I wanna Be Erma Bombeck
When I Grow Up
August 31, 2002

How in the world did Charlie Schultz give birth to a brand new Peanuts comic strip day after day after day, year after year and on Sundays, too? What the heck was he plugged into? What magic did he have that eludes me like a butterfly in a windstorm?

And what about Erma Bombeck? What was her secret? She delighted us with her own unique brand of Erma-isms and never failed to start our day with a good giggle over our morning coffee. She regaled us with our daily dose of handy household hints, and offered wisdom sprinkled with her trademark brand of Bombeck humor—day, after day, after day. Peanuts closely followed by Erma—a day just didn’t start much better than that.

Did any of it have to do with faith, I wonder? Did she just get up every morning with faith enough to just know that she lived in the center of a vast store of creative energy that started to flow the moment that she sat down with pen in hand?

Well, whatever she had, I want it. I want to sit down at my keyboard and be lost in a wonderland of words that cascade down from somewhere beyond myself. I want to be the casual observer and watch, as a blank computer screen fills itself up with words. I want to look at the result with wonder, and just sit back and say, “Oh, wow!”

There is a common denominator among many of the people I have met in groups and workshops that I have facilitated over the years. When lack of clarity about self-identity, purpose, goals, and desires exists, confusion reigns and the path to success is blurred by fuzzy edges. The fruits of fuzzy thinking result in fuzzy, fruitless results.

Many have found that one of the most difficult challenges that they ever face lies in plumbing the depths of their souls to discover the truth of who they are and what they want. Maybe when I find the Truth of myself, the Erma Bombeck in me will emerge, and I’ll channel wisdom, humor, and helpful household hints. Or maybe helpful human hints.

Well, fuzzy and I are finished. I know what I want and I know what I don’t want. I’m telling the Universe. I’m shouting it out loud and clear. I’m expecting unfuzzy results, and when they show up in my life, I’m going to sit back, watch the magic happen and say to myself, “Oh wow.”

Hey—maybe I really am channeling Erma.

Oh wow!

Well, a girl can dream, can’t she?

Dream on, my friends.