1894- November 22, 1985,
Huatla, Oaxaca, Mexico

“Holy Mary, says
She is the Morning Star woman, says
She is the Cross Star woman, says
She is the Constellation of the Sandal woman, says
She is the Hook Constellation woman, says
I am the little woman of the great expanse of the waters, says
I am the little woman of the expanse of the divine sea, says
Holy Father, says
She is a saint woman, says
She is a hummingbird woman, says
She is a humming bird woman, says
She is a woman with vibrant wings, says
She is a woman of good words, says
Of good words, good breath, good saliva, says
…I am woman who looks into the insides of things and investigates, says
I am a woman of sap, says
I am a woman of the dew, says
I am a green woman, says
I am a woman of clarity, says
There is nobody who frightens us, says
There is nobody hovering around, says
I am a woman who cleans, says”

-María Sabina during a velada

The mythopoetic chants of the beloved Mazatec wise woman María Sabina are timeless, their healing power, transformative and palpable. Deemed transmissions from what Henry Munn referred to as the mushrooms of language, the shamaness explained, “Language belongs to the saint children. They speak and I have the power to translate.”

Jerome Rothenberg further elucidates this phenomenon in his preface to the remarkable book, Maria Sabina Her Life and Chants, by Alvaro Estrada, translated by Henry Munn; with a retrospective essay by R. Gordon Wasson, “Her qualification of each line with the word tzo - “says” is testimony to that: that it isn’t María Sabina but the unspoken he/she/it whose words these are.” He goes on to say of her chants, “here is language as medicine, its ancient function: for, as she chants, “with words we live and grow,”… and “I cured them with the language of the children.”

María Sabina called the Psilocybe mushrooms the saint children, as well as many other terms of affection. “I take Little-One-Who-Springs-Forth,” she said, “and I see God.” The mushrooms were ingested during the velada ceremony, an ancient Mesoamerican healing ceremony. Practiced at night and in secret for over 500 years after the arrival of the Spaniards to the Americas, the velada ceremony was brought to the attention of the non-indigenous western world in the 1960’s. The Beatles and Bob Dylan were among the many diverse seekers that sought out this great wise woman for her remarkable and profound healing gifts.

Sandra del Castillo is a language teacher, soon –to-be grandmother, writer, and passionate student of Mexican and Yoruba mythology. She formed and directed her own informal theatre company during her 14 year stay in Mexico called Teatro Azul, Dreams, Myth, and Legends - where she had the privilege and honor of working with professional actors, dancers, musicians, archaeologists, and shaman. She is currently compiling Mexican legends to publish and bring to life through theatre and film.

With the Halloween season in full gear, it’s no wonder that we see La Bruja almost everywhere, flying around on her broomstick, long black robes and hair trailing behind her. But La Bruja isn’t alone these days in her mischief. She’s accompanied by an endless number of vampires, werewolves, zombies, Transformers and Disney princesses. I don’t know which of those is the scariest.

On television, all those things that go bump in the night are available on a daily basis. Just flip through the channels for a serving of ghosts, vampires, alternate realities and assorted monsters. In movie theaters, Paranormal Activity is scaring audiences everywhere as it strives to become a cult hit.

So why is it that we are all so enamored of scary things? Why are paranormal books, movies and television such big business today?

Scientists and psychologists will likely tell you that the fright we get from such things produces a rush from the adrenaline rocketing through our bodies, much like the experience from a roller coaster ride. The rush is safe and easily repeated by just getting on the ride again.

But as a writer of the paranormal, I like to believe that it’s about much much more than that.

Think about those ghosts and spirits. Isn’t it a comfort to believe that there is a place to which we might pass when our mortal lives end and that despite death, we can somehow reach that place? That the death of those that we love doesn’t end our ability to connect with them? Isn’t it even scarier to imagine that something has gone wrong with that passing over and that an angry spirit is going to let us know they are unhappy?

As a paranormal writer, death and the dark side are things I play with in almost every story because they are universal fears. Regardless of religious beliefs, race or ethnic background, death and darkness play an important role in most cultures. Is it any wonder then that virtually every culture has some kind of version of an immortal creature that can survive death and thrives in the night, usually by gorging on the blood of others?

Bram Stoker’s Dracula is one of the more well-known novels about vampires, but I’m sure Bram Stoker couldn’t have imagined the industry he would spawn with the creation of his night-loving bloodsucker. Stoker also probably didn’t realize that the myth would become one associated with such sexiness. From the unrequited love angst of teen vampires to the more erotic writings in adult paranormals, vampires have become creatures that we love and who love us. Often. Sometimes in very unique and different ways.

Because readers love that difference, it is not uncommon to see Latinos and their myths in paranormals, including the Latino version of a vampire – the chupacabra – which has appeared in various books and television shows like The X-Files.

