branches up, roots down

The wind is fierce and the rain heavy. The avocado tree lashes against the bedroom window. Who can sleep amidst this stormy change? The tree threatens to break into my room And somewhere, there is war, hunger, sudden and slow death I pull the covers close. All I can do is breathe and love, which dilutes the fear. Listening to the hard rain and the pounding of branches I lean into my heart and wait for shattered glass. Have I told you how much I love this world? I wrote that last night amidst the mighty storm here in San Francisco. Today is spring equinox in a world tipped mightily out of balance. I wait for the disaster(s) to come through my windows or doors.. to impact me as so many people around the world are impacted. And yet, my good life continues, and I do sleep through the night in a warm bed, well fed, content with my work, surrounded by beauty and love. Last night I worried about the tree, and my window, and knew I would have to get this tree cut down as it is dangerous to...

  My friend,    Donald Engstrom,    years ago coined a phrase worthy of generous usage. Every time I say this phrase or write it, his voice resonates in my consciousness.    Every equinox, I think of Donald, for my good friend is deeply committed  to the building and nurturance of the emerging "Cultures of  Beauty ,  Balance and Delight."    Beauty, balance and delight – for that is his phrase - are certainly the stuff of equinoxes.   The spring equinox is today, and as luck would have it, it is a beautiful day in San Francisco, The sun is shining, the breeze is sweet and fresh, and on the way to my office I was met with more smiles than eyes avoided. San Franciscans tend to take honest delight in a sunny day.   Today light and dark are in perfect balance. How rare a thing that is!   Every other day  of the year the light is trumping the dark or the dark is trumping the light. But today, they face each other equally….not to do this again until the fall equinox.   Tomorrow, li...

In the summer of 1986 , while attending Reclaiming’s first summer intensive,    I called home and received    news that I had passed my licensing exam.    From that moment on,    I have been a licensed marriage and family therapist in California.    For years before that moment, as a registered intern, and for every year since, I have annually sent checks of a couple hundred dollars off to CAMFT , the California association that represents those of us in my profession.   Several weeks ago I found out that CAMFT is NOT representing me, or any other GLBT therapist in the state.    The CAMFT board members have refused for months to take a stand for marriage equality.    All the other major associations representing mental health workers have public statements regarding the importance of marriage equality and see homophobia as an important issue that effects mental health.   Because, it does.     I am a marriage and family therapist who’s own marriage is in jeopardy of becoming legally inv...

Saturday night found me at the Grand Slam Finals of the Annual Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam . Riding thru a city with people in green spilling out of every vaguely Irish tavern, it struck me as fitting that I was going to a poetry slam. The Irish love the word, and words were what was being celebrated tonight at the Masonic Hall, high atop one of our most prestigious hills, Nob Hill. Perfect too, given my current ruminations on listening, silence, and speaking. The Master of Ceremony of the evening was the incredible Beau Sia , and he started out saying something to the tune of “Make some noise; your silence won’t protect you”. “Make some noise” is the refrain of all the Youth Speaks events I’ve gone to. It means giving the poets a rousing applause, and of course, it means speaking out. In Youth Speaks culture, speaking out and speaking up is a virtue, each sentence crafted to be an arrow of truth aimed at opening hearts and changing minds. The teenagers are courageous, r...