“One of the most jolting days of adulthood comes the first time you run out of toilet paper. Toilet paper, up until this point, always just existed. And now it’s a finite resource, constantly in danger of extinction, that must be carefully tracked and monitored, like pandas?”~ Kelly Williams Brown, Adulting: How to Become a …Read More
Category: Journal
Dancing at Cathedral Rock, Sedona, AZ
“If my friends had not gone back, I’d still be there dancing.” One of the most breathtaking places on the planet for me is Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona. The spires of red rock formation reach up towards the sky. I return over and over with friends new and old. The hike takes us up …Read More
Black-Eyed Peas, Tradition, and Luck
Recalling his mother’s New Year’s Day black-eyed peas recipe, Michael W. Twitty traces this legume back to the Middle Passage and its roots in Africa, recognizing it as a seed of Black resilience. When my mother was still here in body, she made a small pot of black-eyed peas every New Year’s Day. The pot …Read More
Burnout Recovery
In 2007, I was burnt out–physically exhausted, emotionally drained, and cynical about the future. The daily grind of the hospital had left me with tattered ends. Everyday seemed to be the same. There was little sense of purpose. I decided to make some changes. Vacation helped, but then I returned to the same daily grind. …Read More
Dancing through the Years
As the 2010’s comes to a close, it’s natural to look back on what has moved us. Here’s a fun video review of the evolution of dance from 1950 to 2019. From Madonna to Michael Jackson, from the Macarena to Gangnam style, music inspires dance … sometimes in crazy ways. When the boredom sets in …Read More
Happy Chinese New Year 2019 ~ Year of the Pig
“I learned long, ago never to wrestle a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.” ~ George Bernard Shaw Pigs get a lot of notoriety. The Chinese Zodiac cycles every 12 years, and the Pig comes in last. Happy Chinese New Year 2019 ~ Year of the Pig! Is this your year? …Read More
FGCU Slam Storytelling, More to Come
“It has been said that next to hunger and thirst, our most basic human need is for storytelling.” ~ Khalil Gibran On Wednesday, September 26, 2018, more than 50 people gathered to share stories of “How I Got Here” at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) in Fort Myers, Florida. The Wasmer Art Gallery in the …Read More
Ancestral Medicine, Heal the Past
“I am bound to them, though I cannot look into their eyes or hear their voices. I honor their history. I cherish their lives. I will tell their story. I will remember them.”~ Author Unknown We carry the roots of who we are in the lineage of our family tree. We are blessed by the …Read More
Too good to be true
An unexpected email arrived in my inbox. “I would like you to perform at Oxford Storytelling Festival…” Wow! How did they find out about me? I’m a famous storyteller. I’ve been doing this for a while. Working hard on stories. This is so cool! Maybe they saw me perform at one of the festival new …Read More
Permission to Leave
“Doc, he’s gone.” Working as a hospitalist, I had a list of patients to see for the week. This was my first day back at the hospital, and so all the patients were new. Joe was on hospice care. The hospice facility was full. From the medical record, I could see that he was comatose. …Read More