Unfortunately not as sexy as Dracula, the chupacabra myth is also not as long lived as other vampire legends. Monstropedia notes that the earliest stories regarding the red-eyed lizard/dog-like demon reputed to suck blood from goats began in the 1990s and incidents involving chupacabras were limited to attacks in Puerto Rico. In recent years, however, chupacabra sightings have occurred in South Texas. In 2007, the Associated Press reported on the apparent discovery of a weird dog-like creature thought to be the elusive chupacabra just outside of Austin.

So is it possible the chupacabra isn’t just a myth or urban legend?

What about another Latino demon – La Llorona?

There are many versions of La Llorona throughout the Americas with the same basic theme – a woman kills her children and then herself and is then doomed to spend eternity wandering the world weeping and searching for her children. Sometimes the myth includes the woman taking wandering children to replace those she had lost. According to the Handbook of Texas Online, La Llorona is probably the most well-known ghost in Texas and possibly associated with Cortez’s interpreter Malinche who some believe betrayed her native Mexico to the Conquistadors.

Have you ever heard La Llorona weeping in the night or seen something run into the underbrush that didn’t look quite like a dog? Have you experienced a paranormal event of your own or do you have some other Latino myths that you’d like to share with us?

Leave us your comments and we’ll pick one lucky winner to receive a copy of one of my earlier vampire novels - DEVOTION CALLS - which features my take on what happens when a chupacabra makes its lair in Spanish Harlem!

What we do know is that women were the traditional healers within communities. The midwives used their wisdom and knowledge to help others through the birthing process, and other healers would make tea and poultices to heal children, elders, the infirm and those who might have been harmed in an accident.

Unfortunately, over time, when medicine was being “professionalized,” women who helped others to heal and take care of bodily pain and injuries were called “witch” – a word that was used in that context with negative connotations and with a strict penalty (sometimes even death!).

So let’s take back this meaning and ask ourselves: When are we healing women? How do we help others to heal, and when do we stifle the healing process? How can we create more and better circles within which to heal ourselves and others?

Healing has been women’s domain for a very long time. There are indigenous healers, shamans, and any manner of wise women, visionaries, and crones. And I’ll bet many of you had a grandmother, aunt or other wise woman in your life that had her own methods of healing (which may have included Vicks Vapor Rub!). J

During the course of the Powerful Latinas Interview Series, we’ve spoken to women who’ve helped to heal others (psychiatrists, doctors, music therapists, etc.), as well as themselves. Some of our interviewees have gone through serious trauma (!), and they’ve all had obstacles and challenges to overcome. Multiple times, the women have talked about the historical power of women to heal each other.

Part of how we heal each other is in community. If you have a close circle of comadres, I’ll bet you’ve seen each other through romantic heartbreak, angst with family and work, childrearing questions, and even just questions about the meaning of life and love.

Have you ever had a hand in caring for a sick child, a sick parent, or a sick lover? When someone is in need of healing (both the physical and the emotional/mental kind), what we can provide is immense, and if we choose to assist with the healing (sometimes we can take this on, and sometimes we can’t!), we have a responsibility to provide this well, and without bringing them further down.

So ask yourself, who has been there to help you heal in times of crisis? What did they do that hastened the process and what did they do that may not have been the most “healthy” for you? How can you be a truly healing woman, and not an “evil sorceress” who brings harm instead of healing? [More on this in the next blog post!]

For today, mujer, be the woman who is a healer, a wise woman, and a “good witch.”

That feeling is “magic” and we talk about our beloved as if we have been “bewitched” or he/she put a “spell” on us. However, for any of us who have lived through the ups and downs of relationships (and who hasn’t?), we know that you cannot *make* anyone love you.

So although we may be powerful healing women (more on that in the next blog post), the magic of love is something we cannot control. Or at least we cannot control it from the outside.

Love is something that can lift us up, make us be more of who we are, and give us energy, as well as bring us joy. And that special love is not something anyone can define for you or give to you; it is something internal and all your own.

And while the object of our affections may incite the feeling of love, and a lot of warmth and tenderness, it is truly up to us to keep that torch alive and to develop love into a stronger and more flexible bond than the fragile wisp it is when it first appears.

Have you ever fallen in love with a puppy, or maybe a child that you held in your arms? I know that I fell in love with my son the first time I saw him – actually, even before that! And we know that for that kind of love, we have to keep it alive even when that puppy chews up our favorite (and expensive!) purse, or when your child does something that truly disappoints you.

So when we talk about brujería with regards to love, let us remember that while we control our own emotions (and ONLY our own), we have little control over others’. However, the power of being able to control our own emotions around love – whether it be to keep love alive, or to let love go when it doesn’t serve you – is still pretty potent!

How have you experienced the magic of love? Have you fallen in and out of love with partners, children, pets and even friends? What do you do to maintain that love, and when do you let it go?

Mujer, remember that YOU are magic – you create it every day in a million ways. Let’s learn to direct our magic to create the kinds of lives we want. And it all starts with love (and not just the romantic kind)…