Montressa Talks About Your Gifts...

Many of us go through life and are unaware of the valuable things we can bring to life... that which has been given to us which comes easily.

Many times there are "things" that challenge us. Sometimes we judge them as "hard" because of the effort we must put into them to perform at a level we judge as acceptable or required. Then there are things that we are "good" at. We assess these talents we are "good" at because we can perform at a level that we judge as meeting a required, but unspecified standard for us without additional effort. Sometimes the things that we are "good" at we don't value. The conversation... "Oh, anybody can do that." comes up. That actually can be a disservice both to yourself AND others. This is what this post is focused on.

What in YOUR life is like that. What in YOUR life are you saying, "Oh, anybody can do that." Yes, true ANYBODY can do ANYTHING they chose to do. However, there is a "learning curve". The first prerequisite for anything is the desire to do it. Then IF you really want to do something you may need to learn specific things about "how" to do it.

As the central character in ICE, India & Old Lovers, this is one of the things I had to learn. What was it that I did naturally that was of value both to me and others. The whole movement in my life came about because of this self-examination. To be sure there were many factors contributing to my journey that emerged from my life, but the focus on what I wanted was paramount. Yet, tired of struggling, what I really wanted was life with more "flow". I didn't want it easy, I was used to "hard" work. But, I came to a point where I finally noticed the struggle in my life. So, I asked myself, "What am I struggling for?" Well, that may seem simple to ask yourself, right? Not when everyone around you is struggling with their life!!

So, I can say there must be a shift in your thinking. It is almost like looking at yourself like an observer. Here's the example... you're a fish you're swimming in water... I say... hey look at the water.. you say.. what water?? Now, jump up on the shore and look down into the water.. oh, yeah, all us fish are swimming in water!!!

Each of us has our styles. Just as each species of fish is adapted for it's environment so each of us is adapted for a specific flow in our own life. That is what this post is addressing. We need to discover what our best adaptation is. Perhaps we can share that with others.

Taking the Lid off! - Montressa's View

Well, I am glad Mike started the post about taking the lid off! So, it only makes sense that I address some of my lids. And, boy I had them. That's why I needed a bff like Alex. She always had a sense of where and what the lids were. You know, she would ask me questions about where I was at and it helped illuminate things for me.

Well, I had the father thing. I wanted his attention and his respect and thought I had to do things or be a certain way to get it. Guess what, that's not true. That's a "nice" idea, but it did keep the invisible prison walls there until I could see them.  Then there was the "there won't be enough money if I set off to do what I want" fear. And, there was the "I'm not qualified" to do this conversation I was in. Shall I go on? Okay... Through my conversations with Alex and through my perseverance I kept going and heading for what I wanted. Then there's the "my boss won't like me if I leave" idea I had to get through, as well as what will my father think. That was a big one and then there was, "the company won't survive without me!" That was a fun one too. And, it was true, I had done a lot for ICE. But, then the ICE board made some decisions on their own that I couldn't support. So, that paved the way for me to make my decisions about my life. You know, life has a way of working out... especially when you find those pesky lids!!

What it boils down to is this: "Is your life worth it or not?" Yes, there's all these "things" in the way, but you need to connect with YOU. As you identify the "lids", those invisible prison walls that keep you in place, you need to ask yourself, "Is this true? Is this really true?" That is how you make the lids visible and ultimately THAT is how you remove the lids. Once you can see them you can then begin to make choices about them!!

But, make no mistake about it, I had to confront many things. What I mentioned above are only some of the bigger things. Then there are the relationship issues - oh, the lids... my word. But, I got to see those and confront those as well. I talked about them many blogs ago. I just didn't relate them to "lids" on who I am!! They definitely were. They were tied in with self-worth and even family issues. Oh yes, very invisible, but once you put some attention on them and the importance of your life, lids get visible in a hurry. And, you can make choices about them that address the fundamental question about you - "Is my life worth it or not?"

Synchronicity... How One Blog Affects Another Blog...

