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…
I have received so many wonderful gifts lately, from divinations that Danielle, my massage therapist gave me, to the gift of the massage itself that Wanda gave me, to the gift of life that I have every day. At Jazz Fest, I ran into my friends Paula and Erin, and Paula hands me a wooden Ethiopian Star of David pendant, and says: “This belongs to you.” It brought tears to my eyes for all the…
My friend, Wanda, who was visiting from San Francisco left me $50 for my birthday. It was the exact amount that the guy who was supposed to fix my brakes ripped me off. It was the exact amount needed to get a massage from Danielle. So yesterday, three days before my actual birthday, I went to see my massage therapist/seer/diviner/soothsayer for a much needed deep tissue massage. When I walked in the door, she asked…
I spent this Jazz Fest weekend with friends in town. A young couple whose wedding I missed last year because we were in Spain. Since I’m approaching my 56th birthday, I’ve forgotten what young love looks and feels like, but after spending a few days around it, I’m amazed at how much I remember about it. Young love holds so much promise. Young love has all the time in the world to get a bigger…
I went on Facebook the other day because I hadn’t been on in a while. My friend, Mudd, had posted an oracle reading from her friend at Cauldrons and Cupcakes. Once you choose your oracle you scroll down for its meaning. I picked #1 based on this image by Jason D Page: I chose the light spirals because it reminded me of life’s spiral path. Lately, I keep having these “I need this thing I…
I met with a study group for a while that looked at the idea of education as a force for social change. Every time we met, we started by lighting a candle in the middle of the table and reciting this verse. It always set the appropriate mood. Verse for America May our feeling penetrate to the center of our hearts, and seek in love to unite with those who share our goals; and with…
You’ve heard of shut ins – those people who don’t leave the house because they can’t bear the world. Well, this weekend I’v been a shut out as in I’ve not let the world in here. It’s been an amazing respite from the usual go go go. My cold has almost subsided. I’ve kept myself from snacking by reading and reading and reading. I finished one good book and started another. Jim Grimsley’s How I…