Laurie Rae Graham Bennett Karen Carr Donna Drake Kay Gara (Kathleen Gara) Manette Kohler Sharon Maniaci Mary Markham Peter Marks Scott Melesky Adam A. Meyers Natalie M. Miller Ann Newman Markos Papdatos El Pellegrino Stefan Rybak Connie F. Sexauer Sandy Shelton-Wysocki Alisa Stevens Abigail Tate
Special thanks to three-time Olympic gold medalist Tianna Madison for writing the very inspiring foreword to our book. We are real people who were faced with challenges, and we all decided to proceed positively and take back our power.
Reading our book, you will see yourself or someone you know in our stories. You will be inspired, and my biggest hope is that you will treat others with more kindness and compassion. As they say, you never know what someone is going through. The 21 of us could be your neighbors, friends, family, co-workers or the strangers you meet at the store, restaurant, doctor’s office and anywhere else in your average day. We could also be you.
So many people are part of my story. I highlighted several teachers and others in my past and current life. I truly enjoyed thinking back as part of my book research to figure out how I became me.
You can read about them in my story.
There are several other women that have been inspiring me for years I did not include but want to mention. Radio Show Host, author, inventor, lawyer Jenny Koppleman Hutt was someone new I met at the Book Expo in NYC years ago. We chatted at her booth, and I became an instant fan. She has definitely mastered the art of pivoting as life changes. Brooke Shields was another woman I met at her book signing around the same time and went to her Tampa book/empowerment event in January.
And then there are the incredible women golf has brought into my life that have inspired me. That list is long. Besides Ann Liguori, 2 brave and strong women standout. They were the guest speakers at my first golf women’s empowerment event. Both have impressive resumes and are also authors. Those ladies were Bozoma St John and Michele Rigby Assad.
After that event, I wrote my life story and filed it away. That story grew and had plot twists like we all have. Tomorrow, it is time for the world to read the words of our “21 Club” and sprinkle that magical power dust around.
Order your copy tomorrow on Amazon and help us get to #1. Locals join me at Bobbi’s at Parkside on April 2nd from 2 to 8 for a signing party, shopping event, bubbly, lite bites and a chance to win an Olivia Womack Photography LLCOlivia Womack Power Portrait session and so much more.
My let it grow dress is a piece I created last year in Helen Midge Mattesi Baudouin class………………we are definitely better together as Tamsen said.
2025____ WOW, we have lived one quarter of this century. That was fast and also slow. Most of us could not have predicated this first quarter century.
Well HAPPY NEW YEAR! I took a break from writing publicly to write more personally, and a book collaboration is coming out in a few weeks. I wrote my final part in July and celebrated with my last blog. Then life happened, and I re-wrote it a few weeks ago even better. Stay tuned for how it all wrapped up nicely.
Now it’s time to talk about quitting. January 10 was officially National Quitter’s Day when a very high percentage of people ditched their new year’s resolutions for good. You may be the type of person who says I don’t make resolutions because I am going to be the same fabulous me and I have it all together; or you maybe someone with a salty personality and says I love everything about myself even though others might think I need to change. There is no wrong way to do a new year. I applaud both personalities I mentioned, you know yourselves, and you love yourself. I also applaud everyone else in between. You are trying to find and maintain your happy.
If you had a resolution and gave up, I don’t think you are a quitter. I celebrate you for knowing you had to re-set your life after the excessive past 4 months. September is the month that starts the excess snowball with the “nesty” decor, then holiday decor, sugary foods, parties, etc. The days are shorter, and everything is a perfect storm for the gluttony (food, clutter, finance, etc.) monster to keeps growing until December 31st. We have seen the excess all grow more and more excessive each year. Many have FOMO and do it all. The result is a bit like a coma.
I see the resolution phase for most of us as an opportunity to break out of that coma and do a mini reset. Some of us will keep going and achieve major lifelong changes. The rest of us have achieved that mental reset from excess and can resume normal life.
