Every year I go kicking and screaming into fall….not because I don’t love fall….I do. Fall in New England is a magnificent thing to behold. It’s just that I LOVE summer and all that it encompasses. There’s nothing better than the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer…..warm sun on your skin, sitting on a beach letting the waves wash all your cares away, backyard barbecues, festivals, fireworks……I could go on and on. So each year as the dog days of August tick away, I throw myself into draining every last drop out of my favorite season before September comes. I know that soon our outdoor lifestyle will cease, we will lose the daylight earlier, need to turn the heat on and live many more grey days isolated indoors.

While I have often said that if New England had one more month of summer and one less of winter, it would truly be the perfect place to live, I know that unless I move I don’t have much hope of getting the endless summer I which I dream. There is no sense letting the inevitable depress and paralyze you. We each have responsibility for the way we choose to think, feel and react to the stimuli around us. So….here’s a mental game I play with myself that you too can use to turn those negatives in your life into positives. Using summer as an example, when I am bemoaning the cooler air and shorter days, I diligently remind myself of all the things I love about fall…..the scents of Macintosh apples and spiced pumpkin, warm comfort foods like savory pork roast, crisps and butternut squash soup, the rainbow of brilliant leaves, apple cider, craft fairs, fires, etc. By consciously remembering all the good things about what I am not necessarily looking forward to, I am able to turn my thinking to more pleasant expectations. I find this is a far better strategy than climbing under the covers and refusing to come out until the next summer.

 We are the masters of our mental thought processes. No one, including ourselves, can make us feel anything we refuse to accept. This is the power of positive perceptions. I hope you will give my exercise a try the next time you are dreading something…..and do let me know how it works!

 This year’s beautiful, warm fall was a gift that my summer soul is particularly thankful for. Now I just need to work on mentally embracing the fact that Christmas is only a month away…..whoa! Where does the time go?

See passionate pay equity advocate Linda Brantley’s comments at MA SJC Awards $2 million in Pay Equity Case

We have lost so many this summer…..cultural icons who have been an integral part of the fabric of our lives. The losses seem endless: Edward M. Kennedy, Walter Cronkite, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Patrick Swayze. All people who blazed on the world’s stage yet left a tangible imprint on our everyday lives. Perhaps this is a natural phenomenon of aging….watching people we connected with in one way or another leave this world. But this summer has included too many funerals, memorial services, tributes, etc.

Yet while passings can be sad, shocking or debilitating, they can also provide a life affirming opportunity to reflect on what footprint we wish to leave in the world. Listening to the many accomplishments and contributions achieved can serve as a source of inspiration and motivation, as well as a powerful impetus for change. Along with the mistakes made, the opportunities lost, the roads not taken.

What do you want to be true of your life when all is said and done? What more do you seek or burn to do? Time is not ours to know…..all we have is today. Carpe Diem!

There is one true constant in life, and that is change. Change comes whether we want it to or not. It can be our friend, or our foe. How we handle it makes all the difference.

Take New England Patriots star linebacker Tedy Bruschi for example. Every Pats fan has a special place in their heart for this scrappy, dedicated, loyal team leader. Many cannot imagine the Patriots without him. But without him we will be this 2009 season as Bruschi gracefully bowed out of the sport last week after 13 seasons in the same uniform.

Bruschi came from humble beginnings and the road to sports superstardom was not always smooth. Yet he dedicated himself to the game, gave 110 percent, overcame his shortcomings and grew into a revered team captain. When it seemed unlikely that he would return to the field after a post Pro Bowl stroke, his love of the sport could not keep him away and he enjoyed a triumphant return. Through it all, he never lost sight of what was truly important or his principles, remaining true to himself, his family and his team.

When the business that is professional football indicated that it might be time for a change for Bruschi, he embraced it on his own terms. He exercised insight and wisdom, choosing to retire from his beloved Patriots near the top of his game, rather than lose his starting status or worse, be traded. At the hastily called press conference where he announced his decision, shocking teammates and fans alike, he held his head high, was completely positive and complimentary of the franchise and its leadership, and again provided an example of grace and class too rarely seen today in professional sports. He recognized when it was time to move on, and did so with a dignity that will undoubtedly open many doors for him in the future.

