My memoir will draw readers into my adventure and prompt them to look at their own with fresh eyes. This will be published along with an eBook I’m creating from my blog. “Better Living in Mexico,” and “Letters From Mexico.”

When I was 17 I had my first job, packing and carrying out groceries at a supermarket, to buy my first car. The cashier, shelf stockers, customers, and everyone else was telling me what to do. Sometimes these imperatives conflicted. I was going crazy and tried to understand the meaning of life. A jazz tune told me the answer: life is not for seeking meaning but for living.

I am grateful to know that I can converse in Spanish. I do not understand everything people say, but I can hold my own when I speak. Well educated bilingual friends of mine have chided me for not learning Spanish, and this made me feel bad. But during this past year, I’ve had some long conversations and see that they are wrong. I wonder how often what others say impinges on me this way?

I cannot heal someone else, much less the world. But I can heal myself. My way to bring healing is to model it.

The weather outside reflects what’s in my heart. Warm and sunny! Here in Central Mexico, we are in the dry season. I am so grateful to sit in the sun bare-chested every morning. It’s very different from the NE of the US, where I came from.

What you said reminded me of no matter how bad things are, there is always others who have it a lot worse. Maybe it’s not a solace, but we can always be grateful our suffering is not worse than it is.

Thanks for answering, but to me this is not a specific example, but more general. I can understand if you cannot reveal your intimate and specific life experiences. What point was needed to be true or not true to yourself? What gossip did you avoid? In which situation did you decide not to speak, why, and what was the upshot? In my opinion, specific examples carry more weight than generalizations. Thanks for sharing, Carol.

Thanks for answering, but to me this is not a specific example, but more general. I can understand if you cannot reveal your intimate and specific life experiences. What point was needed to be true or not true to yourself? What gossip did you avoid? In which situation did you decide not to speak, why, and what was the upshot. In my opinion, specific examples carry more weight than generalizations.

Can you give me a specific life experience as an example of how you are impeccable with your word? Thanks!

Thanks for the list, Carol. I’m going to copy and save it. I’ve heard different opinions. Eastern religions say that you can achieve, or gain enlightenment, for example, only by grace. Western ones specify the need to work to achieve. How do you see this dichotomy?

Will you be getting the vaccine shot? I would prefer to contact the disease, and get immunity that way. But I prefer neither, of course. I am very healthy at 77, looking ten years younger. I’ve not had a cold or flu in about 30 years.

Expression of vulnerability is especially difficult for men, I find. Congrats on this, Mike!