Camping in a hurricane. Our trip to Maine was planned last Spring, long before there was a glimmer of the hurricane to come that August. My friends of 50 years—who basically have the same personalities dating back to when I was 12 years old—decided to proceed with the trip anyways. I mean, die here, die there, what does it matter? If Hurricane Henri was gonna take us out, might as well go together. I can’t even call these people friends anymore. They’re just part of my topography, and there’s great comfort in that. With them, I can be who I […]

In town for another Grateful Dead show! And yeah-yeah. I know it’s not the EXACT same band members, so don’t even!

Grief can turn into poison. “We grieve the loves we’ve lost. We grieve our abilities vanishing through age. We grieve our children leaving home. We grieve the paths we didn’t walk. We grieve the family we never had. [We grieve what could’ve been.] In our culture, we are deeply unskilled with grief. It can feel dangerous and weak. Perhaps because we fear we’ll drown in our despair. But grief plays an essential role in our coming undone from previous attachments. It is the necessary current we need to carry us into our next becoming.”* Poison kills. Or, better said, grief […]

She slipped her hand in mine On my left I looked down To innocence That face Sun-filled Smiling up at me I died to be living Couldn’t resist but bend, pull her into my side To laugh While hugging her And kissing her on the forehead Thrilled Her being That slight hand embraced with mine Secure The two of us The waves Crashing at my knees, her chest People screaming In delight To be free It’s the ocean It’s summertime Again! Peering behind me for her mother To see if it’s okay Me, with her daughter A stranger Who steals […]

Words to ease the soul as we spin towards whatever change is happening to us on the planet. “You went to a strange land searching For a truth you felt was wrong That’s when the heartaches started Though you’re where you want to be You’re not where you belong When your love has moved away You must face yourself and you must say I remember better days” —Graham Nash We need to lift each other up. Here’s to those who are doing the heavy lifting. As you do, may you gain comfort and strength from long-ago words. “As long as […]

Crowing comes from the rooster Morning comes from God. I wish I said that. But I didn’t. That’s Shams Tabriz’s astuteness. I recently discovered Rumi—that bigness brought to me by spiritual helper and new friend—and so it is apropos that Shams is Rumi’s friend. Coleman Barks’ Soul Fury, says, “Love, together with kindness … are the book that we delight in studying, this shared experience of being alive. The excitement and the depth of sharing—that friendship—are some of what Rumi and Shams are teaching.” My greatest joy and delight has always come from being with others. Witnessing and expressing the […]

Weird thought. Do you realize that we are walking atop the bones of every person who ever lived on earth? Taking the thought further, if you believe in reincarnation, this means that we are even walking atop our own bones from past lives. I can barely contain images like these. The Photo: More weirdness. My mother, visiting the gravesite of my father and sister, the site where she would be buried 3 weeks later. Even stranger. Now, when I visit their combined gravesite, since my mom and I share the exact same name, I get to see my name spelled […]

Can you feel the Shift? Nothing making sense? That’s how it’s been for me, for a long time now. All I know anymore is what I DON’T know. With my head, that is. I understand with my gut. I just can’t put it into words. And there’s no understanding the why of it. The how to get to the other side. The when-will-whatever-this-is fucking birth itself already. And yet I know that it will, and that all will be well. That all IS well. That I’ll reach the other side of whatever is taking place on earth. And that whatever […]

Right between the vagina. A while ago, I had to drive from New York to New Jersey to get blood drawn. It was only 70 miles, but considering the traffic, it took two and a half hours to get there. Me being me, I walked into the exam room, my arms waving in the air, bellowing, “I had to cross five frigging bridges to get here!” The technician was a beautiful, large 79-year-old woman of the kind I grew up with on Long Island—Full of personality. She exclaimed back, “Oh my God, can you frigging believe that?!” She reminded me […]