Whatever Bruschi’s next endeavor, his love affair with Patriot and football fans across the nation will continue. And one doesn’t need to be a football fan to learn from his fine example on how to recognize and deal with change. Change can conquer or control us, or, it can transform us and position us for bigger and better things. It all depends on how we play the game.

The silence is deafening. Just as it was that morning just a week ago. The day dawned perfectly, the light licking to life the soft swells of Nantucket Sound. It would be the first morning that Senator Edward M. Kennedy would not open his eyes to gaze fondly upon the waters he so dearly loved. Had things been different, he undoubtedly would have rousted a crew and spent a perfect day sailing aboard the Mya, with his beloved dogs Sunny and Splash at his side. Instead, the Kennedy Compound, and in fact all of Massachusetts, was eerily quiet and subdued.

Now, a week later, the silence prevails. A week of watching a splendid last goodbye to the Massachusetts senior senator, followed by political posturing over what happens next, has only served to starkly illuminate the great void that has been created by his passing. The quiet is deepened through all the people he personally touched and the myriad lives he changed. His booming voice – in passionate debate or hearty laughter – no longer echoes the halls of the Capitol or the Cape. The phone calls and kind remembrances no longer come.

Ted Kennedy, in his own words, was not a perfect man. But than none of us are. Yet his public service and many gifts to others lend us all lessons to live by. Here are a few offered during the many remembrances held:

• Always be prepared to compromise, but never compromise on your principles.
• Even our profound losses are survivable. It is what you do with them, and how they can be transformed into something positive, that is important.

• Treat everyone you meet, no matter their station in life, with dignity and respect.

May we continue to be inspired and motivated by his example to continue the work that meant so much to him. The work goes on. The cause endures. The hope still lives. And the dream will never die.

Rest in Peace Senator Kennedy.

Leaving the thoroughly delightful new movie Julie & Julia I was torn between what I wanted to do most – purchase some Brie, a French baguette and bottle of red wine, or adjourn to my kitchen to create a culinary masterpiece. Meryl Streep is outstanding in capturing the master chef, while Amy Adams plays a young writer and cook who emulates her, only to find herself in the process.

The story is full of laughter, love and delights for food enthusiasts, yet offers several key messages as well. Julia Child stumbled on the hobby that would forever change America’s culinary landscape when she moved to Paris with her husband Paul, a foreign diplomat. Always an active woman, she soon felt the need to find something to fill her days. She insightfully knew to follow her passion – FOOD – and discovered a niche that only she could fill – making French cooking accessible to American cooks. After an unsuccessful search for an English language cookbook on French cooking, Julia enrolled in The Cordon Bleu cooking school, an act that set in motion a sea change in food preparation for cooks the world over. She met two French gourmands and joined them in their quest to publish a French cookbook in America. She persevered when many others would have long given up. From start to final publication her masterpiece, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, took nearly 10 years. This first cookbook led to many, many others, a television series and propelled her into a class of her own in professional cooking.

What is your passion in life? Are you following it? What niche can you fill with your unique gifts and perspectives? Do you have the stamina to stay with your dream until you succeed, pushing aside disbelief, rejection, and lack of support? Julia Child, even today after her passing, so eloquently demonstrates what a wonderful, life changing world awaits if we only follow our dreams, fill the niche that only we can, and never give up until we succeed.

Bon Appetit!

Judge Sonia Sotomayor is poised to become the third female and first Latino member of the United States Supreme Court. When confirmed, Judge Sotomayor (only the third person of color to be nominated to the Court) will make history, but also bring new perspectives and experiences to enrich the Court’s deliberations.  This is great news for women and for the immigrant melting pot that is America. I watched her confirmation hearing with pride in her nomination and her deportment.

On a much less publicized front, I was equally impressed and proud of  Major Jennifer Grieves, the first female pilot of Marine One, the helicopter that transports the President and his family. Grieves was designated the helicopter aircraft commander of Marine One in May, 2008 and served the maximum time allowed (14 months) by the Marines in that capacity. On her last day of service on Marine One, she was given an all female crew to fly with to honor her achievement, along with personal congratulations from President Obama.

