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writer and teacher of heart-centered living

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  • martin luther king speech from lincoln memorial 1968
    op-ed,  social commentary

    Democracy dies when troops stand against protesters

    August 19, 2020 /

    OP-ED Why is democracy dead? A look at troops pitted against protesters at the Lincoln Memorial in the aftermath of the George Floyd killing.

  • baked pasta broccoli
    caregiving,  social commentary

    ‘Thank you for keeping me alive’: love language from the kitchen

    May 31, 2020 /

    What a sprig of parsley can teach us about compassion during the Covid-19 pandemic and the endemic ‘disease of hate’ in America.

  • ananda-leeke-maria-de-los-angeles
    podcast

    Mindfulness in the Media Storm

    September 19, 2019 /

    What can Hurricane Dorian teach us about mindfulness? The storm begs a question: ‘who am I without the chaos?’

  • woman slurping eating peaches farmers market
    tantra

    Shawn Roop Talks Tantra and Sex

    November 14, 2018 /

      Tantra coach Shawn Roop’s talk “You Think You Know Sex?” offered juicy insight about spiritual tantric practices. “Dang, that looks so good,” I thought. “Imma eat one right now.”

  • tantric-sex-busy-couples
    review

    Book Review: Tantric Sex for Busy Couples

    November 14, 2018 /

    Tantric Sex for Busy Couples by Diana Daffner looks at the physical and spiritual benefits of practical tantra exercises. Tantra for one? You’re probably wondering why I’m reviewing a book about…

  • alzheimers-holding-hands
    caregiving

    Alzheimer’s as call to love: why caregiving is more than a job

    July 19, 2018 /

    Open yourself up to the challenge of a diagnosis to understand the role of Alzheimer’s in your own spiritual growth.

  • fishhooks-story-maria-fathersday
    stories

    Fishhooks: A Caregiver’s Story

    June 16, 2018 /

    When I became a caregiver, visits to dad’s nursing home shored up childhood memories. Alzheimer’s robbed him of memory, but gave back love.

  • gillian-anderson-x-files
    living

    Suicides and near-deaths: a tether snaps even when heaven is now

    June 8, 2018 /

    This week’s celebrity suicides are a reminder of how fragile our ties are to the body, and a moment to shift into a practice of love.

  • march-for-our-lives
    media

    What is #heartcenteredmedia?

    April 10, 2018 /

    One jaded writer’s fresh take on producing and consuming media in the age of #fakenews: #heartcenteredmedia holds space in mindfulness to hone in on truth.

  • warrior-pose-epic-yoga-dc
    yoga

    Think outside the yoga mat

    March 29, 2018 /

    Do you really need a mat to practice yoga? Here’s one yogi’s lesson in detachment.

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recent posts

  • martin luther king speech from lincoln memorial 1968Democracy dies when troops stand against protesters
  • baked pasta broccoli‘Thank you for keeping me alive’: love language from the kitchen
  • ananda-leeke-maria-de-los-angelesMindfulness in the Media Storm

testimonials

maria-namaste-yoga
click on prayer hands

Heart-Centered Journalism

hurricane-grief-trauma

Confronting the Emotional Toll of Hurricanes  — The time to put life on hold gives an opportunity to shatter the conventional illusion that everything is stable.

Stories on Medium

pomegranates_acai_bowlOf Pomegranates and Pain — The currency of forgiveness won’t always feed the hungry, but choosing compassion over condemnation is the right price for a meal.

