Happy New Year Everyone….

From backstage at the Beacon Theatre celebrating Jorma’s 70th birthday, to the hills of Jerusalem…it was an amazing year. We started our year in the shadows of an unstable economy and though everyone including us, continue to weather this unpredictable storm…for me… this year… I felt more blessed than ever. Time seemed to slow down for me when classes were in session and I was able to enjoy the company of our students around some great meals and great music. Couple’s weekend was the most emotional though. My staff and me made a huge decision to change the way the Couples weekends will be hosted. What we hoped would be an exciting look into what could be….it was sad for many of the woman who attend that weekend who are so dear to me. I can only say I wanted them to embrace this journey with every cell of their body. Though change gets such a bad wrap…It is the bumpiness of change that I am appreciating. Those bumps are absolutely all about the love and compassion for the woman of Fur Peace. Before we made the choice to change the face of Couple’s weekend, I saw a glimpse of what was coming if I didn’t take a leap of faith. Like many times in my life, the universe whispered to me and I can't describe that experience with words, but I know I am not the only one that this happens to. This year has been about liberating myself from something. A few times the answer to that “something” happened in my dreams but mostly the universe spoke to me thru others. It has been intense yet subtle but most definitely an undeniable message. Even though I know the changes are probably permanent they are profound and the movement is as the music is…gentle and beautiful!!! The woman of Fur Peace do not know this...but they brought me here without consciously knowing it!

I feel like 2010 was such a success for so many despite what CNN tells us. I believe that our success is about who we are. To obtain success, whether professional or personally, one does it with hard work and conscious thought. The "what ifs " are what keeps us going anyway. Success is not difficult to accomplish nor to understand because we are the only one that knows what it means for us. No one can tell us actually what success is...we have to feel it to know it...and I know that
I accomplished a lot because of the Ranch and the students and staff that make it Fur Peace.

We…meaning people in general… are stronger, the Ranch in stronger, the love is more powerful and the music continues to move us and inspire us to be better.