YOGA BEAUTY WELLNESS

Yesterday, my "Angel Mother" as i like to call her, Ms. Oprah G. Winfrey received the highest honor in the land-- The Presidential Medal of Freedom. President Obama applauded her for... "reaching the pinnacle of the entertainment universe." For twenty-five years, The Oprah Winfrey Show helped to extend the conversation about topics that were taboo; from sexual abuse to cellulite, she made it okay to tell the truth. She created a safe space for people to come and leave their shame and the secrets that blocked their light. Because of this, millions of others were liberated by the knowledge that they were not alone in their suffering. I started watching the Oprah show when I was around eight or nine years old. Her voice was soothing. Her insights were as wise and profound as those of my own mother. I saw the same light in her eyes that I saw in my mother's eyes. I believe it was because of this that she would go on to mean even more to me after my mother lost ...

a nybody who knows me knows how much i love jazz. from Miles Davis to John Coltrane. Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald. These artist serve as muses for me and their music lifts me to the highest of highs. i bask in their sheer genius regularly and could not imagine my life without their unique musical offerings. i remember exactly when i fell in love with jazz. i was in elementary school and  my music teacher, Dr. Andrea Montgomery, took us to Jackson State to hear a live jazz band. they were absolutely magical. i remember that was the first time i saw a plunger used to muffle the sound of the trumpet. i was deeply intrigued and it was precisely at that moment the fire was lit in me. when the band director asked if we knew what the local jazz station was, i was proud to be the only one who knew the answer. my first encounter with jazz gave me a headache, quite frankly. it was just so chaotic and i couldn't keep up. i was about seven  of eight years old at the time and w...

yesterday, i posted this status on facebook: "i love my single life and i am grateful to have peace in abundance. our relationship status does not define who we are. my worth is not measured by external conditions, terms or symbols. i am the i am of myself. i alone am enough." and oh, how was i surprised by the likes and responses. and then it dawned on me---- maybe, just maybe there are more single people who are content with being single than i realize. i believe this resonated with people because they too have found some kind of solace in being single. now by nature, i love solitude. nothing moves me more than being alone, except maybe jazz or a beautiful arrangement of white hydrangas or dinner at my favorite local restaurant, The Parlor Market. my creativity flourishes when i can have that. however, i also love people. i'm interested in them and their experiences because i realize that we all can be teachers for one another.  so i wanted to delve fu...

as you should know, we're spending the entire month here on spiritual anthropology talking about gratitude. one of the things i am truly grateful for is love. when we say the word love, we often think about romantic love-- from the lovers in the park holding hands to our many friends who are getting married every weekend it seems. (aside: congratulations, Illinois!) while that definition of love is ideal and beautiful, love encompasses more.  love is definitely in the air, but it is also everywhere and you don't have to be in a relationship to experience the fullness of it. you can love your single self as fiercely and with as much effort. one of my favorite quotes about love comes from Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple and simply says   " Everything want to be loved. Us sing and dance and holler, just trying to be loved."  how true is that? we all want to be loved, and believe it or not, we all are loved. we may not feel it all the time, bu...

" If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough. " - Meister Eckhart  wearing my friend Cam's amazing sweatshirt. i love this quote almost as much as i love the month of November. why, you ask... because this is the time of year where gratitude becomes the main conversation at dinner tables, hair salons, coffee shops and even grocery stores, at least in my ideal world. gratitude is so important to me which is why i'm spending the entire month talking about it on the blog.  my best friend Kim and i just recently started a new tradition a little while ago. being that we talk mostly everyday, sometimes our best conversations happen in the morning when she's on her way to work and i'm on my way to class. some days we miss each other. that's when the idea came to me that on those mornings that we got each others voicemail we would have to list five things we're grateful for and why.  talking about what you're gratefu...

on this day, exactly eleven years ago today, my mother entered the Baptist for her second mastectomy. the cancer was vicious, relentless, and evidently insatiably hungry for the life of my mother. She had already had the other breast removed and she went into this surgery confident that it would be best.  i remember her strength and her faith most vividly during this week. i also remember her strongly rejecting my request for funds to purchase a new shirt for the pastor's appreciation that was coming up that Friday. i'm not sure if my mother knew this was her last week on earth. there were no "final conversations" or any discussion of what was next for our lives without her.  she would leave behind her four children, her dreams, and ultimately, a life well-lived that same night of the pastor's appreciation, which also happened to be All Saints Day. my mother's life, her struggle with breast cancer, and her early demise at thirty-three helps def...