Loved People
My Ancestors Love
Remembering the dead & feeling my ancestors love. My maternal grandmother, Helen Aherns Berger, was the elder most present in my young life. What I remember most about her was the feeling of being accepted. I knew she was rooting for me to be myself. In retrospect, it seems like she wanted to see who…
Read MoreThe Preacher
About 6 years ago, my good friend and her fiancé called to ask if I would officiate their wedding. I was incredibly honored and immediately said an enthusiastic. “YES!” As what I had agreed to do slowly set in, I realized that I felt insecure about performing a wedding ceremony given that I’ve had so…
Read MoreHolding Tiny Humans
The right side photo is from 8 years ago. I’m overcome with wonder at the sweet, preciousness of my sleeping, spirit nephew, Sonny, in my arms. I’m so grateful that my body easily knows how to hold others. My body is designed to radiate love and comfort to those allowed to get close enough to…
Read More44
I’m finding a lot of peace at the start of my 44th year. Peace in the present moment, peace in being with myself, feeling peaceful in the body I’ve got right now, and peace with those in my life however close or far away they choose to be. There is also an abundance of feelings…
Read MoreFirst smell of fall rain
First smell of fall rainStoking my desire for moreLet go letting go Seasons change, people change, and I change. I want with all my heart to be the most current, accessible, and loving version of myself at all times. I can be all those those things and still struggle to let life flow through me…
Read MoreAdrienne Mehri Shamszad
Last night Adrienne’s voice, her songs and the music she and her band played blasted my heart wide open and made tears stream down my face. She sang poems by Rumi, Hafiz and other amazing mystic Iranian poets in Farsi and it made me understand the longing to be overcome by the love of god.…
Read MoreWhen One Of Us Falls
6 years ago, my friend Afran ended his life. Though I hadn’t known him long, his life and death impacted me so deeply. Witnessing the effect of his suicide on my community and the grief of so many people I love was almost unbearable. I didn’t know what to do or say, but I knew…
Read MoreI love you
I wrote this 4 years ago and I remember precisely the feeling of expressing it. I still feel exactly the same way. The growing edge is living it and choosing this level of dedication to move, act and react from this wise and inspired part of myself. The sincerity of my words hold up over…
Read MoreMy Aunt Joan
In the beginning of January, I posted about my Aunt Joan, my dad’s middle sister, and her declining mental & physical health. Since then, several people in her town called the police to do wellness checks on her and they finally declared her unfit to live on her own or return to her house. After…
Read MoreFriends
Today I’m happy about driving to Livermore for a strange, yet emotional Bowie Tribute concert. It’s all about who you go with. I’m happy about music that we can bond over and that it can help us find/express our true identity, heal from loss and pain, as well as remind us of our past. I’m…
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