Wednesday, February 5, 2025
Latest:

One place where everything comes together

Month: July 2018

Thrive
Confluence

How to Take Care of Yourself When the World is On Fire

Reading Time: 7 minutes Let’s be frank, if self-care could be accomplished with a bubble bath and a good G&T I’d be a whole lot healthier, because that would be a whole lot easier than doing the actual work of taking good care of myself. True self-care takes effort, awareness, and a big dose of grace and kindness.

And I get it, when things feel hard sometimes all we want is for things to feel easier – and sinking down into the couch to binge on Netflix and Cherry Garcia is pretty easy. Indulging eases the pain for a while. But then…

Then we wake up in the morning and hear the latest news. Burn baby burn. Stress at every turn. So, we need to take good care of ourselves because self-care is important when the world is on fire. And right now, it’s getting pretty hot in here.

Read More
Informed
Confluence

Learning to Bridge Human Difference Lesson 3: Privilege

Reading Time: 6 minutes One thing I often tell folks in my workshop: Please do not apologize for your privilege. Now you know you have it, what do you do? You become uber-aware of it and begin to look for who is disadvantaged by your privilege. If you get a job and you know that the brown skin woman who applied for it was more qualified, get in there and ask why you were hired and not her. Stand up for your values and call folk out on their racism, on how they are biased and using their power to promote their biases. Let them get totally uncomfortable with all that don’t let them off the hook.

Read More
Elevate
Confluence

In Defense of the Selfie

Reading Time: 3 minutes I don’t say that lightly. I began to see myself with the love and devotion that I saw all the people I’ve taken pictures of over the years. I can delete liberally. I can pose honestly. I can be relaxed with myself in a way I was never able to relax in front of the camera before. I can be seen on my terms and by learning to do that, I have become much more comfortable being seen through the lenses of other people’s cameras and I have put myself in the pictures of my own life with the people I love. That is a big deal.

Photography is a meditation on beauty, and a selfie might be the most important picture you will ever take. Get your camera or phone out, and start meditating. Self-acceptance is priceless and it’s a few, or a few hundred clicks away. No matter how many clicks it takes, it’s worth it.

Read More
Informed
Confluence

Domestic Violence: How To Help Someone You Care About

Reading Time: 3 minutes Often, a victim of abuse believes she has been successful in hiding it from the world, and it can come as a shock to find out that someone knows. There are often feelings of shame and humiliation, anger and denial, all of which make reaching out or confronting them tricky. There may even be issues with substance abuse at work, in which case you will want help from a professional. If you suspect a loved one is being abused, sit down and talk with her alone. Ask if she needs help. In many cases, saying the words out loud can “wake up” the victim and allow her to realize that she doesn’t have to stay in her situation.

Read More
Evolve
Confluence

When Midlife Comes Knocking

Reading Time: 2 minutes Midlife hits and opens you up. It shakes you up.  You’re ready to participate in life. You’re ready to feel. It’s scary but you’re ready to walk treading carefully. You’re not sure of the outcome but know it has to better than what you’ve been doing in the name of living.

Midlife will come knocking on your door if you’re one of the fortunate ones to be here when she arrives. 

Will you welcome her with open arms or treat her like an unwelcome guest? Without a doubt, I know my answer what’s yours?

Read More
Informed
Confluence

Those Feel-good Cop Videos You’re Sharing on Social Media are PR Through Gaslighting

Reading Time: 5 minutes In a perfect world, or even a better world, these videos would be representative of the relationships law enforcement has with the communities they serve – and in some communities, it might be true. However, in other communities, communities of color, these videos portray a fantasy served up to entertain white folk who like to support the men and women in blue.

Gaslighting for PR is not ok.
Sharing the videos might delight your white friends who get joy from watching them. However, those feel-good moments are staged or even extorted at the expense of people who don’t want to play along. Please at least take a moment to reconsider before you hit that share button.

Read More
Informed
Confluence

3 Energy Cleansing Routines For the Busy Body

Reading Time: 3 minutes When things get busy or ‘life gets in the way’ the absolute bare minimum that must be done is what I call an Energy Purification or a General Cleanse. These are extremely simple, easy to incorporate and don’t take up time.

An Energy Cleanse aims to remove congested or dirty energy that has attached to our energy body during the day. This is a must for anyone that practices any kind of energy or alignment work. What the practice essentially does is it holds the fort while we have the chance to get back on track with our regular practices.  

Read More
Informed
Confluence

Make America Grate Again

Reading Time: 4 minutes Before the 2016 Presidential election, candidate Trump promoted his slogan to “Make America Great Again.”  His current demeanor of insulting individuals, alienating allies; and, supplicating himself to outlandish strongmen makes me rethink his slogan as “Make America Grate Again.”  For a man who never met an adverb he doesn’t adore, I “strongly” recommend this change.

I put my faith in our democratic ideals and the vast bedrock population across this country.  There is much to do in this experiment we call “democracy,” then again “democracy” isn’t for the faint of heart, just visit Arlington Cemetery.

Read More