Risk:
And then the day came
When the risk
To remain tight
In a bud
Was more painful
Than the risk
It took
To bloom
(An excerpt from a poem by Anais Nin) Continue reading
The end of the year, and is it any clearer?
6
Shredded Colors of Gratitude
I’m grateful for much in my life, especially for those thorns that have caused me pain. The gratitude of gratification has carried me on its back. Friends, to distant ones, to those I’ve sworn to never speak to again, have imprinted my DNA, and when dissected, reveal threads knowing who I am and what I’m grateful for. Continue reading
Sitting and Watching the Parade Pass By
If you listen with your eyes and hear with your mind, clarity will amaze, surprise, and dumfound, because we’ve been previously preoccupied. Whatever life holds, surprises are entwined into micro bombs throwing us off track. Getting back on track, for me, is a continuous task forcing me to sit down and take serious stock of what’s going on.
Saturated over the past months are clues as to what the future parade holds. To be honest, as I consume, plan, and anticipate, it’s overwhelming and exhausting looking at the next year(s), and packing into my mind a future of desirable sound bites of less stress.
I’ve looked at my life and wondered how can I listen and see more? How can I push aside the unnecessary for an existence of comfortable and useful reality? How can I watch the parade instead of marching in line with everyone else? Yes, I’m thinking individuality more than conforming. Continue reading
The Square vs. The Round Table
Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you replaced all your square tables with round tables? In retrospect how different would your surroundings look or feel? Realistically, this drastic alteration probably isn’t feasible, but assuming imagination is possible, so how would it feel touching, feeling, and smelling new each day? Could the change be sustainable and tolerable? Continue reading
June’s Playground
The month of June started and ended with ups and downs. Prickly vines twisted and entwined our breaths gasping for air.
Overwhelming peaks and plummeting valleys warrant tremendous digesting of what each consequence means. The list, a never-ending story, trails its long opaque veil. The value and devastation of this country are politicized. Continue reading
Understanding It All
Over the past couple of months, I’ve finished relocating to a new city. The process of finding an ideal-to-a-perfect place is difficult. What I look for is a congenial context of weather, culture, politics, community, affordability, and an overall ascetical environment outside my window. What I’ve found in my search is the narrow appeal for many parts of this country. Maybe I’ve allowed prejudice to cloud and interfere. Honestly, deciding on a perfect home is a daunting task. Continue reading
WORTHY CELEBRATIONS—BUT WHAT IF?
Henri-Frédéric Amiel, Swiss moral philosopher, poet, and critic
There’s a universal exchange on the last day of December: HAPPY NEW YEAR.
I’ve wondered, these past few weeks, what this time-old tradition at midnight meant. Three words, HAPPY NEW YEAR, celebrated in loud cheers, teary and loving hugs, or whispered in solitude. Continue reading
The North Star Is Still Important
I wanted to break the tradition of me writing December’s blog. My dear friend and poet, Michael Conner, gave me permission to post what, I think, is a brilliant poem. It is from his book Canto Sun (published by Invisible College Publishing).
An Education in Thanksgiving
James Baldwin, Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker, Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright, Toni Morrison, and Alice Walker: What do they all have in common? They are all African-American writers who have published books considered American classics. And they are also authors whose novels are banned (or will be) by school boards and libraries across the United States.
A new day clouded in dirty words.
Virginia Beach School Board Member wants books about race by Toni Morrison and Other Black Authors Banned from the School District and Public Libraries. Continue reading
Burning the Good Witch at the Stake
Violence against women in the United States is in the use of domestic abuse, murder, sex trafficking, rape, and assault (Wikipedia). Culture leads toward trivializing violence towards women and the media possibly contributing to making women-directed violence appear less important, particularly to women in this category: There were 543,018 people reported missing in 2020, nearly 40% of them people of color. Black Americans account for 35% of missing person cases (National Crime Information Center’s Missing Person and Unidentified Person Files). Law enforcement historically assumes children are runaways, and adults are involved in some sort of criminal activity.
Indigenous women’s communities have also expressed outrage that they have a disproportionate amount of media attention or legal assistance. This is tied to Tribal Reservation Law. Non-tribal perpetrators found on the Reservation for sexual assault, child abuse, or rape can’t be prosecuted. However, domestic violence by non-tribal members is investigated by tribal nations, but the women do not fare well. Continue reading