Simple Pleasures!

Rylee was so tired last night at bedtime, (ours, not hers) that she didn't want to get up out of her crate to go potty. Now, if Rylee doesn't go potty after say 7pm, I can almost be certain she'll come to my side of the bed in the wee hours of the morning, asking to go out. She did just that this morning at 5:00.

I usually don't like getting up at 5 a.m. unless there's are really good reason to... such as going to the airport for an early morning flight to Kauai, or to learn that I've won the lottery. Since that doesn't happen very often, I take the little pleasures... like a strong cup-a-Joe. Anyway... this morning at 5 a.m., the coffee wasn't yet ready, nor did I have a flight to catch, but that's ok, because I did enjoy a simple pleasure. What? I saw the stars! What's so significant about seeing the stars? Well, it means there's a clear sky, which means when the sun comes up, there will be blue sky and some SUNSHINE, and believe me, we NEED some SUNSHINE!

Last night, while out on a walk, Dotti said, "Honey, this is the last year I'm going to be here during the winter. Next year, we're going to be in the SUN!" Hey, that works for me! :) It just so happens that this winter has been the worst in terms of weather, in the past five years, and we are SO ready for Spring!

So as I sit here watching Rosie O'Donnell on The View (our daily 10 a.m. coffee break or exercise ritual), I glance out the window, and what do I see? BLUE SKY and SUNSHINE! Not only that, but it's supposed to be 50 degrees today. Heck, I might even be able to go out for a walk without my neck gator and gloves today!

Spring is in the air... and Life is Good! Enjoy the SIMPLE PLEASURES of life!

Separation of church and state...Why are religious institutions inconsistent in its application?

Finally! Opposing sides agree on SOMETHING!

New Jersey Attorney General, Stuart Rabner, recently ruled that clery cannot be forced to sanctify same-sex civil unions. It makes sense to us that the separation of church and state would confirm this situation.

At least Rabner is consistent is his application. The attorney general issued another opinion last month saying mayors and other non-clergy who regularly perform marriages cannot turn down gay couples who ask to have civil unions performed.

Those officials, he said, will have to perform the unions in New Jersey or stop doing all weddings. To perform any marriage requested but then turn down civil unions would be a violation of the anti-discrimination law, he said.

So, what's our beef? Our beef is that the Catholic church (and many other religious institutions) don't seem to be able to grasp this consistency.

For example, consider Andrew Walton's comments (he's a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Camden). He told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the opinion "affirms the obvious."

Requiring priests to perform civil unions, he said to the Inquirer, "would violate, in a fundamental way, the First Amendment of the Constitution, which exists to protect religious organizations from the state on these kinds of matters. The state cannot dictate the religious, liturgical or sacramental practices of any religious organization."

Duh, now!! So why don't they understand this in reverse? If they did, they would not oppose giving same gender couples the "civil right of marriage," understanding that it does not threaten them in any way, and does not inhibit or impact their practice of their religious faith.

Leaders of Garden State Equality told the Inquirer that Rabner's ruling was "of no surprise to us, nor of any upset." Note that they say "nor of any upset." Why? Because they understand what most in our community understand and support. The separation of church and state protects religious institutions. Now, that doesn't mean the members within the church bodies won't have to "duke it out." After all, what's a church if there isn't a lot of fighting about whether or not to support equality? It is a historical battle! (: Seriously, members within the church would have to confront those decisions, the very issue that many are already dealing with today.

"We've always said that clergy don't have to perform ceremonies against their conscience," said Steven Goldstein, the group's chairman, to the Inquirer.

Let's rejoice that the opposing sides are finally on the same page about SOMETHING!

Leave it to the wonderful consitutionality of the separation of church and state to provide the bridge for bringing sides together to agree! Hmmmmm...we may be on to a great idea whose time has come! I wonder if it would work with Iraq?

I simply don't get it when the religious institutions don't understand this law in reverse. Hello Catholic church and other religious institutions fighting against the "civil right of marriage." Garden State Equality understands the consistent application of the separation of church and state. Proof?

The gay-marriage bill Garden State Equality is pushing (utilizing the term "marriage" to create equality vs "civil union") would not require religious leaders to officiate at ceremonies.

It's mayors and other public officials, Goldstein told the Inquirer, "who cannot have a double standard."

May our community continue to be consistent in understanding and application of the separation of church and state. And...may our community continue to be a beacon of light and a bridge for helping others understand.

