Wisdom And Sage

BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS
Opening night was a blast! Full theater for a 10 pm showing of
and Josie were there to witness a full audience experience Lynda for the first time. So grateful to be able to share her story with her loved ones at our side!💜
Another screening tonight with more beloveds!

JOY AND GRIEF CAN COINCIDE!
So delighted to bring to ( 3/7, 3/9, 3/14) and to have gotten the opportunity to connect with , to talk grief, and gather these and pins 💜
Cheers to those we've loved, loss, and continue to love ✨🥂✨

It's that time of year. Not feeling so festive, but this is how we do it.

DEATH AND THE INNER LIFE:
I think about this all the time.
This eternal hunt for all the sh*tty things that live inside of me. To get to know them, to dig them out, turn them over in my hands and see what I can learn.
How does knowing what lives inside me change the world?
Listen, as a death worker I have written a ton of posts about Gaza. My heart has been aching over it. The first week I posted something I thought might be valuable and after posting it, I watched anger, hurt and contention rise in the comments. I watched myself worry over the pain I might have caused people I love, and the people I love that I've never met.
So, I posted on grief because for weeks that's all I could feel and see.
All I know is that my greatest desire from day one has been to stretch myself wide and tuck the whole of the region inside my ribs, behind my heart and hold it until we find peace.
So it was a funny thing to have this pop up on a silly astrology app, because looking inside when the world is too hard is my number one line of action.
Where does violence live in me? Where does hatred take harbor within my mind? Where does intolerance perch in my heart?
Because whatever is inside directs action, knowingly or not. Fear morphs to anger, anger to violence etc.
Conscious reflection is the action I take when I don't know where to turn.
Making the calls doesn't feel like enough. Screaming until my voice is hoarse doesn't offer the refuge I so wish to be able to give to everyone who is suffering.
But this action, reflecting on where destructive thoughts, words and actions live in me is my daily offering to you. My heart is with the people of Gaza, and it is with you, whoever and wherever you are reading this.
This human life is limited and valuable and we have the wild ability to dilate into love.
There are no words for this unspeakable horror and the only ones I can offer is that I’m here for you, and I love you. You are not alone.

SAME SAME, BUT DIFFERENT:
Just a few scenes of my new daily life now that school has started.
🐈‍⬛ Is certainly making it easier!
I'm excited to be here, ok m tired and happy and deeply grateful.
And thanks to for my new mug! 😹
Up for a breath of air, and diving back in.
Love to you! 💖

THIS IS 40.
Birthdays are a bit of a personal new year, inviting reflection on how where we've been, and to consider where we're going. For whatever reason, birthdays that end in "0" really drive this home.
So on my birthday yesterday, I sat down to think about what I've managed to do over the last 10 years that have surprised me-- not to encourage the sh*tty culture of productivity = worth, nor to show off-- but more as a practice of reminding myself of just how far I've come. This is a practice of dilating my heart to welcome what's arriving.
1. Lived alone in Brooklyn for 9(!) Years-- almost 14 all together.
2. Started and completed an undergraduate degree in psychology and neuroscience.
3. Travelled alone to a handful of foreign countries.
4. Become a skilled tarot reader.
5. Developed a private coaching practice with incredible clients.
6. Trained to become a Tibetan Buddhist meditation teacher.
7. Become a certified Death Doula.
8. Become a psychedelic integration specialist.
9. Fallen in love with someone too special to accurately describe in a way that truly honors them. I've come to love myself, others and life more than I knew possible.
10. Gone skydiving 3 times (more to come!)
11. Become a documentary film maker (check it out at Death differently.org)
12. And today, I begin my master's program in clinical social work.
It's a funny thing... Some days it feels like I've done nothing. Other days I know this list is 1/10th of what I've actually done.
I am grateful-- for this life, for the amazing people who have supported (and continue to support) me, and for having learned to access more peace.
The hard things. The good things. The gutwrenching things. For my friends, old and new. For my family. For this love I could never have imagined... I am grateful for it all.
And of course, Michael Keaton ✨🐈‍⬛✨

5 YEARS
Today marks 5 years since our brother Duane died.
Anniversaries are strange, in that they never feel the same. Each one is different. But I suppose that's true with each memory we carry of the ones we love.
I remember his laugh and his hugs. I remember him being an eye-rolling older brother and that brief moment in the 90's when he became obsessed with the song "Informer" by the Canadian rapper, Snow.
We didn't get to spend a lot of time together bas adults, and I so wish I could see what our life is like in some parallel universe where he's still earth side.
This is the song that played at his funeral and I've always loved it. I love it more now because it carries Duane in it.
This section featured says "I want the sun to hit my face, through oak trees in the open lot. Forget about the things you want. Be thankful for what all you've got. So long, I'm goin', goin' home."
So, today is bittersweet, and I am thankful. 💜

SUNDAY STILLNESS.
This is it.
Soft.
Quiet.
Still.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.