Last year I did not start working on something I wanted to address until mid-February. Years of drawing and creating on my computer wreaked havoc with my body. I had severe neck and shoulder pain plus my eyes were red from the screen time even with blue light blockers. I had been researching acupuncture for a while; and I met Dr. Tricia Beretz of Glacier Blue Acupuncture in Melbourne, FL at the Brevard Zoo’s Manatee 3K. I went for treatment, and she fixed what no one else could.
My friends Olivia Womack (renowned photographer) and Rebecca Black (entrepreneur extraordinaire) launched Soulful Sip, a women’s empowerment four-part series in 2024 in Brevard County, FL. It started in March, not January. Additionally, the four dates were not evenly scheduled on the calendar. The sessions were in March, May, August and November. Olivia and Rebecca knew the benefits of fluid scheduling and letting it happen organically. Personally, I loved the series, and the March start date was perfect. January is a busy month for me so I was able to connect with the content more in March than I would have been able to in January.
I could go on with examples. The point is NOW is better than never. Don’t wait for a new week, a new day, new month, new year or any other signal to start. If you are thinking about something, start today! Waiting for the starting points I mentioned is like allowing a construction crew to put up roadblocks to your success. I think of delayed starting points like the sticky floors author Erica Rooney mentions in her book Sticky Floors and Glass Ceilings. They are opportunities to back out. If you want change, you have to start NOW.
In the past month alone, there have been tragedies when everything changed for many. Those life events always happen. Start NOW doing what it is you want. It all leads to progress. Setbacks while you are actively working on change aren’t really setbacks at all. They are pauses to think about your next move. I have found the detours aren’t better than what was very detailed on my route. We give value aka “currency” to many things which are fear and doubt related that in turn becomes obstacles to achieving what we want.
Every step you take, is a step towards what you want. Rethink your relationship with receiving. Cathy Heller talks about that in her book. You have to be receptive to leveling up and change. Life is like unlocking levels in video games. you need to do all the steps to move up. Enjoy your day, and I hope you take this opportunity to rethink quitting and starting points.
xo, Tracy
ps If this is messy or has errors, I wanted to get the message out as I head out to and event. My devices excuse a lot in autocorrect. My work purposely uses made up words and more. It does not know what to do with me. LOL!
The above photos are from the photo shoot I mentioned a few posts back when I returned from a long blog pause………these are photos taken hours after I re-wrote my final chapter for an upcoming book called Take Back Your Power and submitted it to my editor………. I am smiling because the stormy ocean was the perfect backdrop for submitting this chapter!
Learn from the Storms
Like you, I have been through my share of challenging seasons in my life journey. Sprinkled among the normal transitions of the life cycle, I have had to be a crisis manager for myself and my family on many levels………..this expert manager has learned the RIP TIDE principal to not exhaust my energy fighting the storm, and to dance in the water.
There have been times when actual weather storms coincided life challenges. Blizzards and snowstorms have been companions to challenging life events. But those hurricanes, have been life storm besties. I call them “BESTIES” because the national weather center issues us a friends list each year as hurricane season starts. The names are 99.9% named after people, that other .1% are named after Greek letters. When 26 “friendly” names are used for the year, they become ‘Filos / filia mou‘ (the Greek word for friend) to me.
Hurricane David over Labor Day weekend 1979 called shotgun as my family moved from Coral Springs, FL to Jupiter, FL. What a way to start a new life, the eye of a hurricane landing on the beach in front of your new home. It was 1979, there was no advance warning like we have now. There was no damage, my family was safe and I started my first day of Jupiter Middle School on time.
When I moved back to NY for college in 1985, Hurricane Gloria hit NYC and Long Island. That storm had lots of damage. My purse was stolen along with my wallet, cash and id as I was taking the Long Island Railroad to the safety of my grandparents’ house in Riverhead. I was unharmed which was the important part, and everything else could be replaced. Trees were down from the storm and power was out for over 2 weeks in some towns. A wedding we were supposed attend that weekend was cancelled. The couple never had the chance to reschedule their wedding……………..so maybe the storm worked out better for them in the long run.
