How to Sweeten Lemonade

"The secret of life is not only making lemonade out of lemons -- but it's understanding the benefits of the lemons. It's looking into the countless ways that lemons make us better." I've come to know my neighborhood well. As the days have gotten shorter and the skies more grey, I've taken to long, midday… Continue reading How to Sweeten Lemonade

Toward 34: “If You Come Softly”

If you come as softlyAs the wind within the treesYou may hear what I hearSee what sorrow sees. -from "If You Come Softly" by Audre Lorde Six months ago I wrote a piece about my corn plant that I had been slowly nursing back to health and how broken down things can be revived. Six… Continue reading Toward 34: “If You Come Softly”

For 32: The Practice of Letting Go

Thirty-three. A year many refer to as your "Jesus Year." Scholars believe that 33 is the year that Jesus started a spiritual and political revolution that led to his crucifixion. It's a year meant to put you on a different path than the ones you were on before. The year you put the things together… Continue reading For 32: The Practice of Letting Go

“Healing is a promise.”

Two weeks ago I walked into my hair salon and let my hairdresser Opal chop my hair off. Two weeks before that, I had been washing my hair and cried as clumps of it easily wound its way around my hand as I rinsed conditioner out of my hair. I'd been losing hair for more… Continue reading “Healing is a promise.”

Love notes to my body and the slow work of God

I begin my days with the start of the prayer of Teilhard de Chardin: Above all, trust in the slow work of God. Time is something that moves slowly these days. Time between the next blood draw, the next doctor's visit, the next thing to change about my daily routine to adapt to new realities.… Continue reading Love notes to my body and the slow work of God

Forgiven

I have a beautifully worded tweet as my cover image on my Facebook page that contains the words, "The glory of God is Black people alive." When I first saw it, I drank in each word of the sentence. Memorized each curve of every letter. I often share and fall in love with beautiful statements… Continue reading Forgiven

Everything Can Wait

Yemaya, The moon is full and I am overflowing with the myriad things inside me. I drench myself in blues around my waist and feel the weight of beads against my skin. Cool to the touch they ground me in you as the tides get higher. Yemaya, Please see me. Walking toward you sideways through… Continue reading Everything Can Wait

Reading Esther in the Age of Trump and Another Cycle Around the Sun

It has been roughly a month and a half since my birthday. I usually write a reflection a day or two, or a few weeks after my birth. This has been the longest time. But in a pandemic year where we've been asked to shelter in place, time has taken on new meaning. Mainly, that… Continue reading Reading Esther in the Age of Trump and Another Cycle Around the Sun

Grounding.

For all I am For all I'm feeling I will be true and I will seek Gave away my pain And all the chains 'Cause I'm no slave Yeah For I am King For all I am My ancestors tell me so My blood it tells me so My being it tells me so -"I… Continue reading Grounding.