I'm Demian of "DreamSinger", a songwriting partnership, with Stacey Young, dedicated to writing and performing songs of healing and hope.

And I am a Stubborn Idealist.

What this means is that despite what may appear to be evidence to the contrary, I firmly believe there is always hope.

It's never too late to live your dream, if it's genuine. In my 49th to 50th year of life, I released my first CD, published my first children's book, wrote my first full-length book on relational aggression and became a brand new grandmom! I'm expecting my second grandchild in March of next year.

I love being an older woman, as I do with every aspect of my life. I did not always feel this way. In fact, most of my life I lived with a sense of guilt and shame inherited from my childhood of abuse. I guess I'm just tired of it.

This is for real here. I'm a stubborn idealist, not naive. I see a future of peace and prosperity, and I'm willing to plant the seeds for it. I acknowledge the failings of where we are and celebrate the distance we've already traveled to where we want to be. If we're going to take the time to point out what's wrong, then we better take the time to, also, honor what's right.

Our world deserves that.

Under weeds...: ...there is a garden. Really. Pulling back long runners of wild greenery, I find a garden, or at least a piece of one - variegated leaves of contrasting green planted as a part of someone's vision of their home.

Could have been my Kenny. I can see him hastily digging a hole and planting his latest addition from the nursery. Got to do it NOW, you know.

Or maybe it was our son, doing one of the many chores assigned to him at the drop of a hat by his dad. Or perhaps Kenny's parents, who in their turn, had passed away from one form or another of cancer, too.

But there it was, a little garden growing underneath the weeds.

Healing is like that. No matter how deep it gets buried, whe...

I'm thankful for the love...: I didn't post this on Thanksgiving here, but feeling grateful is appropriate on more than just one day. So I'm posting it now...

I'm thankful for the love I had inside of me that enabled me to survive an abusive childhood.

I'm thankful for the innocence within each and every person that can never be hurt or destroyed...hidden from view, tucked deep away inside, perhaps, and forgotten, but never defiled, never damaged...no matter what damage may be done. Thankful this place of purity and innocence remains alive, an inexorable part of our being, and for our healing journey to rediscover and reconnect to that source of innocence.

I'm thankful for the moments of peace and beauty I exper...

Taking Care of Yourself: The other day, I read a post by Ronni Bennett, "On Employment and Retirement Fears". There were a number of comments, including mine, sharing where we were financially at the later stages of our lives. Most of us who commented that day did not expect to be where we are today, financially.

And I thought about not only the circumstances that led me here, but to the choices I've made regarding money over the years.

It's hard for me to charge for my services. Most of my speaking and singing engagements have been free. I devote huge amounts of time doing things I get no financial compensati...

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