I shouldn’t be surprised about how wealth is …how do I put it??… a matter of perspective.  On my cruise I saw many many signs of this.  It’s apparent in the types of passengers that go on cruises:  There is the young just married couple who nervously takes perhaps their very first independent steps alone.  There are the retired folks who go from cruise to cruise with nary a care in the world.  There are the young mothers with kids in toll - perhaps taking a little bit of a family vacation minus her husband or boyfriend.  Then there is me.  A young “barely legal” teen attempting to be a “world” traveler and taking her first ever cruise.  The world that I traveled happened to be only a few short steps from the world I left, but still it was, to coin a sappy disney movie, “a whole new world” for me. 

Mexico on paper was an adventure of epic proportions, however face to face it was just another neighborhood in southern california: a bit crowded at times - and a little bit of a let down.  Sort of like going to Los Angeles for the first time.  You would expect something from oscar night, but instead you’re doused in glittered streets lined with the names of movie stars from yester-years while stepping over a homeless person begging for a few coins for cigarettes, a hamburger, and yeah - even a beer from 7-11.

The cliffs in Mexico that overlooked the beautiful ocean were impressive.  The amounts of shacks and skinny cows and horses boarded in fields bare and brown could have been any postcard from any 3rd world country.  There are always, no matter how far you travel - those same 2 sides of that same coin, yes?

Wealth is a matter of perspective, isn’t it?

After putting things into perspective I have reached the conclussion that I am EXTREMELY rich.  I’m like one of those retired couples, who just goes from one cruise line to the next, happy to be doted on and taking in everything that happens from day to day with a great big smile of delight on my face.  I have callers who just call me up after I returned from being away to tell me they had missed me, and that they were looking forward to our next call together.  I have the callers who write to me after reading my diary entry for the day, just to make a comment or two (yeah - my comments STILL aren’t working… *sigh* - I’ll be trying to fix that in the next few days - wish me luck) and let me know they were here.  I have “Rich” - a fairly new caller who delights in my strange and bizarre fantasies (haha) and allows me to be … well - just as kinky as I need to be and thanks me tremendously for my efforts in pleasing him. 

Relationships with my callers, my friends, and my family - definitely makes me one of the richest people I know! I hope that ‘you’ can count me as one of your richES, too.