This is my life theme and my motto.
Today’s post is all about me. Blame my friend, Rena, who thinks customers need to know more about me, the person. I don’t really like to talk about myself, which is probably a good reason to do it. So let’s begin!
Snow belt girl/California woman
I was raised in Rochester, NY’s suburb of Irondequoit and spent my first dozen years of adult life in Tallahassee, FL… but when I first saw northern California I knew it was home. That was 1984 and it’s been home every since. The open nature of people here, the free and easy culture, the politics and the way people here (mostly) care about helping each other all resonate with me in a big way. Even though I adore the San Francisco Bay area, we’re looking seriously at moving to the San Diego area in the longer term future. Just talking about it right now.
Cultural background
I was raised in the Sicilian-American culture and a few years ago discovered I’m 1/4 French! A great excuse for another trip to France about a year ago. It was wonderful and France had new resonance.
Book nerd
I’ve always been an avid reader. It was a great escape from my insane family life and at one point I read just about all the books in my elementary school library.
In this world but not of it
So many things that go on here confuse me. I can’t understand cruelty or evil. The mean way people treat each other. Passive-aggression. As a result, I’ve never felt that I fit here. Which, now, as an adult, is ok with me. More than ok. But as a kid, it was a struggle.
Yes, I’m professional writer
I took journalism in college and ended up working as a corporate communications exec in tech companies and then as a consultant in communications, including crisis communications. I’ve also been a business journalist and a freelance writer. My genre is first-person essay and I’m modestly published in anthologies and literary journals. Oh, I had some poetry published, too. But I’m not a poet. As a kid I wrote plays, too.
My spirit animal is a jet
I never met a trip I didn’t want to take.
I’m a humaniac
I spent more than a decade as a volunteer with a Florida humane society. I’ve always loved animals and as you can tell, I still do.
He’s my first and last
Michael and I married a couple years after he graduated from Syracuse University, where we met. We were way too young and split up after almost nine years. However, 26 years later he reappeared and we remarried. We’ve been happily remarried for almost nine years. This time, we’ll make it. He’s actually my first and fourth marriage. I see no reason to do it again. Ever. He’s da bomb!
I care about humans, too.
My mother was a volunteer most of her life so it’s no surprise that the thread runs through mine, too. For a dozen years I worked with an organization that provided emotional support to those with HIV in my part of California. The work was rewarding AND I made some of the most wonderful friends in the process. People who are real.
My motto
It’s all about love. Love is the answer to everything.
I don’t know why I became a hypnotherapist and past-life regressionist.
No good answer to that question, and I’m asked it all the time. All I can say is “I was called and I answered.” My favorite thing to do is to use hypnotherapy to help people deal with everything from pain management, smoking cessation and fear of flying to anxiety, surgical outcome and cancer treatment. Even today, it excites me that hypnotherapy works so well. I wish more people would try it.
Sometimes this is my hair color. But not always.
My favorite things:
Sunshine. Laughter. Fall colors. Walks in nature. Love. Nice people. Coffee dates. Rose wine. Italian food. Chinese food. Indian food. Ok, food. Cosmopolitan cocktails. Friends who get me. Netflix. My DVR. Self-reflection. Writing. Brains. Helping people. My products for grief and healing.
My favorite places
Big Sur. Sedona. Santa Fe. San Francisco. San Diego. Manhattan. Savannah. Charleston. Western Canada. Seattle. Alcatraz. Rome. London. Paris. Loire Valley. Morocco. Ireland. Scotland.
Things I don’t like:
Death penalty. War. Mean people. People who think they’re nice but are actually mean-spirited. Bullshit. Passive-aggression. Rigidity. Right-wing politics. Ghosting. People who don’t forgive. Vendettas.
Dichotomies
I’m soft and tough at the same time. Yeah, just try living in my family without toughening up.
My weakness
A big mouth that can shoot off without warning.
My super-power
Forgiveness.
My biggest secret
You think I’d tell you that? 😉
I’ve told you all about me. Here’s what I’d like to know about YOU: what is YOUR super-power?
How about your smallest secret? It was fun getting to know you a little deeper, Carol! 🙂
Loved loved LOVED reading more about you Carol!
This was a great read Carol!, I loved finding all that info about you and I can tell you that our autumn colours here at the moment are spectacular. In fact I’m probably spamming everyone’s Instagram with my autumn shots. Nice to read about you and thanks to your fiend for encouraging you to write it.