Hurricane Andrew hit the Miami with life-changing destruction for many. None of my friends and family lived in the major impact zone, others were not so fortunate. On Long Island, personal storms happened then we had Hurricane Irene which gave us a short power outage that was really a preview of Superstorm Sandy.
In 2012, the NY tri-state area had a very unfriendly Halloween visit from Sandy. She was not sweet and kind like Olivia Newton John’s Sandy in the movie Grease. Hurricane Sandy was a powerful cat 3 witch of a storm that hit NY and Long Island hard. We attended a Halloween party at friends in Amityville, NY the Saturday before Sandy hit……..yes THAT famous horror movie home which was actually very near the party house. On Sunday, we did our hurricane prep. On Monday the 29th, my father in-law came to stay with us on Long Island’s north shore. It was safer than his Long Beach apartment that would be more directly impacted with its oceanside/south shore location. We hoped his visit would be quick like when he stayed with us the year before for Irene.
October 29, 2012, was very scary and different from Irene. The trees were creaking louder and louder as the winds got stronger. We had so many trees near our house, I prayed all the pruning we had been doing would keep us safe from falling trees and branches. The power went out around 8:30 pm so the wind became even louder.
We made it through with minimal damage. Several friends had flooding and lots of damage. There were tornados and microbursts near our home that took out a lot of trees. Again, the important part was we were all safe. The cleanup period was a bit challenging. We were without power for almost one week, and we did not have a generator. Now that it was November, it was cold in the house without power. My father in-law would stay with us for a full month as the water main near his apartment was broken. I worked at home so Burt and I would spend the whole month together. Some daughters in-laws might be upset about that, but I was happy we could offer my father in-law a safe place to stay and give my sister in-law Anna peace of mind as she dealt with replacing the cars which had saltwater damage, apartment damage and everything else.
My father in-law had started having dementia, so Anna needed a break while she was living with friends instead of her own home in my father in-law’s building. I loved the first post-storm days when Burt and I waited on gas station lines to fill up gas cans and deliver them to friends in areas where there was no gas. He made me take him to the diner for lunch every day because he did not want me to work so hard cooking for him. When he forgot things or was confused, I tried to be patient knowing this was strange in many more ways for him. A lot was strange for me too. My dear mother in-law Hershelle passed away in February of the same year. My in-laws had not been married for years, but it was still a hard year for Greg, Anna and I to lose their beloved mother, and watch their dad start dementia in the same year.
Today I cherish that month I spent with my father in-law even more. My own father has had dementia for a few years now and his health is declining. I think about things I saw Burt do then that I see my dad doing now. The Superstorm Sandy days prepared me for what was to come……… after each meteorological storm hits, we learn and prepare better for the next one. That was my first real connection between the weather storms and the emotional storms we deal with in life.
I truly see the blessings of those 30 days Burt and I spent together almost 24/7. We laughed, he raked leaves, we drove around, and I watched him get frustrated about why he was at our house and not his home. He asked the same question questions, and I answered him respectfully. I was concerned for his safety the first days when we had only candles and he was in an unfamiliar place. I worried about the house going up in flames because we had to have a light source in case he needed to use the bathroom at night, and we were using candles. I came up with a makeshift big glass lantern that would be safe from being knocked over. Flashlights weren’t going to last for the long haul………………..as I deal with my dad’s health now on the worst days I think about Burt and what these moments are teaching me now. I am confident it will be a cherished memory and lesson for me just like with my father in-law.
Since Sandy, other friends have paid us visits in NY, FL and NC. There was Irma, Florence, Matthew, Michale, Dorian and lots of unnamed storms including a hailstorm.
