I watched Kirstie Alley with awe and admiration as she cart wheeled and leaped onto Mak’s shoulders during the “Dancing With the Stars” finale. To see a sixty-year-old woman of solid heft able to pull off gymnastics and dance with such grace and power was inspiring.  Upon reflection, I realize that Kirstie represents many of us who came into womanhood in the 70’s.

 We embraced the society-changing clarion calls of Gloria Steinem, Betty Freidan, and Erica Jong. Helen Reddy sang our  anthem—“I am woman, hear me roar.” We honestly thought we could do it all—find an equal partner, get the great job, raise happy children, stay thin. Participate in the sexual revolution without taking any bullets. So, okay, it didn’t work out quite as well as we’d idealistically hoped.

 Kirstie turns out to be a pretty good poster-child for the 70’s woman. She found commercial success, but personal happiness has been elusive. She fought her way through a maze of bad relationships, see-sawing weight issues, public humiliation. And yet, at the end of the day, she is standing strong, heading into old age with a youthful spirit, showing the world she won’t be anybody’s grey-haired old grandma.

 I doubt Kirstie takes home the sparkling ballroom trophy tonight, but she’s walking off that dance floor a total winner. She represents  the 70’s woman.  Our waists are a little broader, our outlooks a little jaded, but we are strong and taking on whatever comes next with courage and optimism. Hear us roar.

Writing the first post of a blog site feels like an auspicious occasion, like the christening of ship. Quick, get out the champagne. On the other hand, there is the question of whether the world needs another blog site.  What’s worse, I’ve heard “a blog shows the world your first draft.” Pure anathema for a writer.

Nevertheless, I plunge ahead. “Definitely Dana” is a phrase that came to me a few years back when I was naming a radio show. Those who knew me deemed it just right. I am a mixed bag of spirituality, comedy, wisdom and cynicism. I am a Christian who reads The Tao Te Ching, accepts reincarnation as fact, and loves singing praise songs to Jesus. I spend an hour in the morning sending healing energy as the Spirit leads. I wasn’t surprised by the monkey business of Tiger or the Governator, but don’t pass judgment on them.

I think I’m on the planet to fulfill some sort of mission. Writing appears to be part of it. As part of the Supernal Friends, I am intensely interested in matters of healing, whether it be of the body, the spirit, or the planet.

I realize we are living in historic times, call it The Shift, The New Age, The End Times, whatever.  Things are a’changing at breakneck speed–politics, religion, publishing, technology, weather, even geography. People are changing also.  Some are becoming “multi-dimensional,”–able to tap into various levels of information swirling about the universe.

It’s an amazing, frightening, wonderful time to be alive. I’ll be writing about the things I see, the insights I receive and the hope I feel for a better world.

Dana Taylor