Alexis Hartz, Author

Before becoming a full-time workamper I was focused on being the best corporate employee that I could be. Once I got on the ladder I climbed it as fast as I could. Within a few short years I doubled my income and received some pretty great perks for climbing the rungs. But that climb came with a price that surpassed what I was earning. The stress that came with it affected my health and my spirit.  I stepped off the ladder when I became a workamper living in a motorhome. I traded the corporate package benefits for a grand lifestyle, with grand vistas and even grander personalities in the transient world where I lived and worked.  Now I have a position that pays like a corporate job but allows me the freedom of living on the road. I found it by leveraging all of the talents I have developed from every job I have ever had and even then I still had to put hours of time and effort into training for my new position. Our jobs are so much more than just a conglomeration ...

In my last post I spoke about "simply living". It's a phrase that resonates deep within me. However, it's just a couple of words to most people that see it in my writing or on my business card. The two words melded into a way of life for me in 2002 when my entire life dissolved. Yes, dissolved, liquified into a state of chaos and nothingness simultaneously. Within a few hours I lost my home, my job, my car and everything I owned. It was a horrific experience. It was also a godsend. The greatest gift ever. The first night was the hardest. My mind wrestled with the grief of my losses, and then the anger that it happened to me . That little voice in my head spewed out survival options. Then it argued that I didn't have the resources or the strength to put any of those ideas into action. And finally it pointed to the source of all this calamity --- me. You see I had taken a step back from my faith during the two years prior to this day. Before then I truste...

Now stick with me here. We're going to talk about spiders. Yes, one of my least favorite things on this planet....or so I thought. I rarely saw spiders in the 20 years I lived in Arizona. And in Colorado most spiders that I came in contact with looked totally harmless. So it was easy to "live and let live". But, that's not the case here in North Carolina. Not only do the spiders here appear more frightful, they are far more plentiful than any other place I have lived. And, they aren't the only insects here either. There are beetles, and roaches, and inch-long thick , slimy, curly worms that crawl into the apartment at night, birth inch-long skinny , slimy, curly worms during the night. In the morning there's a community of these little guys inching their way around the apartment, only to dry up, die, and curl into Cheeto puff-like shapes all over the floor by noon! (Imagine taking a quick trip to the bathroom in the dark with that going on under your fee...

It's a dreary day here in North Carolina.  Not as dreary as South Carolina where residents are facing another day of unprecedented flood conditions. Not as dreary as the Bahamas where residents are cleaning up the mess left from Hurricane Joaquin.  Not as dreary as Oregon where families and friends are mourning senseless losses. All of that dreariness dampens my spirit. Writing about it floods me with guilt. There's enough sadness in these stories without me bringing attention to them in yet another blog. But I am compelled to write.  I see the bad news on television, the reporters perfectly dressed and prompted to present the dreariness with poise and professionalism. Their program is dotted with commercial breaks advertising products that will make our skin prettier, our bowels more regular, and our sex lives more active. Later in their program those same reporters will laugh about the entertainment headlines or show us the latest decorating trends to ma...