Driving up from the desert floor into the forests of Arizona has the excitement of driving through Salt River Canyon. When I was a kid, we had an older, small two-door car which was a stick shift whose name was “Puff.” Driving “Puff” through the Canyon was always precarious. The road through the Canyon has switchbacks and a constant […]

Sacred land that had previously been protected was “swapped” by Arizona State Senators earlier this year. The land including and around Oak Flat campground, part of the Tonto National Forest, was given to Resolution Copper (an Australian and British mining company) by Arizona State Senators who covertly attached the resolution as a rider to the […]

  Ocotillo in front of a desert mountain and cloud covered sky Over the past few months, my partner and I have had deaths of family and friends. We are some of many who have been dealing with loss.   This season has been a time heavy with grief. The passing of family and friends. […]

It feels heavy, persistent and I hear it rumbling deep inside. Like a hunger that I don’t have the time to feed. The rumbling which started softly, rises in volume until it is all I can hear. I want to be too busy with life that I can ignore it, but finally I have to […]

Thanks to Katie O’Rourke, a brilliant Fiction writer working on her third book, for inviting me to participate in the “My Writing Process Blog Tour”. Read Katie’s response to the tour and discover more about her books featuring complex characters navigating life at: katieorourke.blogspot.com   Writing to me is an ever-evolving practice. To be honest, I often […]

Relationships are hard. Hard in a good way.  If we are in relationships that are authentic, beautiful, supportive and honest then we are also in relationships that are messy, difficult and hard work. We really cannot have one without the other. It’s a hard question to decide when a relationship is worth the investment. If we […]

What does it mean to be our full selves? I was recently challenged by loved one on why I was struggling with centering the artist part of me in my day to day life and I was forced to admit,  I’m not sure how to be my “artist” self. Thinking about it, I wonder if I’m […]

Dear Ally, I want to start this letter by naming that I am trying to talk and write in a way that is acceptable for you to hear, in the way dominant culture taught me to write and express, a way that often masks my true voice. Yet, I do this consciously and with love […]

Dear Organizers Forum, At the end of the call, I believe it was Josue who was saying that we need to be the ones to speak up and educate others about intersectionality. Yet, it’s not that easy. I can’t count the times I have been in a room with Disability activists and people are moving […]

Dear Organizers Forum, At the end of the call, I believe it was Josue who was saying that we need to be the ones to speak up and educate others about intersectionality. Yet, it’s not that easy. I can’t count the times I have been in a room with Disability activists and people are moving […]