We believe that is our role in today's society.

Well...that's my opinion, and everybody's got one! Let me know yours! Dotti Berry

 

ESSAY: A New Year…Live Authentic with an Open Heart...WHATEVER It Takes!

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Living Authentic continues to fuel our passion, creating connections with people through engaging hearts and minds.

No, we haven’t found our passion and success through multiple goal setting sessions, high pressure sales tactics, and money flowing into our coffers, though we recognize the importance of goals, sales, and money in creating wealth.

Make no mistake about it. We welcome money flowing into our lives. We acknowledge that we will create the extraordinary with money, using it to inspire others to feel that they, too, can be one person and make a difference.

We believe that genuine wealth is adding real value to the lives of others through our personal services and products. The more wealth/value we add to the lives of others, the more wealth we attract to ourselves and our projects. We call it the Magnet Theory.

We, Two Women & a Poodle, have a simple desire.

We create our desired results through consciously influencing our thoughts and our actions, creating wealth and success to support our definite major life purpose:

To Live Authentic with an open heart,
unattached to a specific outcome, and
To Inspire the Power of ONE in each of us
to impact the Power in ALL of Us.

Rylee Joy both inspires and heals us.


To Live Authentic on a daily basis provides us with an adventure that is a challenge as well as an opportunity. Maya Angelou says, “Life is pure adventure and the sooner we realize that, the sooner we will be able to treat life as art.”

Our desire is to create art in life through our definite major life purpose. How do we do that?

We commit to operating from a response of love vs. a reaction of fear. Love is what harnesses an energy that empowers our life, our relationships, our plans for healing ourselves and the world, and our businesses.

We know. You have heard this before. In fact, you heard it many times during this last year as we sent weekly newsletters from our journey, Gay Into Straight America.

The bottom line is that we believe this to be true! Love sets the world on fire in a good way! Love fuels a bigger fire than hate, fear and worry could ever fuel. Love connects us to our inner light, keeping us in a place of energy, helping us create art in life through our definite major life purpose.

Getting mired in fear and worry steals our energy, our wealth and our love. It reduces it to rubble. Propelling ourselves through love gives us a zest that puts a snap in our steps, and creates a desire for an open heart.

We will admit that it is sometimes tempting to act and/or write in ways that strike out at others. We see others utilize this tactic often, “stirring up the fires” that invites lots of attention. It often seems that media and society are addicted to these types of events.

Our truth is that we had to admit that we could not sustain our passion if we took that route. We can only accomplish our definite major life if we remain passionate about what we are doing. We know ourselves. Attacking others and using a negative approach would not fuel our passion. It would do the opposite. It would sap our energy. And, the big log in our own eye would give us a black one.

Our passion is our life energy…it makes everything flow. Anything else creates a dam in the river, stopping the flow of our energy. Love creates our flow. Hate doesn’t.


Love and an open heart allows us to let go of a specific outcome, while remaining committed to living and connecting in authentic ways, freeing our souls to love.

Love does not mean that worry and fear do not pop up. Contrary to that belief, they often show up. Love provides a passion and an energy that allows us to move beyond worry and fear…to act in spite of worry and fear.

Love took us on our journey, Gay Into Straight America, and it propels us forward as we prepare for The Great American Roadcast in October, 2007.

We visualize daily our creative vision that promotes the success of our definite major life purpose. Napoleon Hill referred to this as the “workshop of the mind.”

We trust that the right people, situations, wealth and whatever we desire will manifest as we move forward in love, committed to creating genuine wealth.

Nearly every day, we receive some “fruit” from the seeds of our journey, Gay Into Straight America. And nearly every day, we plant another seed. It comes full circle…yes, that is what love does.

Love cannot be denied in the end result. It overshadows any fear, worry, lack, or hate.

Love indeed creates the Magnet Theory. It attracts all that we desire. When we are in the flow of love, we push off from the side of the bank in the river, even when we feel afraid, knowing that the flow of the river will move us along if we lay on our backs, keep our head up, and don’t fight the flow and energy of the water. And when we get out of the river, our steps magically happen as we put one foot in front of the other. Before we know it, our life and our projects are jogging and then running, moving along toward a destiny that cannot be stopped.

Our hope for you for 2007? Trust yourself. Use your instincts. Tap into what your open heart is urging you to do with your life, your projects, your business, and your relationships. Use love to fuel each of them!

