What's this blog about?

Not so long ago, there was an advice columnist named Ann Landers. I never missed her column. She would take peoples' problems, look at them with an objective, but compassionate eye, and then tell them to do some commonsense thing that somehow made everything turn out all right.

While Ann was giving down-to-earth advice, Erma Bombeck was making a mess of her life and having us laugh along with her. Long before reality TV shows, Erma would tell us the truth about her family and trying to cope with life's ups and downs, ins and outs. But unlike reality shows, she was no drama queen--she somehow saw the humor in everyone and everything.

These women inspired me, and made me want to be a newspaper columnist. And for almost a decade, I was. I went looking for the good in people and situations, and I almost always found it. I loved writing that column, but stopped when my daughter turned 13 because it's hard enough to go through puberty without your mother trying to find the positive side of hormonal meltdowns, braces and failed drivers' license tests.

As time went on, I found that it was more fun to teach others how to find the good in their own lives than just tell them stories. You know, the old "teach a man to fish" adage. Plus, I'd started studying metaphysics, spirituality, creativity and human potential, so the stories started to make sense. So I wrote a couple of books and went out on the speaking circuit. Long before "The Secret," I was having a blast teaching audiences how to visualize, move fishing sinkers using only their thoughts, and lose weight by gaining happiness.

But that phase came to an end when our town suffered a massive flood. Our family's business had a rotten year, and never recovered. I once heard a speaker give the 7 words that will change your life: "When the horse is dead, get off." We tried for 8 years to get that dead horse moving again, but it never did. So we finally got off, left town, and started over.

I have a full-time job now, so there's no real time to speak, travel or even write much, for that matter. But there's still time to dream, and my dream has always been to write an advice column that blends commonsense with metaphysics, using the often-funny-but-sometimes-not-so-funny things that happen as the energetic mirror that shows the flaws or focus that make things happen. And that's what this blog will be about.

The difference between Ann, Erma and me, though, is that I'm going to give a lot of my own advice to myself. And you get to watch. In other words, I'm my own metaphysical experiment. I'll tell you what's going on, what I think it might mean and where it came from. I won't take any of it too seriously, though, because from what I read, life is an illusion, anyway.

And here's the best part. Besides being able to chime in with your own comments, you can also give me advice or ask for it. Some of you may know a lot more about metaphysics, energetics and enlightenment than I do, and I'm eager to hear what you have to say. But if this is all new to you, I'll share what I know. It should be an interesting conversation.

Eventually, I hope we'll have a community where we'll be sharing and supporting each other Fullistically(TM), which is a word I coined that represents living in a state of multi-dimensional awareness that includes all aspects of our lives. Not just those who read the blog, but in our communities, our world, and--who knows?--maybe even in our universe.

So welcome. You can call me DEL ("Dear Energy Lady"). I'm glad you're here.