So... Mike read a blog this morning by Annie Burnside... and he said that I should talk about my qualifications and my desires in terms of my career. He mentioned that the blog talked about the "need" to be certified for doing what you do.

Well, in relation to me and my life THAT was the point. While I did attend a prestigious business school and it did qualify me to do the kinds of business things I was doing... that truly was not where my heart was. As I got older I began to realize that big time!!  But, you know there is all this pressure around you to keep going in the direction you are on, so you just keep doing what "seems" to be working. So, there was my family, there were my "failed" relationships and there was my boss. Powerful combos to keep doing what I was doing. Of course, there were also subtle health issues, failure to establish a new solid relationship and dissatisfaction with the ethics of my business climate that also added to the equation that was me. And, of course my bff ever, Alex, would ALWAYS give me the straight scoop. And, of course, I always initially resisted her wisdom!! Apparently, I wasn't fooling anyone but myself. You know, the German Shepard thing... just because my head is hidden and my butt is sticking out, no one can see me! My point being, you need to get honest with yourself... brutally honest. You look at yourself in the mirror and see little "laugh" lines that aren't so funny. You take a GOOD and honest look at your face and you see, yes, literally see, the stress in it. Then the question pops in your mind... WHAT THE HELL are you doing GIRL!! That was a satori moment for me. A moment of "enlightenment".

For me, I need to plot things out... I pulled out my computer and started to look at my holdings to see what would happen if I quit my job. I chatted with Alex who basically needled me. And, you know I can't blame her. Things were pretty obvious.

So, here's the deal. I hadn't finished my PhD, in psychological studies, but I really wanted to contribute to "transpersonal psychology". Like, how do you go about doing that? Well, I'll tell you. You become very clear on exactly what you want and then go for it!! And, as I've said in other posts, sometimes the "overnight" success could take 20 years... and that's okay as long as you are ALWAYS moving to your goal... whatever that is. For me, I had the money to do that and move quickly. Well, there were sacrifices I needed to make initially. For most people they would be trivial. You know, I had to give up my house help... shudder... and my Lotus... shudder... shudder... well... that was tough for me!! You could at least offer a hanky!! Hey, that was as difficult for me as, say, giving up Starbucks fancy drinks.

My life got better and better. In fact, after a few months, the reduction in my stress just let me smile ALL the time. Not to mention my meeting the coolest people on the planet and taking a deeper dive into me. Oh yeah, things were still stressful at times, like when Ross flipped out over lack of sleep at the lab. But, remember, we were doing things we loved to do. So, well a little overload here and there is a small price to really enjoy who you are and what you are doing!!

Then too, I was the needle for Ross. That's probably why our paths crossed. Well, that's another story... sort of my "pay it forward"!! 

Speaking of healing... let me mention Givens... And, then Thanksgiving

Givens. Even the name says a lot. Givens was best at giving. Go figure. Right? Yet, even with all those clues surrounding me, I didn't "get" what Givens truly did!

So, Givens was a healing lesson for me. I didn't fully realize it until I went to that "healing" seminar and I saw how healing arises between people. As a Tesworth we had house servants. So, I figured everyone had house servants. You know, that is just the way it was. As I grew up, I started to notice that not everyone, even among the kids at the boarding school, had servants. Not to mention that EVERY weekend I came home Givens would always greet me with a loud welcome, announcing - Ms. Montressa has arrived!! That was important. I was someone special for someone. Do you know how healing that was. That helped me honor me. I was important to someone.

Oh, and by the way, I may be a book character, but I realize that tomorrow is Thanksgiving! Yes, a national day of gratitude to be thankful for all that we have. For people that find us special, for people we find special in our lives. Really to be Thankful for all of it. Thankful for the country we live in, for the town we live in. Thankful for the very people around us. Yes... whether we like them or not! ALL of it...ALL of it is showing us who we are and what we stand for!!

So, back to Givens. He taught me a lot about life, about focus, about service and about me. I will always be thankful that he is in my life. I wouldn't be able to write that last paragraph were it not for the complete support Givens gave me AND my family!!

Have a great Thanksgiving day... and let me mention that I am very Thankful for all who read and appreciate my blog!!

