I just don't get how a person of God could be racist, sexist, hate Gays, Blacks, Muslims or any other group of people. As a Christian, I am just sick about this case. How anyone could choose to use an other's suffering to promote his/her own sick agenda.  As a Christian, who has just touched the surface of what it means to be "Christian" I believe that    God lives in each of us. Each AND EVERY ONE OF US. He lives in those who believe and those who do not believe. God is the united consciousness that lives within us all. it is that spirit in which Jesus proclaims, "Love each other as I have Loved you." without condition, with all of our flaws and differences. It is this love that should call on us to forgive when needed, to show kindness when it does not feel good. , and to always listen for the god in another, no matter how we feel about the person. Because if we first see god in another we are less likely to demean, hate, berate or treat another in a way that would cause harm.  All we need do is look to Jesus as our model. When he spoke with the woman at the well did he berate her? Hardly, in fact he gently spoke to her as himself as the messiah and of the time to come when God would be worshiped everywhere. In fact later in John 8, He rescued a woman from the Pharisees who had accused her of adultery. He then asked each of them to cast a stone only if they had not sin. Not one could do so. The people who would make an issue of Gay's should also take a second look at this lesson. They are more like the Phrases which Jesus condemned.

I have to say I am a proud mama, Raegan (on the left in the black dress) and her friend Christina sang "What about Love" from the color purple. They are preparing it for the California State Thespian Festival. They have a couple of rough spots to work out before April. This was their first go in front of an audience.

 I threw a fit with  my Landmark coach today because I had a class scheduled tonight.  I threatened to quit the program because I did not want to miss her performance. She told me to just go. I am so glad that I did. But first I drove an hour to the center to assist on the phones and then drove three hours in Friday rush hour traffic to get back home. But I am so proud of my boo. She really loves to perform. She just landed to role of Maggie in 42nd street and Her troupe  was awarded a spot in the Thespian International Festival. So we are off to Lincoln Nebraska in June. Did I mention how proud I am? The video is posted below.. Sorry it is sideways.. I uploaded it from my phone. I will have to figure out the logistics of video posts soon.

This weekend, I finished the Introduction to Leadership Program for Landmark Education www.landmarkeducation.com. WOW! The program is a 6 month long leadership and training program. As with all things Landmark I always get so much out of the classes.

 For those of you who are not familiar with Landmark Education, here  is a little background. The first class is called the Forum. The forum is a three day coaching seminar which promises to deliver for you that which you are most interested in. It really is life changing. I completed the forum on February 21, 2010. In a weekend I was able to make things in my life move, that had not moved in the past. The big aha moment came for me when I realized that I had created a "story" about something that happened in my past and allowed that "story" to continuously impact my future.

When I was  about 9 (1977) my family and I moved  from Pasadena, a racially diverse community. To a small town and  an all white community. As one of the only black families in the neighborhood we were often mistreated . Someone in our neighborhood spray painted the garage and the front of the house with the words "Go back to Africa"  "KKK We hate Niger's" That was pretty mortifying. We lived on a busy street and it stayed on the house a couple of days until my parents could have it removed. I remember hating even getting up to go to school,  everyday on the bus someone would shout "Hey look at  Kizzy and Kunta Kinte (they had obviously watched the series Roots by Alex Haley).

 And later when I was in middle school,  I remember walking home from school. The walk was about a two miles and most of it was up a hill. I was having an asthma attack and could hardly breath. As I was walking up the worst part of the hill, a policeman stopped me and asked me what I was doing there. I remember that he barely looked at me. I told him I was on my way home from school but that I was having an asthma attack. He said to me"Oh,  we got  a call that a drunk black lady was walking up the street."   When I told him I was not drunk but was not able to breathe. He coldly looked at me and left. I walked the rest of the way home in tears and still unable to breathe. From that moment forward, I created the story that I did not belong. In fact, the "story" that I did not belong was so real for me that as an adult I could not walk around my upper middle class mostly white neighborhood without anxiety and fears that I would be stopped and asked to prove that I lived in this neighborhood. I always walked with my identification.  I could not rid myself of those thoughts no matter how I rationalized otherwise. It was not  until I took the Forum and I realized  that what  happened (the racisim I experienced) was an incident and did not define who I was, who other white people were(meaning that not every white person that I met was racist) nor did the past define my future. That weekend seminar gave me freedom from that part of my past  the freedom to introduce myself to people that before I would barely even look at as I walked past.

 I have taken about three seminars from Landmark Education all of which have been very powerful in creating transformation in my life and in the lives of people around me. ( I know that sounds like a tall order but I am living proof that the program is life changing).

Now I am in a program that is training me to be a leader. A role that I never fully allowed myself to step into. I would fall back on being a flake because it was easier than taking responsibility for myself and honoring my word.

Hi, I left my blog unattended for a while.(the blogs before this were from 09) I have never been one to keep a diary, although I can see how rewarding and beneficial it can be to record your life journey. It is a great opportunity to look back at your growth, failures and triumphs and to keep a record of your life. In the days before computers and phones we would write letters and people would keep those letters. They were passed down from generation to generation. The letters were in fact part of a families history.
So here I am at my second attempt to record my life. And hopefully to pass some part of me on to my children and their children.

Here is what I have been up to  since I stopped blogging. My family stopped watching TV. we actually kept the cable off until January of this year. Since January, however, we have all been watching TV. And boy is it easy to get sucked back in. I am a housewives of ATL, BH, NJ and NYC  .  And really all of it is garbage but fun and interesting garbage which is why I am glued to the TV lately. However,  I have been threatening to turn it off again, and permanently this time. I really am done with it.

Also, I have started again cooking well for my family. The Julia Child's thing did not last long. It really was interesting but too intense for me. This month I started cooking and freezing. So that we would have good meals all month long. The idea is to cook in one day for a month. It took me about 4 days to cook for a month. And actually, I did not finish everything . But it really is easier to cook larger portions by tripling or quadrupling the recipes. Chili works our really well.

Finally, I am not a flake, well I choose not to put it that way any longer. In fact I choose not to behave like things that I create do not matter(essentially being flaky). Which means that a commitment (meaning this blog and other things in my life) must be kept.


Here are the commitments that I am willing to keep related to this blog

1. I will keep this blog current. Posting at least weekly.
2. I will use this  blog as a way of communicating what I am up to in life.
3. I will be accountable for what I am up to.

Next blog: What I am up to.




Dated: 2/21/11