Liz Esquirol

Trying Times

Thank Buddha It’s Friday….big time!

For those of us who live in the Northeast (of which I am one), it’s been a bit trying lately. Between Hurricane Sandy and the recent Nor’easter, we are “saturated” (pun intended) with our share of hardship.

It is heartbreaking to see those who have lost “everything” – ie: homes, material goods, mementos – and more importantly, those who have lost their lives. It is a sobering reminder that life is fragile, that nature has her own agenda.

It will take a very long time to rebuild…and there will be a sea of tears shed along the way. But, as many a victim and elected official has said, we will be ok, we will persevere.

Should we learn something from this horrible event? Absolutely. If we don’t, then we are blind and unwilling to grow. We need to face the reality that in many ways, things are out of our control. Yet on the flip side, we need to understand that what is in our control, is something we need to pay attention to and prepare for.

Years ago, and this is by no means a comparison, I lost a number of photo albums and family items in a basement flood. It made me very sad. I lost memories that could not be replaced. I had no choice but to let it go. To chalk it up to that element of life which is beyond my influence.

The loss of a home and our possessions is gut-wrenching….there is no escaping that. We are only human – and part of that experience is to feel sorrow and pain. Another piece of the puzzle is to also feel hope and faith and renewal…that we will pass through the darkness and back into the light. It won’t be easy – but it WILL happen.

My lesson in this is a restoration of my faith in people…that we can truly help each other when we are down…in even the smallest of ways. And that’s not some rhetorical mumbo jumbo (as we’ve heard too much of lately in our presidential race – don’t get me started), but a truth that lies deep within each of us as members of the human race.

We are in this together – this journey, this world, this life. – BB

Two Cents Tuesday

To sleep: perchance to dream…

It’s Two Cents Tuesday.

I’ll make this short. (At least I’ll try.)

I watched the presidential debate last night. I went to sleep and had crazy dreams. As dreams are, they are hard to fully recover upon waking, but the prevailing memory was that I was part of a group of people, that I discovered was duping and stealing from their own members. In the dream, I found out the lead female had distracted me and stolen money from my purse. The lead male had stolen someone’s phone (or iPod) while folks weren’t looking (I guess there’s no escaping Apple’s presence.)

But the crux of the dream was that I confronted these two offenders. Letting them know, in no uncertain terms that I was on to them – that I knew of their manipulations and deceptions and that I was going to move heaven and earth and tell everyone I knew of their wrongdoings. I was mad.

Now what does all this mean? Who knows really. I’m sure there are lots of dream weavers out there who could explain the symbolism and such, but my immediate thought was the tie-in with the debate.

I think a lot of us are mad at where our country stands. We are feeling misled and misunderstood. We can’t discern who’s telling the truth and who isn’t. The political spin is making our heads spin.

My confrontation with the offenders in my dream was clear – it’s my inner voice wanting to tell those in “power” that I’m not happy with the way things are being handled – that I don’t trust their actions – and that they aren’t pulling the wool over my eyes. It’s this internal cause and battle I’m waging – wanting to protect myself and the world.

The truth is, I/we don’t know the candidates personally. I know they are human too…and that they feel all the same pressures and worries and fears the rest of us do. They have hearts – and despite my fears, I do believe at their core lies a good, decent person, just wanting to do better by our country. I don’t think malice has any place here.

I don’t have the answers. All I know is I feel the need, probably like so many of us, to speak up and state very clearly, we are tired of that gut feeling that something isn’t right. That someone, somehow, is taking advantage of us. We want that to go away…I know I do.

My fears are real but I have unending hope that things will get better. Either that or perhaps I just need a new pillow. – BB

Quotables

Taxing Taxes

For this Two Cents Tuesday – let’s talk about taxes.

Ugh. I know. Taxes, well..for lack of a better word, suck. Or rather, paying taxes does.

Without going into any long debate over tax reform or tax law, let’s just say that taxes are kind of annoying and extremely confusing. Tax brackets, tax rebates, tax deductions, sales tax, income tax, tax, tax, tax. It silently envelops us.

Ben Franklin reminded us that “nothing is certain but death and taxes” and his words have lasted in thought and action. (Hmm – funny how death and taxes are lumped together – rather poetic, don’t you think? Two equally unappealing certainties of life. But I digress.)

As I’m prepping to purchase property, I’m frustrated at the large amount of taxes collected at closing. Yes, I’ve done this before and I’ve educated myself on the particulars, but it continues to blow me away how everyone has their hand out…waiting for my hard-earned sheckles.

Fees and taxes. Where does it all go? Whose pocket am I lining? I always feel like somehow, I’m getting taken advantage of – because they (lawyers, banks, etc) know better than I. They have education and loopholes as their weapons – and all I’ve got is a lousy nail file. It always makes me wonder how anyone EVER buys real estate – with its complicated paperwork and confusing deal-making.

But it’s not just the taxes in this transaction that rub me the wrong way – it’s the whole taxation system. No one can deny it’s convoluted and overweight. You can’t buy a stick of gum or a gallon of gas without taxes. We’ve become numb to them – expecting them, surrendering to them, as just “the way things are.” Ok, I get that. But I have an underlying mistrust of the system and its creators. I don’t “buy” they have my interests in mind.

I don’t know what the answer is – all I know is that taxes wear me out. I don’t mind paying my fair share as long as we are ALL doing so. And that’s definetly not the case.

Today’s Two Cents post is taxable. Pay up. – BB

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Monday Pic

As a bit of an addendum to my post last Friday about the rain, my friend Brian sent me this pic he took – which I just had to share. So cool. – BB