So Tin said goodbye to his best friend for the summer as he is leaving Monday for France and Tin will already be in Spain then Croatia when he returns. Like all good friends, their relationship is not always smooth, but unlike adults, their highs and lows are spaced across seconds instead of months or years. Their playdate today yielded tears, anger, and hugs and giggles. For me, the mom, bearing witness to boys growing…
I have subscribed to the adage that I’ll sleep when I’m dead for many years now, but honestly the bed has been tugging me for a while. Between moving yet again this month, traveling to San Francisco for an in-depth seminar on facilitating race dialogue, working on a research project, and being the mother of a 4-year-old – rest/sleep/down-time has not come easy. Last night, friends came over and we went to grab a drink…
I’ve finally arrived at the other side of “when this is over, I can breathe” and now it’s about doing more than just getting through the days. This afternoon, I’ll be on It’s New Orleans again to do a podcast on my new work – writing and speaking about race and parenting. I’ll be talking about a new book I’m working on as well as the workshops I’ll be facilitating. If you’re in town stop…
At the end of 2012, I was given the gift of clarity and once I had it, I embraced it. Clarity is a wonderful thing to have and with it you can move the world. I met a woman at a retreat I was recently attending who said that there is no need for argument when you have clarity. She also told me this: “Do what is easy, effortless and enjoyable. Stay away from what…
Looking down on the bay, I always wonder at how blue it is. The Tenderloin doesn’t change – grit, grime, and those left behind. Joe says, “You got another mansion, Rachel” right when I’m feeling things are tight. People weave in and out of your life, brushing up against you and jostling you around, coming back in to hold a mirror that shows where you’ve been and how far you’ve come and all the while…
So when I lived on Moss Street I was known around town as the white chick who should be taken advantage of – everyone, including a few friends, thought that my money grew on trees and they should avail themselves to it at every opportunity. And seeing how I grew up with a father who liked nothing more than to spend his money and treat everyone in the room or block, what the hell did…
Last night, I was supposed to go to a school meeting and also to an anniversary celebration for a friend’s business (seven years) and to see a friend play music down the street, and walk two blocks to watch two local songwriters sing their music and instead I stayed home, alone. To the overstimulated, I say withdraw and rest. Since Tin has been watching The Adventures of Tin Tin at Tatjana’s and since I let…
When I went to see the Dalai Lama I bought some prayer beads that I intended to use as a rosary of sorts to count off the things I am grateful for, but instead I took my beads to my friend who has just had most of her innards removed because of cancer. My friend said she had started a gratitude journal already and that made me feel good about her path ahead. I was…
I ran out of steam about 2PM this afternoon – my internet was still not connected and there was an over abundance of boxes with stuff in it stacked all over the living room. And there I was – toast. Unable to even think straight and unable to move an inch. The muscles in back of one knee had congealed from the heavy lifting of Sunday’s 10 loads in the F150 move. Oh my god…