Healing...breathing...living

Every breath is a choice to live. In each and every breath we take we are making the choice to stay here and stay attached to this body... our body. We take breathing for granted. It is automatic. It "just" happens.... au contraire mon frère... whether we "realize" it and pay attention or just let it happen... it is a choice. This very post is on your journey to enlightenment. It was in mine for sure when I FINALLY realized it!!

So, about the seminar... that's what I learned there about living and healing. Each breath is a choice otherwise you won't be here attached to this body, your body.

So, healing is a choice. You must choose to be healed. And, the healer... they must choose to let "healing" energy pass. All of it is at your choice! No one can heal you. Only you can heal you. Sounds like a lonely universe, right? That is the price of a "free will zone" where each being has totally autonomy in their choices. YOU get to say. What's funny is that very dynamic makes the universe very full. Friends heal you. Healers heal you... the universe is so full. Love, that's what it is full of... love... and the love heals.

At the same time I was surprised at how easily the healing energy passed through me. In my case, the healing energy that healed the person I was healing also healed me. It healed me in a way that was totally unexpected by me. It made me realize how powerful choices are. My choice to let the healing energy pass and the person's choice to be healed. And, the really great aspect was the ease with which it all happened... even THAT was healing. THAT is where I got a full sense of the quantum space... when I saw it and felt it in action. And, yes, it did take paying attention. That environment pulled all of that from me... because I let it. I gave myself to the experience. Exciting isn't it. When you "give" yourself to life you get life, as in life infuses you and you actually get life, as in oh yeah, I get it!!

Healing many times focuses on a "disease". Oh, you've heard it before... dis-ease. A lack of ease, a disruption, a block of Qi. Yes, THAT dis-ease. Well, that's what happens when Qi is blocked!!  Trust me... I never thought of myself as a healer, yet there I was... healing. That was the other thing. Training was very fast for me... it came naturally to me. Probably because of my love for people. Did I say probably? See, we need to watch our words. Forget probably... it is because of my love for people. That was hard to recognize in myself. You know that Tesworth bruskness. Yet, even in that bruskness was love. You just had to look for it. Especially in my parents. Good people, but just afraid to show it... to show the love.

As I grew older and learned more, I realized how magnificent people are. They are magnificent, just being people. Oh yeah, we all have "stuff" we are dealing with. The important thing is that you deal with it. That's why you are alive and THAT's how you stay alive. And, as you uncover more of you, you become even more alive!! That is healing. Letting energy flow...

Energy... and Healing?

In my journey to me I have found aspects of myself that I always knew were there. I just didn't put any attention on them. Why? Well, they were at a deeper level of who I am and I was "probably" not ready to address them. We all have those deeper aspects and, if we are willing, as we grow and learn about ourselves we see more of them. We connect with them when our life context allows us to fully embrace that which we already are. You remember that "entelechy" thing that Mike talked about. We are already evolved, we just need to get to the point of recognizing and accepting it! Interesting dichotomy this universe presents.

So one of my aspects that escaped awareness was my ability to create "healing". For whatever reason, I had this appointment in my book to go to a "healing" presentation. You know, like what is healing? How does it look? Actually, I didn't even know what was supposed to be presented, yet I KNEW I was supposed to be there!! THAT is the shift that needed to happen for me. Life for me shifted from figuring out what I needed to do to KNOWING what I needed to do or KNOWING what was in my best interest. Seems a little challenging, right? Don't be daunted, okay? While in one context it seems almost "magical", in another it is really simple.

You see as we grew up we were taught to.... fill in the blank here. We were taught many, many things about how we need to be grown-up and it isn't nice to.... etc. Much of that certainly can be true at some level depending on the context of the situation. Still, what was missing was us. It IS okay to feel and be anyway you want. However, remember Karma always operates. It's like Newton's laws. Action and reaction. You know it is part of the duality. However, suppressing feelings just suppresses feelings. They don't go away until they are expressed. I know, I know... I harped on this before, right? Well, I'm harping again. These unexpressed feelings take your attention, your very life force, to hold down. As a result they are like a thin, maybe thicker, veil over you! And, by the way - literally OVER you as in covering YOU.. Yes big YOU. That is the beautiful being which you are that wants to shine brightly in this universe!! Yet, you are covered over and muzzled by these unexpressed feelings.

