I just had an illuminating talk with my good friend, Portia. Have you ever met someone who’s so dynamic that he or she just crackles with positive energy? That’s my friend.

She sweeps into a room, and you can practically feel her enter the place before she’s in your sights.

Portia was beautifully bedecked in a vermillion sweater dress today, a brightly printed scarf around her neck, in attractive contrast to her blonde hair. She gave me a bear hug, and we sat down to catch up on one another’s lives, as much as we could in the space of a lunch hour.

By the books, Portia is a couple of decades my senior, but I dare say she’s the younger of us -- ageless, exuberant and swimming effortlessly in a river of chi every time I see her. She glows from within, heart and soul on her sleeve.

Today, when I told her about my decision to take part in NaNoWriMo, her eyes lit up.

“Oh, you’re so talented,” she said, beaming.

I half thought I should look behind me to see who she meant.

But, instead of tossing the compliment aside, I smiled and accepted. I really needed it. On this day when I have a serious case of the pre-NaNoWriMo jitters, it certainly did me no harm; so I thanked her for her vote of confidence.

As we talked, I discovered we are more similar than I knew. Like most of the modern world, we do what we must to survive. We live by the clock; we produce; we draw a paycheck. Secretly though, we nurture that side of ourselves that dwells in imagination and creativity, the part that wonders what it would be like to live fully in our authentic selves, immersed in our passionate endeavors.

I think having these kinds of dreams only means we’re human. They act like sparks that continuously kindle a flame inside of us that allows us to get through just about anything. It’s when we draw the curtains together, shut out the lights and put those dreams to bed that we have really lost our connection to life.

If it weren’t for the wonderful people in my life who share their dreams with me, and keep me sane and focused, I’m not sure life would be as bearable.

Let’s be thankful for our friends today and let them know how much they mean to us. Be a friend to someone today, by taking the time to pass on a bit of knowledge or encouragement. Spare a few sacred moments to listen without interrupting or letting your phone or Blackberry distract you.

You might just make someone’s entire day by being there for them. A little goes a long way.

My friend lifted my spirits in a huge way, purely by conveying her enthusiasm for my undertaking. I cannot thank her enough. Hopefully, this positive energy from all of my good friends will cycle through me tomorrow as I put fingers to keyboard for the first time in the spirit of this global contest.

I believe the Universe does things to gently urge us to pay attention. But, when all else fails, it administers a firm, but sudden jolt to the seat of our pants. Meanwhile, we have the audacity to think we have all of the control, and it lets us believe so, for a time.

This morning I think the Universe was definitely speaking its mind to me. I was driving the same route to work that I've taken for the past six months. I wasn't even speeding when I rounded the curve of the highway on-ramp from Highway 29 to Highway 32 (vicinity of Columbia, Maryland). Unexpectedly, my tires skidded on a super slick spot on the dark asphalt, and I felt it begin to fish-tail.

I don't even recall being scared until the threat was over. I responded, as if on auto-pilot, calmly grasping the steering wheel, as the car careened between two lanes, three or four times. It was as if a deeper part of me within felt safe and knew not to panic, in order to get things back under control. Luckily, traffic is usually a bit more forgiving on Fridays, so I had the space to do that.

After I had righted myself on the road, a surge of adrenaline shot through my upper body. I took a few deep breaths. I glanced down to see that I'd splashed coffee on myself during the process, as my lid had been ajar. I wiped it from my clothing and didn't even care. That was "small potatoes" compared to how my day could have begun.

Although I define my beliefs to be spiritual, but not religious, I prayed in my own way. I smiled and thanked whoever "up there" was looking out for me.

As you can imagine, I breathed a sigh of relief, really awakened to the present and began to think much more positively. Instead of ruminating on the many tasks clamoring for my attention and worrying about everything under the sun (my usual), I remembered how lucky I really am. I have all of my limbs intact. I’m in good health and have a caring network of people in my life. They color it in many special ways. And although I’m guilty of complaining and focusing on how far I have not come in life, I have plenty of resources that help me to live productively and take care of my needs.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share that to remind anyone reading this that it shouldn’t take a brush with injury during our morning commutes to make us stop and reflect on the joy in our lives.

Take the time to be present and look at what's good in your life, instead of worrying about where you are headed. Write down what makes you feel really grateful. Honor this in your thoughts and actions, through reflection or by telling a friend or family member how much they mean to you. Take the time to slow down and enjoy each moment of your life, because sometimes they only happen once.

Have you had any similar moments that forced you to pause and really consider what your life is made of? If so, I invite you to please share them in the comments.

Who knew? I guess humankind hasn't changed much over centuries of living on this earth. Just as in modern times, women tried to improve upon their natural beauty through cosmetics and to impress the opposite sex.

