I can’t pretend to know what works best for growing and healing. I’ve definitely floundered around during my lifetime, trying to climb out of that hole. I still miss my foothold now and then and slide down to the bottom. What I’ve learned is that children who grow up in sheltered circumstances while experiencing questionable- […]
Posts in the blog category:
Mother’s Day is a Bitch
Every single year, since I was old enough to feel the pressure to celebrate it, it’s been the same old thing. Mother’s Day is a Bitch. I can’t ignore it. The pop-up ads from the national florists tell me to Shop Now, Save 25% for Mother’s Day. The television ads for I don’t know what… […]
The First Time I Got Paid for Doing It
The First Time I Got Paid for Doing It… for Writing, of course. The United Church of Christ on Main Street had a hall where Ballroom Dancing & Etiquette Classes were held for eighth graders. My mother refused to let me attend. “That’s where girls get pregnant!” she said. Every morning as my school bus […]
To Remember and Forget… and Forgive?
I’ll always remember. I’ll never forget. I have truly tried to forgive, and I think I’m almost there, but it’s not easy. Sometimes a storm swirls inside of me, causing me to regress to the terrified child. Then- just as suddenly- I return to shaping the phrases and selecting the words, and I remember that […]
Surviving Kindergarten
I found myself in a sea of similar sized individuals, in my assigned seat with my assigned school supplies. One fat #2 pencil. Dark blue, not yellow. One black and white patterned composition book. One large pink eraser that didn’t really deserve its name- it constantly called attention to my mistakes by carving blisters in […]
Sankofa: Go Back and Fetch It
Not too many years ago, when I was teaching Adinkra symbolism to children in the Arkansas Delta, there was a symbol that caught my attention with its graceful design, and caught my heart with its meaning. The symbol was “Sankofa”, a stylized heart with a curvy inside and base. It became my mantra and my […]
I Spent Many Happy Hours in the Cemetery, Fantasizing about Death
Throughout my childhood, I was crazy obsessed with Death. The nuns spoke fondly of Death as such a lovely place… joining the saints and our Father in heaven… It’s no wonder that I prayed every day that I would die and go there… where everything was perfect and I would be able to lie in […]
In the Shadows
In my travels over the hundred acres of the farm and its outbuildings, I spent a lot of time observing my surroundings. Much of the time, I was alone and so unspoken communications with wildlife encouraged me to wonder about our capacity to understand each other. “Often I remained a few minutes in the shadows, […]
Maya Angelou, on growing up.
Maya Angelou said, “I’m convinced that most people do not grow up… our real selves, the children inside, are still innocent and shy as magnolias.” I certainly identify with her statement, and was very surprised to see that one with such a bigger than life persona- Maya Angelou- felt that way. But I do feel […]