About

         Welcome to my blog!  Ready for some AUTHENTIC TALK?

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While I am now filled with immense gratitude for my wide variety of life experiences, anyone who knew me as a child would have never guessed how my great life would turn out.  Let me explain.  I was born 64 years ago into an ultra-conservative family.  The family had what I now know to be a normal level of dysfunction.  Everyone was “good people” but I have no idea how I ended up in that family.  It was never an affectionate family.  Since I never fit with them, I always considered myself the universe’s orphan.

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I felt at home with the 60’s “question authority” mantra.  I always admired and have chosen to be part of the efforts to achieve social change we need.   The women’s movement and the civil rights movement worked because people demanded their rights.   I have always challenged stereotypes; all of them.  I’ve always worked hard to understand  how to eliminate poverty.   People from my generation know how blatantly and toxically racist and sexist day to day life was.  I was literally taught that I was less important and less valuable and less capable than male people.  I was taught that appearances and social status should be my top prioriy.  I was taught a lot of things that made no sense to me at all.  So began the journey. No one meant to harm me but I was harmed.

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But, it’s really very much ok because I have learned so much through the pain of my childhood.  Now, I feel that I have a lot to offer. I have  worked hard to understand my purpose and values, and  I have found ways to live them. I believe in people power and literally treating all people with respect and dignity.   I’ve had lots of traditional formal education and even more unique life learning experiences.  And, best of all, I really like myself and am proud of who I am.  So, all is good.

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Here is a sampling of the wonderful variety of my work experiences:  waitress, cafeteria worker, Woolworth’s lunch counter manager, walnut picker, beet factory worker, starter motor mechanic, programmer, programmer analyst, systems analyst, information systems department manager for a major corporation, owner of export / import business with the Soviet Union, owner of holistic health care business (herbalist, iridologist, massage therapist, registered counselor, hypnotherapist), founder and executive director and community organizer for criminal justice reform non-profit based on volunteer work I did with the Black Prisoner’s Caucus which is a local prison group.

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The life learning I’ve gathered from this weird and wonderful mixture of experiences is pretty unique!  I find myself better able to understand people from different worlds.  I understand about the typical college educated white middle class life and I’ve been told that my understanding of prison culture and the street life that carries people to a life of crime is surprisingly good too.  My hope is that I can somehow make it easier for these different groups to better understand each other.  If people could understand each other better, hopefully the problems that exist could be better solved.

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So, I have three blogs:  AUTHENTIC TALK is where I share all parts of me.

FITNESSBEYONDEXPECTATIONS is where I not only share fitness information, I shatter the stereotype about what older adults are capable of!

And SHARINGJUSTICEWORKS is where I pass along the lessons learned and work done by the social justice non-profit I founded.

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Contact info:  leazengage@gmail.com