My mother said when she pulled up to the school to pick me up, she was always astounded by my confidence – the way I carried myself, the way I spoke to others, the way I was in my being. She said she did not know where it came from. I spent most of my years as a woman on a leash – I mean this with respect, not disparagement. I was married. Three times…
We speak of the people who live in this land, people who love nature’s freedom and beauty, who are alive with song and poetry. But many of these people are also poor and suffer oppression. The poor of our land have been wounded, but they are not crushed. The Spirit still lives. Their struggles and their poetry together keep alive a dream a tradition a longing a promise which is not just their dream, but…
I was just coming back on my bike from dropping Tin at the American Can when I saw this big blue Buick convertible go by with a man and woman; they were smoking. I watched the woman light her cigarette with a Zippo. The air was breezy and the sky was clear. It was the gloaming – that perfect pitch of light when magic happens. For just one minute, I wanted to be the girl…
Here in New Orleans we are all familiar with the swarms. The time of year when you need to turn off all your lights inside and out because a deluge of hungry ass termites are descending on your rotting wood house for dinner. When I got out of a meeting last night, I had to run from my car to my house because of the swarm and when I got inside they were everywhere –…
I got in a heated discussion with a filmmaker friend on Saturday about truth, relationships, growth, and Spirit. I gave him my standard refrain – I want someone who can handle my truth without fear and who is willing to bring theirs without fear. He said: There are many truths. At the end of an intense back and forth, he said, “You’re ready.” And then he started filming. Ready for love Ready to f l…
I’ve just emerged from a four week intensive that has abated (somewhat) and I’m reflecting on the choices that got me into an overscheduled, impossible stretch of weeks. There’s always the balance with me of doing what is necessary, doing what is interesting, doing something new, doing something meaningful, doing something timely, and not doing. Not doing gets short shrift in my life and it is the one thing I keep trying to prioritize. By…
My Mother’s Day tradition since my mom passed and my son came into my life has been to drive across the lake and join my Aunt’s family for food and fun with a stop at my mother’s grave to change her flowers. Last year, and this year, Mother’s Day has been about rallying in Congo Square for a cause dear to every mother’s heart. In 2014, I was there for #bringbackourgirls sending an open prayer…
Tin left for Croatia, a land where supposedly there are no rules. It has taken every waking minute to bring him back down to earth, a place with many rules. I read recently that if you were raised middle class that you constantly have this feeling that you have to be working and that enough is never enough. Last year, i was ramping up to serious warp speed having acquired several projects at once to…
Tin went to Zagreb with Tatjana for 10 days and I had three different sets of out of town guests that straddled those 10 days. I also had Jazz Fest. And let’s not forget my 56th birthday. Add to that the third chapter of my book due, three reports, and my work with the Welcome Table and you will uncover the layers of my tired. Stella and I were on our way around the bayou…