I Don’t Need the Last Word

There is a difference between denying my voice and choosing how I use it. “Do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy? Forgive yourself and stop punishing yourself.”—Louise Hay Several months ago, I entered into what I thought was a discussion about essential oils. In case you don’t already know,… Continue reading I Don’t Need the Last Word

Lady Uppity and the Department of Worthiness

In the early hours of the morning, as the sun made her first appearance of the day, Lady Uppity began to sense the not-good-enough fear’s presence. Her stomach was in knots; tears wanted to make an appearance. She did what she often did: Lady Uppity stood before the mirror of worthiness and asked the same… Continue reading Lady Uppity and the Department of Worthiness

The World Is My Oyster and I Am the Pearl

A few months ago, I fell into a hole. Not a real hole, although sometimes it felt deep enough to qualify. Something happened that frightened me. Fear opened the door to frustration and anger, and before long I was feeling powerless, desperate, and more than a little sorry for myself. I wallowed. For days, weeks,… Continue reading The World Is My Oyster and I Am the Pearl

God, Coffee & a Three-Legged Cat

Just because you are seeing divine light, experiencing waves of bliss, or conversing with Gods and Goddesses is no reason to not know your zip code.— Ram Dass I just finished my morning chat with God and came away with a simple recognition of some basic truths—the kind that are so easily overlooked and sometimes… Continue reading God, Coffee & a Three-Legged Cat

People Plan, God Laughs

Lord Honey Bear had a favorite saying: People plan, God laughs. It took a field of very hungry deer to show me exactly what he meant. There was a time, many years ago, when growing marijuana wasn’t just frowned upon—it was illegal. Naturally, Lord Honey Bear, Lord Greenjeans, and I decided it sounded like a… Continue reading People Plan, God Laughs

Lady Uppity Throws a Pity Party

Lady Uppity woke up feeling spectacularly sorry for herself. She briefly considered resisting it. Then she remembered the rules. If you’re going to throw a pity party… throw an excellent one. With great determination, she flung herself across the sofa, placed the back of one hand dramatically against her forehead, and released a sigh worthy… Continue reading Lady Uppity Throws a Pity Party

The Sacred Threshold

Lady Uppity woke feeling sad. And a little terrified. Perhaps I’m just a little homesick. After all, it had been two months since she left home, relocating while the mold was eradicated and the flooring repaired. Insurance delays had stretched the work far longer than anyone expected. Lost in thought, sipping her morning coffee and… Continue reading The Sacred Threshold

Wobbling

Every step became a conversation.

Lady Uppity had become well acquainted with wobbling. It hadn’t always been that way. Once upon a time, she walked without giving a single thought to where her feet might land. Then, one February morning a few years ago, life insisted she pay attention. She woke in pain. Intense inflammation had settled into her body,… Continue reading Wobbling

Lady Uppity Drops the Charges

The door had been unlocked for years. Lady Uppity simply had to realize she was free to walk through it.

Forgiving Herself for Past Mistakes The discovery that she had spent so much of her life abandoning herself in an effort to be loved and accepted took Lady Uppity’s breath away. As she sat in the early morning light, sipping her coffee and wondering what might come next, she felt an unexpected surge, like the… Continue reading Lady Uppity Drops the Charges

How Am I Not Myself

She was never not herself.

Refusing to Abandon Ourselves A few evenings ago, while watching a movie with Lady Birdsong, a single line caught Lady Uppity’s attention: How am I not myself? The question lingered. The longer she sat with it, the stranger it became, so much so that she set her wine glass down and jotted a note in… Continue reading How Am I Not Myself