So, I went to this seminar and what I learned is that there is some kind of healing energy that operates. I experienced it. I loved how it felt. I'll talk more about this next time...

Whoami...

Yes, it's all run together. Like my life was!! Who Am I? The topical question now-a-days, isn't it? Notice how much more meaning is has when it is all spelled out... almost like we would like our life to be! Well, the secret? Accept your life. That's where it all starts. I was born into a rich family. Like if I was rich then I'd be okay.

Rich? What does that mean exactly? These are questions I directly or indirectly had to confront. I even had to confront those same questions in other people. Old boyfriends, new boyfriends... all with similar meanings and answers. The one common element was, it was not about the money or the wealth. It was more about what the money "means" to us and what the money does "for" us or "to" us. And, I can say, it does different things for different people... me included. For me the questions were, "How does this support me?" "How much do I "need"?"  "What do I want in my life?" These questions must be answered because they are part of the "whoami". As you address "Who Am I?", so you can begin to address money and wealth as well. Money looks like the currency of "external" life. As in what you actually see here and now. In fact, it is something deeper... it is your ability to continually unfold your existence... so to confuse what you see "here and now" with richness of being, that is a "mistake". Well, I know that's a judgment, but if you don't separate the two "whoami" and money Who are you? And, by the way, I am using money in the broadest context. It really is wealth I'm talking about. And, of course we can get into semantics about it, but that's not the point.

I was very fortunate. Some choices were easy for me because I already knew the other sides of the choices. Others could find it more difficult. It's like people who want to be "rock stars" or "movie stars" and collect money, don't realize there are sides to that ambition that are less appealing. Privacy, paparazzi etc.. A promotional manager that actually manages your life! Sounds good, right? Until you need to be on a plane at 5:00 AM because you need to be in a city two thousand miles away for a ten o'clock! Oh, except that you just got back from an awards party at 1 AM!!

So, "whoami". Choose wisely. Get to YOU.. not you...   you have ideas about what would work... but YOU know exactly what works... YOU has the greater wisdom. What others "think"? Not relevant. Oh, I will say what others "know" could be relevant... there's a big difference between what people "tell" you and what they KNOW! But, that again gets back to YOU knowing it too. If YOU know it, it will resonate...

Embrace Who You Are... Embrace the Passsion of YOU

Interesting how we can sometimes overlook the obvious! We have "built-in" natural tendencies, yet our minds want to quantify life differently or evaluate our gifts or more appropriately devaluate our gifts! You know the phrase - "Oh, nobody cares about that!" We look at what people have cared about and then fit ourselves to what's been done. Skate boarding and extreme sports happened because someone said, "Hey, this is interesting. And, I love doing this!" Hmmm... love... that sounds like passion, doesn't it?

My bff, Alex... now there's an interesting person. She loved the thrill of racing and so, just started to race. She was good at it too. And, she didn't race because her dad raced or her dad wanted her to race. She raced because she genuinely liked to race. She followed that inner passion and was one of the few women doing it.