There will always be Mars and Venus, except, in those days, the cave analogy  was real! 

Read about it here.

Instead of undergoing a revolution into modern living about 40,000 to 70,000 years ago, as commonly thought, man may have become modern in stuttering fits and starts, or through a long slow march that began even earlier. At least that's the case being made in a study appearing in the journal Nature on Thursday.

Study author, Curtis Marean, professor of anthropology at the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University, also found 57 pieces of ground-up rock that would have been reddish- or pinkish-brown. That would be used for self-decoration and sending social signals to other people, much the way makeup is used now, he said. (Additionally, there have been reports of earlier but sporadic pigment use in Africa.

As a commuter who seriously feels she's wasting away the good hours of her life on the Capital Beltway Outer Loop (I-495), (a 3-hour total commute daily), with no end in sight until death or another cross-country move (whichever comes first), believe me, I'd love to see our way of life in America change. Sadly, I don't think this is ever going to happen in our lifetimes --at least not at a level that will make any difference, until:

A) Centuries from now, a nuclear holocaust has erased all traces of technology and corporate greed, and humans emerge with no connection to the past, essentially beginning the cycle of evolution all over again;

Or...

B) We find ourselves swiftly approaching the point of no return, environmental danger signs all around, and we make massive last-ditch, albeit fruitless, efforts to save our planet (of course, it's starting to look like we have already arrived at that point on the timeline).

Fear not. We may still have time, if we take this concept of rescuing Planet Earth to heart, spread the word through our voices or blogs, make changes in our lives and continue to do so.

For example, just imagine if all of the major government organizations and companies in metropolitan areas like DC and New York City made one simple decision, to allow telecommuting. What if they gave the majority of their employees the ability to work from home or a more locally based work center, even if only for two to three days per week? I'm quite sure there would be less stress and animosity clogging up our roadways, which would most likely lead to more focused and productive employees, hence enhancing the quality of their work (obviously I'm excluding the segment of people who don't have enough self-discipline to work in this manner).

When I get to the office, and I'm feeling mentally ragged from the commute, I'm already behind the curve. After an hour and a half of that, I'm tired, I'm inattentive, I've usually earned a headache for the privilege, and I'm loaded with caffeine; then I get to do it all again after eight hours of work. Yippee.

But, seriously, environmental pollution could be reduced significantly, over time, if our corporate leaders would make changes in the way we get the job done. Not as many drivers to sit fuming in their cars, tailpipes dispensing harmful toxins into the air, for no reason other than to occupy a patch of asphalt as they move laboriously toward their destinations. It seems insane, at least to this Alabama-born gal who can remember the deliciousness of lying in thick, cool grass, peacefully observing the wispy clouds on a summer day.

HAPPIER people = HAPPIER families = HAPPIER society -- Is that SO hard to understand?

I'm not going to single-handedly save the world, but I'd like to live long enough to see this shift toward telecommuting take a greater hold in our society, and I'd like to do my part to make the world a cleaner place.

I'm definitely not a perfect global citizen. Talk of the need to behave in environmentally friendly ways was just background noise to me until a couple of years ago, when I suddenly began to take note of the urgency to do something, anything. I'm not sure what finally woke me up on this issue, whether it was seeing Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, or what seemed to be an alarming occurrence rate (or either increase in media coverage) of natural disasters.

My boyfriend and I use compact fluorescent bulbs in our lamps and try to be mindful of turning out the lights when they're not needed. I recently discovered a store online that sells reusable shopping bags, and I plan to begin using those in place of paper or plastic varieties. I unplug appliances when they're not being charged or in operation. We do what we can.

I offer this food for thought today:

What are you doing to help the environment in your home, your community and your world?

We should all try to be mindful of our daily habits and how they might possibly be easily restructured to affect the environment less.

What are a couple of things you could begin doing differently? I'd love to hear your comments on this issue.

In the same vein as the author P.M. Forni, who wrote a nifty but powerful little book I recently completed, titled Choosing Civility, I'd like to point out that the choices each one of us makes affect not just that inanimate, larger-than-life ball of sediment we call earth. We affect every living, breathing creature around, now and to be born in the future. That's a lot of responsibility, but it should be a no-brainer when you look at it from that perspective.

For years, people who were interested in fighting to sustain our world as we know it were ridiculed. It was a bad thing to be a "treehugger." Now, it seems the tables have turned, and green is "the new pink." But I really could care less how fashionable or acceptable it is, as long as it's the right thing to do. I just hope I can do enough of my part to leave it safe for others to walk upon the same paths I now walk, long after I'm gone.