Do this and love will create genuine wealth beyond your wildest dreams!

The light in us honors the light in you, Dotti, Roby & Rylee Joy

What Global Warming?

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

We just watched "An Inconvenient Truth." Al Gore did a phenomenal job pulling all his research of the past thirty-some years together to create this documentary. It should be required watching.

I've said that a lot lately... "This should be required reading," or "This should be required watching." The "problem" is that we live in a "free" country, and you can't make anyone read or watch something. Just like you can't make someone recycle.

That brings be to a conversation I had with a relative at Christmas...

We recently signed up for the "Food Plus" program with our garbage/recycle company. We have a cute little blue bin that we keep under the kitchen sink, and a large container outside, where all things food waste go. I mean, we're talking anything from the scraps you cut off your chicken to the paper plate you use when your dishwasher is broken, and you eat 5-6 times a day, and you don't want to spend your entire day washing dishes. A bonus to the Food Plus program is that it includes yard waste. So, for $8 per month, we can decrease our amount of "trash," clean up the leaves in our yard, and do our part to save the planet. How great is that?

So... back to my conversation with a relative. I am so excited about the Food Plus Program (I know, it's the little things) that I decided to ask, "Are you doing the Food Plus Program?" My relative darted his eyes and said, "No!" I intitially thought, "uh-oh, I've said something offensive," but then I thought, "How offensive could a question about food scraps be?"

Turns out, I was just being overly sensitive, and thought the "No!" was meaning something negative. What my relative really wanted to say was that they compost themselves, for the benefit of their own garden. Whew! What a relief! :)

And then, later in the conversation, this same relative said, "why not just toss the styrofoam in the fire pit along with the plastic, and let it burn!" He was sort of kidding... I hope.

So what's the purpose of this blog? Heck, I don't really know, but for some reason, with the falling snow outside... (at the time of writing, it has accumulated 8 inches in less than 5 hours, 19 inches are forecasted) and this being our second big snowfall of the year, when we usually get none to a couple of inches, it's just got me thinking about what Al Gore said in "An Inconvenient Truth."

Ever since Dotti moved to the Pacific Northwest in the Summer of 2002, she has said, "Thank you, Honey, for bringing me 'Home'." That's how much she loves it here, with the "mild" climate." Now she's saying, "Honey, were you tricking me? Where's this weather coming from?"

"What Global Warming?????"

Just as you are doing your part to make a difference in the world as it pertains to people's understanding of GLBT people, please do your part to help heal our planet!

Standing UP and Speaking OUT in 2007

It's already January 5, 2007. Before we know it, the holidays will be here again! Yikes! Let's SIEZE THE DAY and LIVE and LOVE IN THE PRESENT MOMENT, so we don't grow old so quickly, and wonder where our lives went!

We've been delightfully busy lately...

Roby took photos (Dotti & Kelly Hanson helped!!!) and then we danced the night away at the Top Drawer Events 5th Annual New Year's Eve Women's Ball at Semiahmoo; We hosted a New Year's Day brunch in our home; We continue to record podcast interviews for our Great American Roadcast Series, and we are making contacts with people for our future road trip. On January 2nd, we hosted The Joe Teehan Show on AM 790 KGMI in Bellingham, and had the pleasure of interviewing Jim Hunt, the immediate past President of the National League of Cities, and we ended the show with an interview with our nextdoor neighbor, Michelle Willoughby.

When we're not working, we are getting our MINDS and our bodies ready for what will be a huge feat and accomplishment for us... a Sprint Triathlon! Our dear friends, Mary & Allen DeLaney, in Herndon, VA, are accomplished Triathletes - champions in their age groups - and they have inspired us to TRY a TRI! :) They even gifted us with a subscription to Inside TRIATHLON Magazine to help us on our way! Our goal is to compete (finish!) in the Danskin Women's Sprint Triathlon in Seattle in August 2007. Let us know if you want to participate with us!

We recently had the pleasure of interviewing Wayne Besen, author of "Anything But Straight." Wayne is an energetic and brilliant guy making a difference by "Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth." Stay tuned for the podcast interview, which should be published soon on our Podcast Website.

Rylee Joy continues to wear a brown fur coat (since her "skunking") and enjoys life more than anyone I know! She continues to teach us lessons about love and life each day!

We wish you a Happy New Year, good health, abundance, success, love, joy and FUN beyond your wildest imaginations in 2007!

-Roby, Dotti & RJ