feeling drained

4:05AM…A phone conversation intended as a gesture to connect while apart last evening left me drained. This morning I find myself awake and already exhausted hours before the sun is to rise.  I started looking at some of my photographs, took myself back to a moment several weeks ago when in the near distance, I saw…

I actually speed walked home, got my camera and drove back to the rose garden in front of the Smithsonian Castle to capture the beauty of these blossoms, they were just that stunningly gorgeous! Looking at them right now is restorative, has brightened my morning, though it’s still dark outside my windows.

Right now, it may be difficult to determine if a person’s emotional reactions are attributed to the stressful times we are living through or just who they are. Be as patient as you possibly can with folks. More importantly, take care of you and simply…

keep your peepers open!

#sunday #sacredsunday #blogpost #blogging #blogger #wearewomenwriting #IWWG #photographer #photo #photograph #photography#outdoorphotography #inthegarden #roses #houseandgardenmagazine #ablossomaday #ablossomaday2020 #mentalhealth

honoring fathers

Applause and gratitude for our fathers and father figures who live nearby, faraway, or in our hearts & memories; lift them up today and everyday. 

Stay safe, be well, stand for justice and…

keep your peepers open!

#sunday #sacredsunday #blogpost #blogging #blogger #wearewomenwriting #IWWG #photographer #photo #photograph #photography#outdoorphotography #inthegarden #aparttogether #socialdistancing #togetherathome #fathersday #BLM #houseandgardenmagazine #justice

a moment to breathe

take a moment to breathe and appreciate that breath…it is precious.

stay safe to stay well, support #BLM and…

keep your peepers open!

#sunday #sacredsunday #blogpost #blogging #blogger #wearewomenwriting #blackwomenwriting #photographer #photo #photograph #photography #gardens #magnolia #blossoms #outdoorphotograph #enoughisenough #justice #breathe #breath #breathwork #mindfulness

i can't breathe

This past week, I found myself thinking about COVID19 and the death of George Floyd, the fact that overnight we went from pandemic to protests, virus to violence, quarantine to curfews. I was just growing comfortable with the numbness to my daily wake up call being the report of local and national new corona cases and deaths. Suddenly, news coverage completely shifted to images of the demonstrations here in DC and across the country. Though it may seem like these are separate events, I believe that many of us understand that there are connecting links between the two. Perhaps the most subtle of these is breath.

“I can’t breathe,” is an action that is all too familiar to me. In January 2019, I woke from a nap unable to catch my breath. My struggle was far from what happens to the detained when an unfazed serve and protect lowers his full body weight into his knee, places it on the neck of a Black man, and deliberately holds it there for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. My moment cannot be compared to those in hospital beds around the world who may not even know how many days they’ve been on a respirator, may never go home. What I do know is what it’s like to lose what is a natural function for most.

The act of breathing is essential to life, is something too many of us take for granted. Breath work has played a major role in my work life; it is the opening and closing of every workshop I facilitate. Unfortunately, the murder that unfolded before all of our eyes has made us aware of just how precious breathing is. When I'm able to begin facilitating again, I know my approach will now take on a deeper meaning. Each time I speak the words, “take a deep breath as you inhale,” I will do so in memory of George Floyd and all the Black, Brown and Yellow people, named and unknown, whose breath was taken by a knee, a gun, or a noose.

I can’t breathe. As long as you can do so, remember and…

keep your peepers open!

#sunday #sacredsunday #blogpost #blogging #blogger #wearewomenwriting #blackwomenwriting #photographer #photo #photograph #photography#outdoorphotograph #GeorgeFloyd #icantbreathe #BLM #enoughisenough #justice #pandemic #COVID19 #coronavirus