Sometimes, you just have to speak up no matter what might happen. When someone looks at you and says, “I’ll get you for that. No, really,” you have to trust that doing what you believe is right will somehow keep you safe from the wraith of someone who delights in making other people suffer, no matter what the cost.

My son has been bullied for a large portion of his life.  He’s been bullied by teachers who should have retired a long time ago, online by cartoon penguins in a club that was supposed to be fun, by kids who called themselves friends (and some who didn’t) and worst of all, by parents who should know better.

I was talking to Dr. Tim from The Happiness Institute yesterday and we delved a little into why I feel the need to stand up for all the “little people” no matter what may (and subsequently does) happen to me. My father was an abusive alcoholic and I was the only one in the family who stood up to him when he was rat assed drunk and telling us he wished we had never been born yadda yadda yadda. I was the one playing back the tape recordings to him, the day after, to show him what he conveniently couldn’t remember and what we could and the always horrible sometimes terrifying memories we would have to live with, day in, day out.…

I love the Emmys, Golden Globes and the Oscars. I’m like any girl and adore seeing all the beautiful dresses, sparkling jewels, gorgeous hair do’s, must have but can never afford clutches, smoky eyes and of course the incredibly delightful frock horrors that should never have made the light of day. I may even love them more than the dresses people got right!

But lately there has been something more intriguing to watch – the faces of the celebrities. No, I’m not talking about when the award is announced and they cut to the people who didn’t win and occasionally catch them or their table friends rolling their eyes. That’s fun too but these days I find it strangely compelling looking at the assorted range of plastic, remodeled, renovated, rejuvenated, plucked, sucked and tucked or in the very rare instance real face owned with pride – yes Helen Mirren, real women of the world salute you. You may have played her many times but you are the Queen of aging gracefully to me.

It can’t have been an easy decision amongst the  plasticky world of Dollywood. But it seems to have been a smart career move because when Red director, Robert Schwentke set out to cast an aged, retired female super spy, he mentioned he had trouble finding women with the adequate acting credits to stand alongside his stellar cast, who actually looked, well, to be blunt, OLD!…

Sometimes you can’t help but feel protected and guided. I have come to trust my path, good times and bad, secure in the knowledge that as long as I follow my heart and purpose then everything will be exactly as it should be. There’s no bad times, just better times ahead. Diamonds are formed under pressure and anything challenging is a gem in the making.

So rewind to January of this year, with barely a cent to my name, an insane neighbor who had taken my car without permission, trashed it and refused to take responsibility for it, and me having to work one of the crappiest jobs I have ever had in my life. Well, at the time I thought I had scraped the bottom of the barrel but that was before, a few short months later, I had my arm elbow deep in a stranger’s toilet scrubbing their crap away, still secure that this was meant to be but begging God to rescue me……but that’s a story for another day.

So there I am, in the middle of an extremely and unusually cold and rainy LA winter, getting up at 4 am to ride a push bike (on loan from a friend) and take 2 bus rides (which in and of itself is a scary thing to do in LA) for a $10 an hour job with one of the world’s most miserable and nasty bosses.…

I’m just sayin’…