subscriber recently shared a favorite quote about money with me: “When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one and a lily with the other.” She says it’s a Chinese proverb, and it works for me.

            We all need bread to survive, but we also need “lilies.” Without those things in life that bring us joy, that we are passionate about, we’d be nothing but worker bees, drones, going from flower to flower, collecting honey for someone else. Working for bread and not roses—or lilies, as the case may be—doesn’t feed the soul.

            That’s why I was not in the least amazed when, in the course of one week early this summer, four women spoke to me about their determination to follow their passion. “I’m just not that passionate about the law,” Sharon, a successful, 40-something lawyer turned writer, explained to me over salmon teriyaki at a nearby restaurant. During the last year, she’s been writing, writing, writing—children’s stories, novels, essays, magazine articles—and sending them off to agents. Every other week, she’d read me another rejection letter. This week, however, her passion paid off: An agent agreed to represent her. “I’m so happy. I’m a writer, sitting in a restaurant in New York, having lunch with ‘my agent’!” she e-mailed me, and her joy leapt across cyberspace. I was so happy for her.

            The same week, coincidentally, Laurie, a 40-something editor, quit her job to write a book about her spending habits. In her first week, she rattled off 16 chapters. That’s passion! Clio, an exceptional 20-something who could do anything she sets her mind to, confided over cappuccino that she doesn’t want to do anything that she isn’t passionate about. Italy is her passion—and I know that someday she’ll find a way to make that pay off for her.

            Bette, an equally talented 40-something, was laid off from her teaching position at a college when state funding was slashed (the trickle-down effect of our tax cuts). Over a picnic lunch in the park near my office, she, too, spoke of her determination to make the “next new thing” she does something that she is “passionate about.” Read about her search on page 46.

            I, too, am doing something that I am passionate about—creating this magazine. And, though bread is still scarce—as it always is with startups—lilies are blooming in my heart.

            Why do I bring all this up? Because, in this issue, we feature women who are daring to follow their heart’s passion: Edyta, a 21-year-old Polish au pair who ventured across a wide ocean to experience what life in our country has to offer, has taught the mother who employs her not only about saving money but about valuing family and relationships. Read her story in “Not ‘The Nanny Diaries’,” by Sharon Sorokin James.

            “Some people go through their whole life, and they don’t know what they want to do with it,” observes Jane Restucci of Jane’s Antiques, our “Biz Whiz” profile in this issue. “I’ve found my niche,” she says, and she feels sorry for those who don’t. “Love what you do. You can’t enjoy your money if you’re unhappy with how you make it’ are the words of wisdom shared by “Sister CEO” author and financial whiz Cheryl Broussard in “What a Doll!” by Allison Acken. In it, Broussard explains how she learned her first money lessons from, of all things, her first Barbie doll.

            Jane Resnick experienced her personal wakeup call after her daughter got married and her husband came home to retire: Read how she became an “industrial space chick”—and “poster girl for midlife sex”—by following her passion in “Why I Flew the Coop When Hubby Came Home to Roost.”

            We debut a new feature in this issue, “Choice Career,” in which we will offer real-life glimpses behind the scenes of some interesting, offbeat or hot professions. In the first, “Let Them Eat Cake …,” by Elizabeth Kaminsky, you’ll meet Marie Antoinette (yes, that’s her real name) Stecher, who felt so constrained by her 9-to-5 office job that she switched careers to become a pastry chef. That’s her, gracing our cover. “I was always inventing excuses to get up from my desk,” she told me during our photo shoot. “I couldn’t sit still.” This active and highly creative job suits her far better. If, like Marie, you are pacing the cage of your particular job and want to fly the coop, read “Your Em-Power-Ment Tool Box,” by Joni Daniels, author of “Power Tools for Women.” Daniels will show you how to use your existing inner resources to bring about major change in your life.

            There are plenty of other resources in this issue—from “How to Save Nearly $75 a Month on Groceries” to “The Scoop on Shopping for Designer Clothes at Discount Prices,” and much more. We even have a yummy recipe by our pastry chef. We’ve brought all of these stories together to help you follow (or find) your particular passion.

            Whatever you do, may you be the queen of your hive—the passionate, powerful center of your universe. May others be drawn to your happiness, like bees to a flower. And may their joy “gild your lily.”

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Gail Harlow is the Founding Editor of MAKING BREAD. Send your comments, questions and suggestions to gail@makingbreadmagazine.com.

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