Essay

A Few Rules For Predicting The Future by Octavia E. Butler

Posted on 15 June 2023

“SO DO YOU REALLY believe that in the future we’re going to have the kind of trouble you write about in your books?” a student asked me as I was signing books after a talk. The young man was referring to the troubles I’d described in Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents,… »

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Real Costs, Real Talk

Posted on 28 April 2023

“You shouldn’t get disillusioned when you get knocked back. All you’ve discovered is that the search is difficult, and you still have a duty to keep on searching.”—Kazuo Ishiguro Greetings from the climb out of a dark place. Middle age is a surprisingly bewildering space to navigate. Years turn into decades and you lose some… »

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Kwanzaa in Senegal

Posted on 23 January 2022

I took a break from the pandemic struggle and the book pushes to spend two weeks in Senegal with friends. It was a beautiful journey full of road trips, connections and laughter. It was deeply healing and restorative. While there, I thought a lot about lineage. I thought about how you don’t even need to… »

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Let’s Write!

Posted on 24 March 2021

Writing is such a solitary act. Building out a plan, sharing your goals, and connecting with others who are pushing themselves to create can make a huge difference. The 28-Day Writing Sprint is an accountability and support group providing a structured environment for setting and sharing goals, reporting on progress, reflecting on strategies, and growing… »

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Vol. 112, The Discipline of Surrender

Posted on 14 April 2020

In this season, we are—worldwide—being called to surrender. We have been forced to surrender the freedom to gather, the freedom to move around, and for some of us, the freedom to work. As the death toll continues to rise, and the stories of those who have lost their lives to this virus have been circulating,… »

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Vol. 111, Like Water

Posted on 19 September 2019

I went to the Met for the unveiling of Wangechi Mutu’s sculptures, which are now sitting proudly installed in four alcoves across the Met’s façade. These sculptures were created as the inaugural Facade Commission. These newly established project will commission an artist to develop sculptures to be displayed outside of the museum for a year…. »

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Vol. 110, Is This It?

Posted on 27 June 2019

Life is full of contradictions. Or, the way we view life is full of contradictions. We spend a lot of time labeling and deciding who we are and what we are going to achieve. However, the irony is that we rarely know exactly what those labels mean and what those achievements will require. When you… »

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Vol. 109: What Are You Privileging?

Posted on 30 March 2019

I’m hesitant to write this post because I don’t want to be a dream killer. For anyone who is still waking up full of creative energy and possibility, who skips over to the page or the canvas full of ideas and fascination, thrilled to spend hours playing with your new visions, this post is not… »

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Vol. 108: Embracing Vulnerability

Posted on 28 February 2019

Collage by K. Ibura featuring porcelain art by Sandra Byers Last month, I wrote about a panel on vulnerability and how the conversation made me reflect on the power of community as a healing force. There’s another valuable bit of information I got from the panel. In discussing how people behave when vulnerable and why… »

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Vol. 107: The Power of Community

Posted on 28 January 2019

This month I attended a panel on vulnerability at HealHaus yoga studio and healing center. The conversation was multi-layered and wide-ranging. On the topic of why we aren’t more vulnerable, panelist Liana Naima talked about the patriarchal orientation of our society, and how it influences how we communicate and connect with others. She went on… »

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