“I have failed over and over again in my life.
That's why I succeeded." ~ Michael Jordan
This is a very significant year. A leap year, 2024, has brought so many new people into my life, I can barely keep up.
Life has a wonderful way of bringing the right people together for the creation of a Higher Purpose!
February is always a fun month because I receive invitations to highlight my culture. I am an African-American woman whose lineage is rooted in the South. My mother was a Georgia Peach. I never met my father. My mother said that he was a light-skinned Black man. Oh! And, his name is Leon. Leon McDonald. That’s all I know.
Moving on.
My very astute granddaughter, Madison Brielle Hudson, recently began researching our family history and has discovered that we have Irish ancestors. Very interesting. I’ll keep you updated.
I am so proud of her because, as you probably already know, Black lives were mostly recorded and filtered through the lives of slaveholders. Peeling back the layers is a grueling task.
Having spent some time as a Black History Month docent with Jeff Richman, the Green-wood cemetery historian, I, with great enthusiasm, offered to be a volunteer. He put me to the nearly impossible task of researching the people buried in the Freedom Lots, formerly known as the Colored Lots. At first, I thought it was me, until I began to read the laments of accomplished genealogists who also found our story to be a frustrating and disheartening collection of scattered puzzle pieces.
With that experience behind me, I fully understand and appreciate her involvement in a quest that will bring honor and joy to our family; and, put her on the pedestal of lifetime achievements on her own behalf.
In my role as a holistic health practitioner who is painfully aware of the emotional trauma that has been visited upon my people, I yearn for a gentle solution that can be used as a personal self-care regimen to soften the backlash of our sociopolitical positioning. I believe that flower essences offer the drug-free support we need to navigate the more difficult experiences in our lives—past and present.
In the 1800’s, Dr. Edward Bach (September 24, 1886-November 27, 1936), a British medical doctor, bacteriologist, homeopath, and spiritual writer began developing a line of flower essences to address emotional trauma. The Flower Essence Society has continued to identify the healing properties of even more plants than the 38-flower system Bach established before his death at 50 years of age.
Star of Bethlehem is one of my favorites. Dr. Bach described it as “the comforter and soother of pains and sorrows.” It helps with heartaches, shock and trauma. It is an excellent self-care protocol for those who feel numb and trapped in a state of shock physically, mentally, or spiritually.
I was delighted and excited when Dr. Zuleka Henderson, a licensed social worker, visionary and Founder of the Center for Black WellBEing, a branch of The Healing Collective, invited me to be a guest on her podcast, Digital Oasis to offer her audience the option of this safe, effective therapy. The information was very well received
This year has been overflowing with invitations and I have enjoyed each and every opportunity to share what I love.
Marcos Luis, actor and digital creator featured me on his podcast, OneMicNite, in a two-part episode, titled “Nature’s Pharmacy.”
We enjoyed a stimulating and eye-opening conversation about kitchen medicine, as well as, some of the cultural history behind why we consume certain foods.
We love to eat. That fact makes kitchen medicine a very popular topic. Master herbalist, Matthew Wood and I co-taught Culinary Remedies: Exploring Health in African American Kitchens. This insightful information has been added to the curriculum of the Matthew Wood Institute of Herbalism. Our lively conversation was filled with stories that invoked laughter, and even revulsion, as we compared cultures and shared memories about our kitchen favorites. A thought-provoking look at the dark history of watermelon and sugar cane as it relates to people of color was included; and, I really enjoyed highlighting some very notable Black chefs and historians who offer us a myriad of ways to enjoy our Southern-style biscuits, grits, and gravy.
It is extremely important to recount how we, as a people, survived harsh societal conditions by transforming inedible food scraps into delicious, life-sustaining feasts. Our African ancestors were well-versed in how to preserve life with herbs, vegetables, fruits, fish, game, rice, and legumes. Our existence is the evidence.
We must regularly revisit ancestral wisdom and regain our strength in order to reverse the fragile condition of our collective mental, spiritual, and emotional health—especially as we age.
It is also very important to review and renew our personal stories.
With the help of artist Colleen Sullivan, my spiritual daughter and collaborator in the exploration of dreamwork, I got this opportunity.
Colleen and I met at a retreat held at Mosswood Hollow, in Duvall, Washington, and led by dream scholar, Robert Moss. We wrote, laughed, ate, and enjoyed goddess conversations with like minds in an outdoor hot tub, under an all-consuming blue sky that slowly surrendered to a setting sun. In her photo, 'Walking on Riverview, Basking in Light," Colleen offers a reverent acknowledgement of Spokane's Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes (see below). She celebrates "the early Spring light" so exquisitely that I can feel the quietude and the power of that moment when light, nature, and architecture merge to assist her in capturing perfection. Can you feel it?
Colleen expanded my circle of influence by introducing me to Amana.
Amana BeLove, registered nurse, death doula, and podcast host of Heart of the Soul Podcast Gathering granted me an opportunity to offer a public, loving look at my past lives so that I might fully acknowledge who and what shaped me to become who I am today.