My passion? I love the mystery of life and I want to know more about how lives "happen". My life was interesting, but until I really focused on what mattered to me it was just what I knew. What I had grown up with. Then suddenly it was really in my face! Things happened and explaining them was hard in the context of what I had known. So, that became like a gauntlet from life, in my life. I'm like what was THAT all about! Yet, there was this inner passion that began to drive me. I started to look at myself differently. Oh, in many ways I was the Montressa I always knew, but somehow things were different. I realized life was about something else than the money I had known. It was actually way beyond that and THAT fascinated me. That drove me day to day. And, I kept meeting people who could assist me. All I had to do was be aware of what I wanted and ask. Yes, that easy. My life began to flow. While all the answers in any given instant were beyond my reach, the answers I needed for that part of my life were always there. Why? because I was following my passion! following my bliss!! You've heard the phrase... it really is true. Unfold your life by following your bliss. Hey, and it doesn't have to be a major leap... oh it can be like I eventually did, but it doesn't have to. Have you heard about overnight successes? Yeah, overnight in 20 years. The important thing is to recognize your passion and let it grow in you. You see that's the "problem" I have with western culture. We want instant. We want the cure now! We want enlightenment now! Duh... that is the point. You can HAVE it now, BUT are you READY for it?! You see, you grow into it. You feel into your being. You feel into who you are. Can it come overnight? Yup. Does it have to? Nope! That's the trick. If you go back and look at your life though, you can definitely identify a turning point. A point when you said, "Gee, I love this..." Whatever it is... and your soul smiled... if there IS a trick it is know when your SOUL smiles... that's where enlightenment comes in... in fact it's probably the most important reason for enlightenment. YOUR enlightenment that allows you to be who YOU are!!

We Interrupt Montressa's Blog To Present Some Info... Again!

I have made some improvements to Montressa's Blog: Montressaviewslife.

I have collected posts with similar themes together, called labels, and identified on the right as:"Montressa's Blog Topics". This allows easier navigation of this blog and the ability to find topics more easily. At the bottom of each post is a label that becomes a "Blog Topic". If you look at any of these and say, "Why the heck did he put it there?" Let me know. The whole point is to make the information easier to navigate and use. Also, you can navigate by date as well, which is just below the blog topics on the right. There was some labor involved to achieve this and I hope it makes your navigation of Montressa's words of wisdom easier!!

For those who do not know, the Montressa Views Life Blog was created so the central character of my "fictional" novel ICE, India & Old Lovers can speak about what she knows based on her life so far. As a result, the book is her life "back" story. It seemed to me the context of her story was the only way Montressa could talk about her life with other people. Montressa is still evolving, like we all are. At the same time she "knows" alot about who she is, what she stands for and where her life is going and has faced many of the issues we all face. Owning who she is took courage. It took courage to confront the things in her life that she needed to in order to re-order her priorities and address her needs. Basically, Montressa had to "reinvent" herself. So, her whole life in the novel occurs at a cross-roads for her.

Montressa is a real human in every sense of the word. And, that is the point of her blog. What she has achieved, she has achieved through her courage and her own determination. She will tell you she has had her challenges!!

I am getting closer to being able to "launch" ICE, India & Old Lovers in a paper version. I'd like to get additional endorsements as well. I will also do an ebook that at this point I am "thinking" I will make available through Amazon because of it's ease of use.

"The prismatic life-mirror created by ICE, India & Old Lovers is a true one-of-a-kind reading experience designed for your enjoyment and enlightenment."
Dr. Susan Smith Jones is a leading voice for health, fitness and human potential in America today and is the author of 27 books including the Pulitzer Prize nominated "Choose to Live Peacefully"  Most of all I appreciate your interest in this blog and my fondest "want" is that it assists you in addressing and having your life.

As always, feel free to comment and contact me.

I'm on Facebook as Mike Vecchio (With a Montressa Timeline Picture)

or leave a comment & I can respond.

We Interrupt Your Regular Scheduled Montressa Visit!

Montressa is taking a break today so that I can tell you about some of the changes I've made to her blog and some additional information.

1) I added some graphics. Hope you enjoy them. When I told an artist friend of mine about the story, he came up with the sketch you see. I actually have a fully developed complete book for the spiritual/self-help market. It has a completely different, highly artistic cover developed by my son Martin, a graphic designer and photographer whose work is on the front covers of major Detroit mags. But, the spiritual/self help market may be too limited. When I developed the story it was actually a screen play that "played" in my head that I converted into a "novel" format. So, ultimately I want to do the movie which would require a broader market for the book to motivate either independent producers or Hollywood types.

2) My focus is to provide value for blog readers. I'm still in the process of developing "ICE, India & Old Lovers" in terms of the final product and market placement. There will be a follow-on book that I developed with a high profile editor, more on that if there is any interest.