Florence was by far the biggest challenging, she hit our peace of heaven on earth on Emerald Isle, NC. it was a quaint family beach home my great Uncle George built after his Marine Corps days. Our family gathered there to visit and then my mom inherited the house when George passed away. Great friendships were created there, it had a tie to my work and other family too. Florence actually impacted my life before during and after in so many ways. The house needed a new roof and lots of inside work due to the water damage. My dad and I stayed in NC for almost 4 months while the waiting for the new roof. The inside work would take another 8 months to complete. And it was clear, having a second house was too much for my parents with their age increasing and health declining. The house was sold, and a new family can make wonderful memories there……….in the deal I got a wonderful new friend, our realtor Carolyn Blackmon bonded over the repairs and similar other life storms.
Since my last major hurricane lots of things have happened in the world. Bigger, crazier world events have created storms for all of us. Through dealing with all the challenges, I have learned to go with the expert advice for navigating riptides……….
Trying to swim against a rip current will only use up your energy; energy you need to survive and escape the rip current.
Do NOT try to swim directly into to shore. Swim along the shoreline until you escape the current’s pull. When free from the pull of the current, swim at an angle away from the current toward shore
And I am still going to refer to the storms as “besties” and friends as I learn to not expend energy on what I can’t control so I can focus on thriving after any storm.
My dad Robert Sweeney (left) and my father in-law Burton Feldman (right) celebrating Father’s Day 2009 with family and friends, I am a blessed for everything these 2 men have taught me. photographer: me
photographer:Gisela Martinez Melbourne/Orlando, FL location: Satellite Beach, FL
As women and humans, we are asked to put out lots of fires in our lifetime. I loved this smiling, fun photo I found on Pinterest so much that I changed my original idea and wanted to share it with you.
Struggles and challenging task are as much a part of life as all the fun and easy parts. Yet many of us overthink the more difficult tasks, and that anxiety only makes it that much harder to do the hard thing.
Some of us put off doing what we need to do, some of us never do it and some of us get physically and emotionally sick. It doesn’t have to be that hard, you need to stop playing out all the “what could go wrong and negative scenarios” in your mind. That is really exhausting, and a stall tactic.
If you are an overthinker, a great replacement is as simple as thinking about 1 or 2 great outcomes and do the thing. Don’t be tempted to add more great outcomes, you don’t need mental clutter. I met a decluttering expert at a women’s business networking event this week and she confirmed how much of her work is similar to psychotherapy when we chatted.
Getting back to the photo, I see a woman positively putting out the fire. She has accepted what she can and cannot do in the situation. Maybe the fight had been long and instead of collapsing under exhaustion, she thought sitting down on the hose she would allow her to continue putting out the fire. I don’t know anything about the fire, there was no second photo of the hoses target. I only see a firefighter confidently taming the flames.
xo,
Tracy
PS: the following is what I was originally planning to write about.
My original subject was about extinguishing one of my own health fires recently. Since January 2024, a fire has been burning in my mouth. I started getting influencers like Tamsen Fadel and others on all my social feeds talking about Burning Mouth Syndrome and how that is a rarely talked about menopause symptom. Each women said there is no known cause, and articles I read confirmed that and added that doctors prescribe psych meds to calm you and minimize the symptoms.
I did not like those answers and started discussing this with my acupuncture team. The treatment plan was to eliminate heat inducing foods, and Chinese herbs. I diligently followed the plain and had some relief. Nothing worked 100%. I was frustrated to still have the burning with a very limited diet.
One day, I had a strong taste of garlic in my mouth. I instantly realized I had a garlic allergy. My diet was very limited except for herb seasonings and salad dressings. A label check revealed garlic in both. Garlic was immediately eliminated, and I am 99.5% back to normal.
This statement I found summarizes perfectly what happened to me with my garlic allergy. Whenever I ate garlic, my body’s immune system mistakenly identified garlic as a harmful invader and produced antibodies in an attempt to fight it off. Every food I ate caused my body to release a toxin in my saliva which coated my mouth and teeth. Sometimes it was very thick and I knew that substance was causing the burning.
