Happy Thanksgiving

From my family to your family.

Have a joyful day.

Will I Stop Short and Fall to the Ground

Life is enormous.
My life alone
Forever linked to all of you
What you do
What you think
We make the world
As simple as that
The effort to wake each morning and say
Yes

Yes to it all
The dirty toilet
Dishes again
Immaturity and Pettiness
Love and Beauty
Bein' Late
Running
Anxious
Toteing the world along
Carry this
Bring that
Do this
Make that

Taking the time for quiet and stillness
Dissappointment
Is insanity
Being at peace with that
The anger, the emotion
Saying yes to it all
Yes, it is.

Parenting one of my many hats
The meditation in that
Living with FIVE distinct, unique
Individuals
With lifetimes of patterns
Making space
In the heart and mind for all to be
Saying Yes
In my heart

Hearing the Dad in the store
Screaming at the kid to
Stop whining
Everything we say and do is about US
When I want to tell the kids to DO something
Verbage
Be still, Quiet
Turn it around
Stop whining
Takes on a different meaning

Race for the Finish

Nearly 40 years ago my Grandmother was forced to confront her racism. My Aunt Kathy adopted a baby from Africa. He was a sweet brown bundle of love. My Grandmother couldn't deny the beauty in this child and in her way connected this beauty to being less "Black" because he was light skinned. My Grandmother died a few short years after she met her brown grandson. She had breast cancer. She was 46 years old.

When I voted today an ancient woman looked up my name in the photocopied book of registered voters. Her shaky, wrinkled hand searching, confused by my bizarre name. It's hyphened...Oh??... I could see her wondering, why on earth a young (yes, I believe she thought my gray haired self was young--that's how old she was) lady wouldn't find honor in taking her husband's name. And it occurred to me that this woman LIVED to see an African American become President of the USA. My Grandma and Barack's Grandma won't watch the polls tonight and learn that history has been made. That woman remembers segregation, lynching, freely spewed racial slurs...Oh, my God, she was so old she may have personally know a former slave.

Change. What are the real changes that we will face... How will the scales of racism be tipped? In what ways will my white brothers and sisters react? I heard a young lady at the mall say she didn't want to vote for Obama because he was just going to be assassinated in the next few months.

My Mother and Aunties have been community organizers working to battle racism, sexism, and classism for decades. My Mother is a Democrat...big time! It is her party and she is proud to have been part of bringing both a woman and a man as potential candidates for this election. She has completely supported her party. She has travelled to another swing state to speak to individuals gathering support and momentum for this moment. The precipice of change. It will be the Democrats who MUST break that glass ceiling. Those damn dumb Republicans ...they come in at the final hour and present their bi-atch. Their Woe-man. She is not a WOMAN.

Day of Change!!

I am so excited! I'm a buzz at the potential change in our government. I'm hopeful that I'll have an African American president.

President Barack Obama

Om, Om, Om

It is so deep that his Grandmother died this day. Life and death are so linked to what is going on around us. It is not this random event. It is in our cells decided before we are born. There is a force greater than me.

I'm busy preparing to teach a Doula training this weekend with Eileen, the local homebirth midwife. I'm looking forward to it. Buffalo needs an infusion of women who think differently about birth, who can support and nurture our community and our birthing families.

Halloween was a blast. I dressed as the Bride of Darkness.