His quote, “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans,” is so true. Even though life does happen when you’re making plans, I still plan.

My best life decisions resulted from having plans and accompanying visions. I would venture to say that I’ve surprised quite a few people with what I’ve accomplished in my life through planning, determination, tenacity, and hard work.

I’m not bragging. I’m just telling you how I accomplished some of my dreams. As a matter of fact, I never want anyone to think that I think I’m great, because I am just like everyone else, struggling to make my way in a confusing and complicated world.

Even though I’m working extra hard right now being in editorial on two books, I’m reminded of my own need to balance my life so that I don’t crash and burn. One way to feel balanced is to make some plans.

My next life project is to write out where I want to be in five and ten years. Along with those goals I will list all the places I want to visit, the people I want to spend more time with—and people I want to meet—the activities I want to participate in like a few mountains I would like to climb, some yoga and meditation retreats, the things I want to learn more about like health and wellness, to be a better cook, to learn the piano, to finally learn another language (I did speak OK German when I lived in Switzerland but I’ve forgotten it all).

Aside from all of these pleasurable pursuits, I think that the most pleasure comes from helping others. I keep my goals of sharing to a few so that I’m not spread out too thin, and so I can better focus on making a difference.

The three goals I have to help others:

1. I would like to continue to establish my voice in the real food movement so that I can help people lead better lives by eating real food. That may sound crazy, like, “What does real food have to do with living better lives?” Well, actually everything! If you eat real food you will live a much happier life.

2. I would like to make a difference in how Americans are dying so that more people eat real food and are consequently healthy enough to stay at home to attend to business as usual until the very end and then die at home surrounded by loved ones in a celebratory experience. I believe that this is the way we are meant to leave this world, rather than tethered to machines in impersonal hospitals.

3. Help sex slaves. Living through the experience with my character Meredith Fitzgerald when I wrote my novel Karma, changed me forever. I can never forget the women and children who are enslaved. Just the other day, when cleaning out my closet (you know the end of summer beginning of winter thing), I thought, okay, I did this while people are being systematically raped. We live our lives, enjoy our joys, struggle with our woes (bills, cars being towed, getting sick) but nothing compares to what’s happening to these innocent people. I’m in awe of those who are actually in the trenches doing something to end slavery, and to help sex slaves be embraced and loved and cherished so that they can establish quality lives for themselves. I hope I can help at least educate and open eyes through Karma.

These are part of my life goals and visions. What are yours?

Om Shanti,
Your girlfriend in health,

Prince Charles has always been a supporter of the environment. As I am running off to my meditation retreat I have less time to write this week. But I can leave you with this Newsweek article the Prince’s efforts to spare the rainforest.

Om!

This column by Maureen Dowd about the disparity between nuns and priests in the Catholic Church is just one illustration of how much further women have to go for equality—and this is the United States. It’s hard for us with all of our privileges, options, and freedoms to imagine the oppression most of the women in the world endure.

Karma has not even been published but so far I’ve heard basically the same comments about it, it’s disturbing, and it’s making people think. I’m not happy about giving people nightmares, but I am glad that people are thinking more about the woman and children who are victims today.

Way back when I first started the first draft there was virtually nothing written on the subject but now there are many organizations and numerous experts who have written non-fiction books on what’s happening to 2.5 million women and children across the globe. I would like nothing more than to be helpful to the cause, if nothing more than bringing awareness to this issue.

I had to make a lot of decisions during the writing of Karma. The first thing I decided early on was to make the protagonist American because even though Americans have firm convictions and heartfelt desires to help others in the world, for many reasons–which I’m getting into on my blog–trafficked women and children have fallen through the cracks and are virtually ignored. Making my protagonist American allows readers to ponder what it would be like to have something like that happen to themselves or to someone they know or care about.