3) I have opened the comments to the public. If you would like to comment on or ask Montressa a question about a specific post or anything about this blog that would be great! Feel free to post it.

4) Any comments you have in the direction of development are welcome as well. I have a friend of mine who has read my pre-publication book and randomly opens to pages in the book every few days and says she always gets something that seems to apply to her life. Her question to me was, "Why haven't you "really" published this!!" Client of mine, as I noted in about MTV, said, "It starts with the journey of the central character and ends with the transformation of the reader." This blog is a product of that embarassing question and that comment!! Then there is the person, the one beside my wife, that really got me moving - see comment 6!!

5) If you enjoy this blog, find it useful or entertaining please forward the link to friends. This is important both for the blog itself and the information that is being shared. Plus, it will guide me in the best way to market the story. My plan as this unfolds is to ultimately development a non-profit. So, as they say, my mission is noble!!

6)Lastly, I need to mention Annie Burnside! She is the author of "Soul to Soul Parenting" and classifies herself as a soul nurturer. First off, stop reading this and go get her book! Yes, that's how important it is! Next, get back to this blog for you to surface the issues in your life that may be holding you back!! We need to shift ourselves so we can be quality parents for our children. Annie has read my pre-publication copy and because of her comments I decided to go full tilt on this!! You can find her on Facebook. Thanks so much Annie. YOU, as I have said to you before, are the REAL DEAL!!


To all the readers: Thanks for reading all this fine-print about the blog. Montressa just can't wait to get back to talking about her life!!

Montressa Talks About Her Journey

Well, I'd be lying if I told you I didn't enjoy my job! Oh, I do... well... a... I did... that job anyway. But I did start to see things differently. Ben Archfeldt, he was the COO. My dad put him in charge. When a company crashes you have to do what you have to do to recover your loses. I just saw it as an opportunity to use what I know, not to mention to show my dad what I can do! Oh yeah, there's always that undercurrent that runs through you. That feeling that you are not quite enough. It took me awhile to deal with that. Well, the fact of the matter is that you are more than enough. It's YOU who think you are not enough and the universe responds accordingly! Don't believe me? Don't! That's perfectly fine with me, but I'm going to keep telling you about me. The book will tell you the story and Mike did a good job of capturing those elements. Still, you can't put me in a box so neat and tidy! There's so much more to me than meets the eye in the story. My guess is you can tell already. There's just something about this Montressa person, isn't there. Well, yeaah. That's because there is.

So, back to Ben Archfeldt. Nice guy, a little short-sighted at times, but he WAS my boss and if you are going to be a team player... you play ON the team. You don't go running off to Daddy and say, "Ben, he's being difficult! He want's me to go to India on short notice!" And, part of that is because I do love my dad. Yeah, even though he was a bit short-sighted at times, too. Actually about a lot of things it turns out. Of course that is MY judgment of things. And, as you can tell I do have my opinions about the way the world "should" be. I'm sure you do as well. Well, let me ask you - How should the world be? The first thing you will tell me is - there shouldn't be any suffering, right? Part of he "suffering" comes from resistance and judgment. We say, this shouldn't be this way! It's wrong! Yeah, I get it. I shouldn't have had the parents I did! It WAS wrong!! Well, not exactly. To be totally clear, my parents didn't get there by accident. Neither did Givens! Can you imagine? I learned my greatest most important lessons from Givens, but if I didn't have the parents I had those lessons wouldn't have had the huge impact they did. That's why I got soooo... upset when he got sick. But see, by that point I had finally accepted that I just needed to trust myself. And, I did. And actually, that trust played a role in how I chose to be with Givens.

Montressa Is In The Building

Well folks... Montressa is in today! Without further fanfare - Montressa Tesworth

Hi! I'm Montressa Tesworth and no disrespect to Mike BUT sheesh.. how long you gonna make me wait!!

