Emily's May Inspiration "There Goes The Hood"

It was more than a restaurant, it was a symbol. And in the past decade, the last man standing in a sea of homogeny brought on by outsiders visiting the East Village on the weekends; dabbling in the hip, artistic, and edgy. Fact is MAMA'S was the neighborhood. At ten dollars a plate with a choice of meat and three sides, MAMA's was the spot you went for down home comfort. Nestled on 3rd St btw A & B, I walked past this soul food spot daily back in the nineties, sometimes stopping in just for a side of mash potatoes when the city got rough. They had the best veggies too, and if you didn't want meat you could get an extra side with their mac and cheese rivaling no other.

I encourage my yoga students to embrace change, to accept the only constant in our lives is just that. But as my old street in Alphabet City morphs into more and more sameness - that chain store, homogenized look that plagues our country - I have to cry out, 'Why this hood!?' Why the spot where artists flocked to so they could be different and accepted? With the fortune tellers, druggies, and performance artists singing their tunes, graffiti walls and dive bars that embrace all kinds... Why must the demographic who desires sameness, who feels more comfortable in an OLIVE GARDEN than an authentic Italian dive invade the one place on the planet where we screwed the Man?

Those who infest the East Village on the weekends are in no way supporting the community and those who inhabit it. They leave and go back to their commutes and cubicles, and tell stories about how they had a 'crazy' weekend in the village. We lived there, many old-schoolers still do. It's our home, and place's like MAMA'S, or the old KING'S PHARMACY replaced by a DUANE READE were our pride, our joy and choice to remain original, authentic to ourselves. Most moved to the East Village against their society's wishes. To a far away land where parentals did not understand paying a thousand dollars a month for a shoebox apartment on Ave C, but we did and sacrificed to be there. The natives know the secret to Alphabet City is its character, its funkiness, and constant groove we so adore. With the closing of MAMA'S, I dare say...there goes the hood.

PEACE,

Archived Inspirations

on Growth

ON THIS PARTICULAR MORNING

I’ve never seen such beauty before we drove up the north coast of California. The huge cliffs lining the Pacific Ocean are sure reminders of the divine~ of God in all her manifested grace. The days spent in Big Sur healed me; reminded me of the importance of simplicity, the value in doing nothing. Nothing but take in the beauty of the land, and somehow the certainty that all in life is good.

In fact, it was there among the redwoods that I began to listen. To receive the knowledge that great change was here. I’ve been a student of peace for years now, working daily to remind myself through meditation and being that we are all one~ each of us connected in grace and deep love. But now, as I write~ I can’t remember a time in my life that I felt this awareness stronger…than this particular November 5th of a morning.

On this particular morning: the shift we are witnessing, the coming together of a nation to face such grand truths and challenges~ is truly inspiring. I feel like shouting from the rooftops, and know last night many did.

We live in a new world this morning. We are participating in a new day. It is an honor to be on this planet during these times; to travel our country, to contribute in ways big and small to the greater good.

And to know that beyond fear and oppression~ lies hope...and the beauty in change.

God Bless,