There is a cultural misconception that vulnerability is weakness.
I believe it is the opposite. If one can embrace the place in their psyche that is the most tender, one can draw an endless aliveness.
Exhausted
Sometimes in 2022 in Brooklyn, NY. My bike needs some tuning & my body is out of whack. My head is buzzing like a beehive. I am exhausted. My lower back is aching, Sharp pain is rolling down my left leg; it was behind my heart yesterday. Like a little creature...
About a Sour Cherry Tart, a Coat that Came Undone & November Winds
To follow, a story I feel compelled to write & share with all of you.
It is the tale of a dream about a sour cherry tart, the image of a coat that came undone & the November winds colliding together and how it all helped me make sense of my new reality.
And more importantly, amidst the absolute collective mayhem we are in, connect it with the broader reality.
Normal Injustice
A few days before the world officially collapsed, I was talking to a friend who works for a big corporation.
As the conversation rolled onto politics, he expressed his wishes for the fall 2020: normalcy.
He just wanted (and I am sure even more so now) to go back to normal:
When I pressed him to define what was “normal” for him, he exploded: “Well Catherine, just normal! I want a normal president like Bush, Clinton or Obama! I want everything to just go back to what we had, a normal president, normal news, normal injustice!
Everything is too much right now”.
The Blue Arrow
“What is next for you, Catherine, now?”
It is the opening night of Maison May.
Susan, a neighbor, is planted right in front of me.
I can only smile, I am too tired to cry.
“What’s next? Well, growing that new business. And then after, I don’t know yet”.
People like success stories that are fast & furious.
Real life has a different pace.
When at last I was able to ask myself that question, a new paradigm emerged.
On Raising Boys, Growing a Vision & Harvesting
In the spring 2008, I took a sharp turn. It involved first & foremost, to pick up my children & run from home in order for us all to be safe, physically & emotionally. I will of course never forget that day. Its color, its texture: it was bright red &...
Fall Survival Kit – Return to Basics
Fall is the hardest stretch for me, always.
The transition into cold weather & the march towards shorter days & the holidays always put me breathless, not to say most of the time spinning.
And this year is no exception with the intense violence spread in the news everyday (national & international), and the transition from running 2 restaurants instead of 1…
Yet, this time around, I’ve never felt more energized.
Probably because more than ever, I grounded myself & went back to the essentials.
Here are my basics, and how I draw energy, whether it be in work, a run at the park or a glass of red wine..
No Way Home – Home is the Way
In a few days, I will open the doors of my 2nd business.
All at once it will be a beginning, an end, an expansion, a continuation, and a true manifestation of what I have been marching towards.
It has been quite a journey.
Here is what has been happening.