Our conversation included how death and grief has sculpted my perception of life. Experiencing losses associated with my role as a mother; and, in my service as a bereavement chaplain, I am quite aware that the gut-wrenching ache of grief never leaves. However, in the words of the great Toni Morrison:
“Sometimes you don’t survive whole, you just survive in part. But, the grandeur of life is about that attempt. It’s not about a solution. It is about being as fearless as one can, and behaving as beautifully as one can, under completely impossible circumstances.”
I am that.
Those losses gave me an acute awareness about the importance of mental health. I believe that those "impossible circumstances" led me to pursue the friendship of a man that I met when he spoke as the keynote speaker for the 2023 Black Social Worker's Conference at Medgar Evers College, CUNY.
Esteemed psychiatrist, Dr. Tyson Boudreaux and Sherry Baird, LCSW, CASAC, the Executive Director (OMH) spearheaded the elevation of The Healing Project by inviting us to the Bronx Psychiatric Center (BPC) to participate in the Staff Health and Wellness event.
The Healing Project hosted an auricular (ear) acupuncture clinic led by my mentor and friend, Dr. Derrick Trent, DAc, LAc . It was my pleasure to administer tuning fork treatments and serve a nourishing herbal tea--a blend of hibiscus, spearmint, comfrey, linden, hyssop, and a touch of white willow bark—sweetened with clover honey.
Will Vaultz, an Emmy award-winning photographer, joined us (on his birthday!) to document the day’s activities. We are grateful.
Here are some photo highlights from the event.
Now, I must tell you about my Sip and Paint class with the members of the Allen AME Community Senior Center. My oldest student is 92!
Those men and women never disappoint. They deliver an overflow of laughter and friendly banter in-between colorful bursts of creativity and their work is phenomenal! Check it out.
Enter…the library…one of my favorite places.
The Brooklyn Public Library Cortelyou Branch hosted my four-part series, Pick Up Your Bed and Walk: Nourish, Heal, and Restore Your Life. It was enthusiastically and overwhelmingly received by the community. The topics were: kitchen medicine (of course!), natural skin care, the benefits of flower essences, and sound/frequency therapy.
Makeba Lloyd, founder of Scentonomy and Butter by Keba; and, sound healers, Nata Galati and Anthony DiCoccio, joined me in bringing the community the very best we had to offer.
Makeba made a generous donation of three aromatherapeutic oil therapies, formulated to addstress and anxiety. Those roll-ons were distributed at the natural skin session.
Nata and Anthony headlined the sound therapy workshop. Nata controlled the elemental vibrations (wind, water, earth, and fire), mesmerizing us with koshi chimes; and, Anthony transported us to an ethereal realm with the hypnotizing frequencies of the handpan. Spirit undulated in and through our captivated minds and fed our hungry hearts.
Dreams don't come true overnight. Patience is an invaluable asset.
This was illustrated in my life after a decades-long wait to become a NADA-certified acupuncture detoxification specialist.
The National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) protocol is a non-verbal approach to healing that involves the gentle placement of up to five small, sterilized disposable needles into specific sites on each ear (auricular acupuncture).
I was honored to receive my training from Walter Bosque, a former member of the Young Lords, and Juan Cortez, manager of the OnPoint program in Harlem.
The Black Panthers and the Young Lords were instrumental in bringing acupuncture to the Bronx at the height of the drug crisis in the 1960s. The documentary "Dope is Death" offers an historical account of how sincere caring really looks.
In a conversation with Juan, I broke down and cried as he described how he and his team would scale walls to reach out to heroin addicts with the purpose of offering them an option to self-destructing. The image of good and evil—both in a state of desperation—was a blessing on one hand and a complete tragedy on the other. It is difficult to envision. As I write, I feel the tears rising because the struggle is ongoing.
The most prominent feeling that consumes me is that of deep satisfaction because in a relatively short period of time, I am able to offer someone the gift of relaxation and pure, unconditional love, using this healing modality.
Susun Weed, the Green Goddess, interviewed me recently, and has also invited me to do a teleseminar on kitchen medicine. We exchanged books and using the power of bibliomancy, I opened her book, Abundantly Well, to receive a message for this blog entry.
This is the quote that revealed itself to me:
“True faith isn’t believing outlandish things, being perfectly open and free to see the sacred in the ordinary and the commonplace. To come at reality without prejudices or preordained views means, at times, that we can sense and experience something truly miraculous without rejecting it outright.”
~ Stephen Kendrick, Prayer Work
Having surrounded myself with individuals who have evolved to appreciate the value of living life differently, I am supported as I create and set boundaries to maintain my peace. It is a daily practice to step into the abyss--joyfully.
This New World Order is a state of freefall...faith. I get to fly in formation with souls who have tasted the sweet nectar of Divine Purpose. It is that elixir that makes life worth living as a global community.
“You are inherently whole. I am inherently whole. We inherently seek greater wholeness. You are inherently perfect just as you are. I am naturally perfect just as I am. We naturally desire greater perfection.” ~ Susun Weed, Abundantly Well: The Complementary Integrated Medical Revolution
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