So, my birthday travels ended yesterday, June 21. I was so tired that I had no energy to write about it. Even in my state of delirium from traveling so much, I had a lot of fun stopping in Los Angeles to visit Fatima and Xuly. I've been meaning to visit for the whole eight years that I've been in Oakland, knowing I had family in LA. I've been on the grind so much since I've moved here that I just haven't made it. My 40th birthday month was the perfect excuse to work that in, plus I had the work trip/new career celebration in Anaheim, so everything just lined up.
I didn't plan for the first day of summer to wind up being the last day and last stop on the birthday train. Since it worked out that way, it makes it special. Plus today is Octavia Spencer's birthday! Great day for a final blog post. It's almost like I planned this schedule. I did a little research on summer solstice, and it turns out that it's kind of like a holiday. People who really celebrate it have rituals to welcome in summer and plan their harvest for the fall in anticipation of Winter solstice. Seeing the year through from solstice to solstice is a nice way to have life reflection periods.
Scientifically, Summer Solstice represents the official half way mark of the year, as the Earth is halfway around its 365 journey around the sun. That says to me that its also a good day for a "How am I doing on the new year's resolution?" check point. I didn't make a New Year's resolution this year, but I made a vision board. For me, it was a good day to think about how well I'm doing the stuff I cut out pictures of and posted on my board as intentions for the year.
And, I did alll of that yesterday. Fatima has a beautiful home and an amazing house manager, Sonia, who I had a chance to meet and greet. As a writer, I was astounded by how her home is the perfect place for a writing retreat. Also, she has an amazing library. I spent most of the day reading and writing. She has a garden in the back yard with lots of space. It was very healing. I could say that I had a Summer Solstice writing ritual of my own in a beautiful space.
I also reconnected with family: I had tea with Fatima and presented the book that Angela and I found in Chicago to give to Xuly as a graduation gift. His eyes lit up and he said he would read it. I believe him. Xuly is a very talented music producer. I spent some time in his studio listening to his music. He's on his way to NYU to major in dance. I put a little bug in his ear to combine classical and hip hop in his music production career, since he's studying classical dance and is such a talented hip hop creator. I love hip hop and know we need more innovative producers like him to change the game. I'm excited for him and very proud.
So, now, I'm back in Oakland! I took the red-eye back last night after hanging in LA all day. My birthday adventure took me from Paris to Harlem to Chicago to Anaheim to Los Angeles, and ended on Summer Solstice. Here I am wrapping up the adventure blog on one of my heroine's birthday (I might crack open a little Parable of the Sower after this to help process all the crazy news I've come back home to when finally checking my newsfeed this morning...though I am excited about that Jay & Bey video in Le Louvre after just being there and DuSable within a few days and having a mini meltdown).
I have a little bit of month left, but I think how I spent my time on the first day of summer is going to set the precedent for how I spend these last few days of June and the rest of the summer. I'm going to focus on reconnecting with family, reading and writing. I've been working on the same novel for 10 years. I hope this fall to reap the harvest of finally finishing it! Pray for me ya'll.
I didn't plan for the first day of summer to wind up being the last day and last stop on the birthday train. Since it worked out that way, it makes it special. Plus today is Octavia Spencer's birthday! Great day for a final blog post. It's almost like I planned this schedule. I did a little research on summer solstice, and it turns out that it's kind of like a holiday. People who really celebrate it have rituals to welcome in summer and plan their harvest for the fall in anticipation of Winter solstice. Seeing the year through from solstice to solstice is a nice way to have life reflection periods.
Scientifically, Summer Solstice represents the official half way mark of the year, as the Earth is halfway around its 365 journey around the sun. That says to me that its also a good day for a "How am I doing on the new year's resolution?" check point. I didn't make a New Year's resolution this year, but I made a vision board. For me, it was a good day to think about how well I'm doing the stuff I cut out pictures of and posted on my board as intentions for the year.
And, I did alll of that yesterday. Fatima has a beautiful home and an amazing house manager, Sonia, who I had a chance to meet and greet. As a writer, I was astounded by how her home is the perfect place for a writing retreat. Also, she has an amazing library. I spent most of the day reading and writing. She has a garden in the back yard with lots of space. It was very healing. I could say that I had a Summer Solstice writing ritual of my own in a beautiful space.
I also reconnected with family: I had tea with Fatima and presented the book that Angela and I found in Chicago to give to Xuly as a graduation gift. His eyes lit up and he said he would read it. I believe him. Xuly is a very talented music producer. I spent some time in his studio listening to his music. He's on his way to NYU to major in dance. I put a little bug in his ear to combine classical and hip hop in his music production career, since he's studying classical dance and is such a talented hip hop creator. I love hip hop and know we need more innovative producers like him to change the game. I'm excited for him and very proud.
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| Future of Hip Hop. So tired but worth the stop in LA to hang with Xuly. |
I have a little bit of month left, but I think how I spent my time on the first day of summer is going to set the precedent for how I spend these last few days of June and the rest of the summer. I'm going to focus on reconnecting with family, reading and writing. I've been working on the same novel for 10 years. I hope this fall to reap the harvest of finally finishing it! Pray for me ya'll.
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