Glad to know you Carol. I thought I knew you, but I found out some new things in this post. Love it!
You incredibly lovely lady … I love this “Getting To Know You Post” – I can’t. wait for chats over coffee in London this summer!
This was so nice to learn more about you Carol!! I love that you remarried your first husband…it goes to show that time can be the answer for many things!
I feel the same way about love and hate. I always say “why can’t people just love each other”…I just don’t understand meanness…
Jodie
It’s good to learn and know something about you. I guess everything happens really for a reason. We may go through something but still there are some good outcomes from it.
I seriously love the “getting to know you” type posts, but I so get your opening. I rarely talk about myself and need to break out of that!
Forgiveness is a real superpower because everyone cant possess that. Also I am a book nerd too!
I am a total book nerd too! I love all things bookish! I loved learning more about it!
Nice little insight and love the love story. Keep on writing great posts and keep on rocking the world!
What a magnificent love story! Magnifique! Forgiveness is a strength that not many can handle.
You’re a great writer! Thanks for telling us about you. The setup you did for it was really fun. 🙂
Ah formidable, (In French that means, “wonderful!”) that you found out a bit more about your heritage! And a quarter French… yes, that is a great excuse to go to France! My husband is Swiss French and so we speak both French and English at home.
You have fulfilled so much doing all these great cause, kudos to you! Being soft and tough at the same time is a great character of a person.
I like learning more about you. It is interesting about you and your husband- what a love story!
I love getting to know fellow bloggers and it’s awesome that you’re sharing more about you! Thanks for doing that and for giving us the chance to know you more. I love that it’s like second nature for you to help out and spread kindness, we all need more of that in the world. Love is definitely the answer to everything!
You sound like you’ve lived a fun interesting life. You’ve got a lot of strengths. I really think forgiveness is an awesome strength.
I just loved reading this information about you! I too love to travel too and a jet would be mine too!
I’m pretty big on taking trips too. I find it amazing when people don’t want to. 🙂 That’s cool that you got to go back to France after learning it was in your heritage.
Thanks for sharing tidbits about you. It’s great to know something about the person you read their writings on a daily basis.
I am from Long Island, and now live Upstate. It is definitely an adjustment, and I can totally see going somewhere warmer!
I loved learning more about you! I’ve always enjoyed your posts and always wondered more about your background.
Very interesting, Carol. It is great to learn more about the person behind the writing, no matter what you care to share with us. Thank you for becoming transparent for this post. Power to ya, girly!
I didn’t know you went to Syracuse! I came a hair close. They threw quite a bit of money at me and my parents were all for it but that cold just wasn’t for me!
My super power and I lost most of it, is that I can hear dogs. I must be in person and not all dogs and certainly not baby puppies. When I went through chemotherapy I lost my powers. Every now and then I will get a flash from a dog. When I had the powers it was cool, but most people just wanted me to find out if it was time to put their dog down or on rescued dogs what happened to them. It was really emotional.
How incredibly lovely to hear you talk about . . . you! And, oddly enough, I think I (and anyone who follows your blog) could have written this, just because everything you say and do resonates with all these super qualities. After reading this, I’m even happier to be included as one of your friends! (And Western Canada made the list!!!)
I really enjoyed learning more about you. I hope one day to gain the super-power of forgiveness. I struggle with it so much.
I actually knew most of this! Wow. My superpower is twist of two traits, tenacity and resilience.
I think it’s a great thing to let people know about you a little more in-depth. This is a wonderful post that lets customers in to your world a little more!
I like the fact that you mention a jet is your spirit animal! I am the same as you when it comes to travel! I have yet to find a trip I am not willing to go on. I love to travel.
It’s nice to get to know you! I’m also an avid reader. Reading is one of my favorite things to do. I don’t like war either, but I’m proud of my military husband for fighting for his country.
It was nice getting to know more about your likes and dislikes. Glad you found your forever companion the first and fourth time around. We love taking trips.
It’s always fun to learn more about people so I really enjoyed reading this.
I, too, think love is the answer. But it seems to me that many of the people who promote love only love people that are like them.
I think my superpower is the ability to multitask without losing my mind. I have three kids, two dogs, a husband, a blog, and even more than that to juggle everyday, and I’m still sane.
It’s always great to get to know the person behind the blog. I think I need to do something like this over on my site.