Nearly two months after I eliminated garlic, I have a barely any burning left. Days have gone by and there has been no dryness or burning. Two months ago, I was lucky if I had 30 minutes without pain and other symptoms. The dryness in my mouth made speaking publicly difficult.
If you are experiencing symptoms, you should always consult your doctor and dentist. They know your history. My dentist listed more than 10 conditions associated with Burning Mouth Syndrome when I mentioned my condition during a recent checkup. I suggest taking a very close look at your diet, medications and supplements. Elimination is something that has worked many times before in my health journey, and there are many hidden ingredients in everything we consume. I am not a medical expert. But I am not one to give up when there are no answers.
One day I may be able to enjoy garlic. It is a challenge when eating out. I always check the ingredients and ask when dining out. Food reactions are common now and most restaurants are happy to make adjustments for you. For now, when there is garlic in my food, my symptoms flare up.
Thank you Tamsen Fadel for being the first journalist/influencer to mention Burning Mouth Syndrome. You gave my condition a name, and I was able to take the steps needed to put out the flames in mouth.
Most days even on the hard ones, I wake up this way…………….smiling and thankful for all that I have and the opportunity to live another day.
There have been plenty of hard ones, some of the hard things are why I have taken a pause on writing in this space. I have been a caregiver for my aging parents and busy trying to start a new book………… that brings me to another book. Take Your Power Back which is coming out, details to follow. I am happy to announce I submitted a final edit to my edit and the book’s creator last Sunday. I wrote the first draft almost 2 years ago, then I set about doing the TBYP steps.
I started doing many other creative things, took classes again and went back to my health and stress management techniques that helped me survive a near death experience you will learn about later and in the book. Art classes were everything because the teachers all reminded me to step away from the canvas and you will see things in a new way.
Last week I took time out to visit The Bonnet House while visiting family in Ft Lauderdale for the 4th holiday. Such a unique and beautiful oasis in the middle of the city. During my tour, I was inspired by the art and story of the house so much that I sat and wrote the last 3 paragraphs of my book there. Actually, I was going just start randomly on the house tour, the guide said “please go to the start and watch the movie, trust me it will be worth it.” I watched the movie and returned to thank the guide. I told her she just helped me write my book’s ending and now I can start a new one.
The evening I submitted my final written work I had photos taken on the beach. It was a fun and fitting end to the day and sharing my story in my best authentic voice…………the ocean was rough and stormy and I splashed around and had fun.
That rough ocean tried to knock me down, it did not, very much like other storms in life. I thrived through every metaphoric gust of wind, every wave and storm life presented. When you have hard things in life, remember the storms come in waves and there will be an ebb in the flow, a rainbow after the storm………… go get cute raingear and thrive after the storm!
I will share my stormy photos when I get them back. The above 2 photos are the start of my next book and creating so many things I have been dreaming about for a long time.
Some of the new things in my book of life will focus on golf and sports clothing with my fabulous friend…… that story’s working title is When a Flamingo meets a Turtle, wink wink………… I met the fabulous Eva Marlow, owner and creator of Aloha Life Gear.. and Eva has that same energy and creative drive I do.
You can see some of what we’re up to in the July Everything Brevard digital and print issues our friend Maggie Hickson wrote for the magazine. The outfits we are wearing were designed and sewn by Eva, that’s ow talented she is. More coming on this in my next blog about Women on Course, Space Coast Market. I am the new market leader and we are launching August 4th.
Aloha Life Gear will also be hosting a Women’s Wellness Evening July 19th at the Village Cycle Shop in Cocoa Village, get FREE tickets and see what other canvases we will be working on!
I promised to be more organized, until then remember I WOKE UP THIS WAY, like as fireball!
The Lovely Spotted Flamingo 