So women continue to break barriers, while we continue to yearn for the day that these occasions are unremarkable in their normalcy. Until then – Go Sisters Go!

I did not plan to spend my day watching Michael Jackson’s memorial service…..yet that is what I did. I was touched and moved by the tasteful and heartfelt program, which transported me back to my high school years and first introduction to this world-wide pop phenomenon. The service successfully banished the more recent negative images of the man, and instead reminded me of the greatness of his talent, his creativity and the barriers he broke.

At the end of the day, we are all measured by our contributions to the planet….and Michael contributed more than most of us will ever dream about. As the old saying goes, we don’t know much about a man until we have walked a mile in his moccasins. Safe to say that few of us have, or will, come even close to walking in MJ’s reality. Michael Jackson may have led what appeared to be a charmed life, yet who of us mere mortals have been thrust into the national limelight at the age of five,  having our childhood stolen, being placed instead into a completely artificial, albeit lucrative, parallel universe. We know the genuine talent and gifts he was born with….yet we have no real comprehension of the demons and deprivation that resulted from this new reality, both for a young boy and the troubled man he grew into. Our societal history clearly demonstrates that true fame and happy, adjusted lives seldom go hand in hand.

Today I marvelled, and reveled in, the genius that was Michael Jackson….and at least for myself, and for today, choose to overlook some of the bizarre ramifications of  his life. He changed the world as we know it and for that he has my thanks. I know that I, along with millions of others, will always cherish the good times we’ve had because of his special gift of music and dance. I hope that in death he can at last find the peace that seemingly eluded him many of  his years on earth.

Happy Fourth of July to all! I so enjoy this national holiday and not just for the red, white and blue decorations, cookouts with family and friends and  dazzling fireworks. But because it is our national time to pause and be grateful for the amazing country we live in and the freedoms we enjoy…..made possible by many who have fought and sacrified on our behalf. Independence, however defined, is a truly wonderful thing. One need just visit another country to gain a new appreciation for the freedoms that we as Americans sometimes take for granted.

This week I visited Concord, MA, the birthplace of America – the location of the shot heard round the world that began the American Revolution in 1775. There I saw a lantern that Paul Revere hung in the Old North Church to warn that the British were coming. I saw a tin whistle that was played as the Patriots marched to battle. And I was struck by the bravery and determination shown by those fighting men and women….and the parallel to those who continue their battle today around the world. All are powerful role models for putting one’s beliefs into action – and for having the courage to stand up for our convictions.

Independence Day……..Let Freedom Ring Forever!

Gloria Steinem

One may not think that Gloria Steinem and Michael Jackson have a lot in common, but they are in fact two individuals who have forever changed our world through their unique contributions.

I recently had the great good fortune to spend time, for the second time this year, in the presence of Ms. Steinem. As always, she was astonishing – particularly at the age of 75 – in her physical appearance, her emotional connectivity, her deep intelligence and her delightful irreverence. I’ve observed that women (myself included!) continually thank her for the profound difference she has made in their lives – and how she shifted and shaped a new paradigm for ALL women. She is truly a woman who can proudly realize and appreciate the qualitative difference she has made in the world.

Michael Jackson’s early demise will not afford him an historical perspective, yet many in these days after his sudden death are helping to illustrate how his music, creativity and initiative opened doors and forever changed our musical landscape, and the lives of so many who followed in his pioneering footsteps.

Each in their own way were ground breakers…..and because of them, our world turns differently – for us, and for every generation hereafter.

When you look back on your life, what accomplishment(s) will make you swell with pride? What unique gift is inside you that you need to offer up to the universe? What is YOUR contribution to the world – that part of you that will live on long after you have gone?

Not all of us want to change the world on the level of Gloria and Michael……yet we should all strive to leave our little corner of it better for having been here. Michael Jackson’s premature passing reminds us that tomorrow is promised to no one. Seize today to think about what contribution you’d like to make and take a step forward to reaching that goal. Who knows, your efforts may too result in shifting the universe as we know it!