heartcenteredmaria
Every death day anniversary I eat or cook somethin Every death day anniversary I eat or cook something my parents loved to eat. My mami used to make Spanish leche flan in a Danish cookie tin for a bain marie. I can see her standing over the stove, swirling the caramel. I still smell the sweet turn when sugar melts but doesn't burn. I baked yesterday's in glass instead, but it still tasted of childhood. . " ... the sweet turn when sugar melts but doesn't burn" (note to self: write a poem or song about that lol) . 🌹
What is it about undying love? Not a day goes by t What is it about undying love? Not a day goes by that it's not new again. Today marks six years since mami passed away. Every year, I scatter rose petals at 11:15 a.m. -- time of death. Yet every day, she's not dead again.
Haircut . It's not that you never walked me Down t Haircut . It's not that you never walked me Down the aisle. It's not that you never held the grandchild I never gave you. I got a master's not a mrs. degree And then I took care of you And changed your diapers. No, it's none of that. It's that your wife of 56 years My mother for 49 years Would cut your hair in the living room Even though you could afford a barber. She'd wrap a towel around your shoulders And snip a little here, a little there And then you'd look all clean cut As she swept hair off the floor into a dustpan.  It's still not that.  It's none of that.  It's that you needed a haircut In the nursing home (Yeah, even at death's door You had thick, wild hair) And I couldn't do it though I knew how to Cut men's hair. Sure, I could snip here, snip there But mom was dead and I just wanted To cut my heart out. I couldn't do it. A friend had to help me. And still, yet still, it's not that, not anymore. You're both gone. It's that I don't have the man Whose hair I can cut, To love the way she loved you, Just like that and nothing more: A simple haircut in the living room, With a towel wrapped around his shoulders. . Father's Day, 2020
Democracy dies in silence. Democracy dies in silence.
ROMANCING THE RIVERS After @andrewmcknightmusic po ROMANCING THE RIVERS After @andrewmcknightmusic pointed me to the trail of the bluebells, our (then unbeknownst to us) mutual friend @landscapesbyleslie told me about a route that "crosses the rivers three times ..." which of course sounded poetic to my ears -- as poetic as the names Shenandoah and Potomac. . Now, I don't want to speak ill of the land that made me -- Florida -- but "a drive in the country" in Dade means "go west in a flat, straight line until you see an alligator, then turn around." Ah, but that's oversimplifying. I'm not doing justice to my beloved Everglades, where I ventured deep in its maze of islands -- a primeval territory that holds a beauty and poetry all its own. . But still ... for this #miamiexpat, the hills, winding roads, forests, wild flowers and fresh water rivers are still fresh and awe-inspiring in my eyes. . When I was actively travel writing, I used to talk about "romancing" a location. How do you do that? The same way you romance a human. Just be yourself and show up fully present. No expectations. Courageous. Already in love. Look at the landscape the way you want it to look at you. It's been waiting for your eyes only, rapt with attention. . So on Sunday, my roommate and I took to the road for respite from the shutdown and the city. Stopped at @beansinthebelfry a church turned coffee shop in Brunswick, walked the C & O towpath, social-distance visited a friend in Harper's Ferry, strolled around the historic park, and stopped at @georgesmillcheese store in Lovettsville for some goods -- the goat milk caramel is heaven on a spoon. . The farm store has no attendants. Pay on the honor system --- now that's definitely unheard of in Miami. . Thanks, Leslie, for the nudge!
Beloved, I turned 'round the bend of my years and Beloved, I turned 'round the bend of my years and found you.
2009 Last week, the Book of Faces reminds me this 2009 Last week, the Book of Faces reminds me this was my most liked photo of 2009. What Facebook doesn't remember is that this is the year I was asked to audition for the millenial #FordFiesta movement (at age 41 😂) and ended up driving a magenta stick-shift Fiesta with yellow flowers all over Florida, even wrestling alligators with co-driver @bradcaldana. . But ... but not before breaking my fibula after literally falling on my ass in South Beach, which put me in a boot cast, and which is why I needed a teammate to help me steer while my bone healed. . And all this after suffering the final episode of agoraphobia in my life, which kept me homebound for weeks, partly in recovery from an abusive relationship. (This pandemic #stayathome mandate is easy breezy compared to the solitary cell of anxiety!) . So the 2009 car represented a kind of freedom that I would later enjoy in 2017 when I left Miami after being a caregiver -- the hardest and most beautiful very homebound practice that would ultimately repair my broken soul, but not until I had finished the work and moved on in this journey to now via Greyhound bus -- a decision that led me to a strange purgatory in New York City -- until I finally broke free. . Whew. . This photo reminds me of all the comings and goings, confinements and gateways, the imperfect perfection of the human journey. License plate: F*CKS SPENT. Light of love, take the wheel.
I Sufi whirled yesterday for the first time. Words I Sufi whirled yesterday for the first time. Words don't do justice to the bliss of being centered and grounded while spiraling through the air, flying razor-sharp focused while world spins (seemingly) in chaotic counter-circles. Remember the child's toy, the spinning top you pump up and down to twirl? Yeah. Pivoting the femur, a fulcrum, creating centrifugal force to swirl around in circumference of a (seeming) center -- a portal to infinity. This can be scary. Or you can just trust and fly or fall and who the f cares. Funny, I don't enjoy carnival rides. This is a different kind of vertigo. What a beautiful, humbling, uplifting practice.
"My love is for the rose; I bow to her; From her d "My love is for the rose; I bow to her; From her dear presence I could never stir. If she should disappear the nightingale Would lose his reason and his song would fail, And through my grief is one that no bird knows. One being understands my heart – the rose." . Attar of Nishapur, Conference of Birds, 12th century
NETINESS A deepening practice from @mirabaistarr's NETINESS A deepening practice from @mirabaistarr's sacred blessings class. Create something inspired by Lalla Ded, 14th century mystic Kashmiri "naked" poet who wrote ecstatically " I am neti, neti" -- not this, not that. . Art: marbling from 16th century, Mughal dynasty, opaque watercolor and gold on paper, via @freersackler and #smithsonianlab.
"If you build it, they will come." That's my fiel "If you build it, they will come." That's my field of dreams out there ...
"Verde que te quiero verde ... " . (Green how I wa "Verde que te quiero verde ... " . (Green how I want you green.) . -- Federíco García-Lorca
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vicequeenmariaMaria de los Angeles@vicequeenmaria·
6h

#WeDissent because 👉 #SCOTUSNomination #SCOTUS #HonorHerWish #AmyConeyBarrett #RBG @nwlc

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vicequeenmariaMaria de los Angeles@vicequeenmaria·
6h

Co-signed #WeDissent #SCOTUS #SCOTUSNomination #HonorHerWish

National Women's Law Center@nwlc

We dissent.

To this sham process, to this nominee, to this vote.

Thank you to the more than 6,000 of you who followed in Justice Ginsburg's legacy and joined us in dissenting, featured in today's Washington Post. #WeDissent

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