I have always been a word warrior. An avid reader and daydreamer, I have traveled through time and to other worlds, unlimited, using words as a personal magic all my own. But as a child, of all the stories I wove for myself, the most evocative were those of being a warrior or a magician. I played with my mother's button box, inventing amulets and charms out of amber glass and etched copper buttons, and became an alchemist in ancient Carthage. And I walked through the fields near my home, seeing myself as a woman leading warriors over a wall, or as a single warrior on a dangerous mission.

Then, in junior high, I had my own first warrior experience, standing upright, holding my own against an adult and an authority figure. My home economics teacher wanted me to spell the word "colour" in a conventional way, as "c-o-l-o-r", declaring my spelling as wrong. I countered that both spellings were in the dictionary and both spellings were acceptable. But I chose the spelling "colour" because, for me, it better expresses the feeling of the word. My teacher, knowing the value I put on being a good student, thought to bribe me into giving in, taking off points for each time I "mis-spelled" colour. But what she didn't reckon on was my strong sense of integrity at the age of 12. I wrote "colour", she took points off, and I stood for myself, winning a battle of wills with a quiet and stubborn grace.

This is how I have always worked with words, expressing my heart & strength, seeking knowledge, and creating resources of spirit & mind -- a warrior's path walked with words.