Look, world changes start with you! Okay? There I said it! Yeah, I know nothing new here, right? We are all part of the human condition. Well, at least the condition we have chosen to live so far. First off, all of us have things that cover over who we each are. Lord knows I've had my struggles... I mean especially with those beaus, those men in my life. You know I can see who they are... but you know they don't get themselves. No really. They don't. Shit, even this Mike guy. Yeah, yeah, sure he's the author of me... well, I been around for long time and he is FINALLY letting me speak my piece!! Okay, so back to my mens. It's like to tell them stuff... even for their own good... I mean I have to hold a mirror under their nose to see if it fogs!! Hey, anyone in there? You alive or what? Oh, yeah. They pretend to be alive, but I've seen them in unguarded moments. Moments where they are totally willing to show what they are made of. I've seen them shine. I really have. Then suddenly pfft... it's gone. That's why finding a man is so hard today. Really! Check out these boardroom types... yeah movers and shakers..well I'm not quite sure what they are shaking but sure ain't my love muscles!! Boooring!

That's my thing. Just be here now for longer than a few seconds. So, here I am... my biological clock ticking. I mean can you hear it!! It's deafening.

So that was the thing. That trip to India did it for me. Talk about a wake-up call! I wasn't back in the US for few months and Tom shows up. Okay. How do you resist Tom? Football star. Grad school buddy. Of course my parents were not very thrilled with him. They figured it was that growing through that adolescence thing. Hello, news flash, I'm in grad school folks!! The world doesn't stop just because you're busy with all that important money and society stuff.

For me, the sad part was I had no metrics to judge my life with. Yeah, you could say I was born with a silver spoon. And, you'd be right. That's why 8 years later India rocked my world. Basically, I'm really a spiritual type. Of course I didn't realize that until I was willing to recognize that there was part of me that was missing. Sure, it all looked good on the surface, but my models were few and far between. Know how I started to see the value of every human being I encountered. Givens. Yes, Givens my dad's valet. He changed my life. Well, my mom and dad sure weren't going to. They had all to do to take care of themselves. My brother Garrett did everything right, too. Me, I was a black sheep. They almost used to apologize for me. Garrett had his estate and was a globe hopper for Tesworth Enterprises. So, as I started to see things differently I would have my little chats with Garrett. It all looked good on the surface. Huge house. Businesses all over the world. But, look at him. The tiredness shows in his eyes. His wife, Darlene, a typically supressed mogul's wife. Incredible artist, but going with him to all these business functions. I can tell you that wasn't going to last that way!

Then there's me, The Communictions Director for ICE. Yup! That's my official title. But, I can tell you I was all but married to ICE. I was going to make the company go if I had to crawl on glass. And, guess what? I did. Dad noticed me then. By then I almost didn't care. I did it because it was fun... for awhile.

What is Montressa Views Life?

Who is Montressa?

I knew you would be wondering about this. Montressa Tesworth is the central character from my book, "ICE, India & Old Lovers". Montressa has had many things which many people wish for. She comes from a wealthy family and could have anything she wants... but, now in her mid-thirties she wants something money can not buy... she wants to own herself. Not who she thinks her mother thinks she should be, not who she thinks her father thinks she should be or her brother... but who SHE choses to be!To be sure, she has had a life that can prepare her for this trans-personal transformation... but in the final analysis she must take the leap that can begin to define her! This blog is an adjunct to my book and to really understand Montressa you need to know her back story. That is in the book.

So, I was sitting on the sofa in my greatroom just now and something said... you have had a blogspot blog for years and never done anything with it... get up, tell people how Montressa has shifted your life as well as her own!! Yes, Montressa is my "fictional" character... but let me say this... she has her own view of life. So much so, that I actually may be a channel for someone. But, I don't believe in that stuff. At least channelling. We each own ourselves totally and it is a free will universe. However, in this one case, I am willing to let Montressa tell it like it is for her and in light of her back story it will make perfect sense... then again she has a quote about that in the beginning of the book that is a must read because she is intimidated by no one and an Einstein quote preceeds it!! Yes, even Einstein does not intimidate her!!

Well, that's it for my first post!! In my next post I will introduce Montressa. I'm sure you will find her as fascinating as I do.