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 Seasons

A THANKSGIVING POEM

There's a poem I pull out round this time every year. I was reminded of it as I took in the strikingly brilliant Aspens that have revealed their color at the top of the ski basin in Santa Fe. It's a poem about letting go. Letting go of the pain, the angst, the habits and patterns we no longer need. And trusting that in the moments of most abundance it's ok to relax and just let things be.

I've had to let go of a lot of things throughout the years, as I'm sure have you. The relationship that's just too painful, the job that no longer satisfies, the habit that just won't go away… And in that letting go each time I have received something new; inspired a new direction, a new course. And still I kick and scream as things disappear, as dances end and life shifts. But the beauty in fall is exactly that- the fall; the throwing your hands up in the air, tipping your head back, and falling

into

trust.

Up on the mountains today it snowed, and most of the leaves have already made their descent to the ground, the trees increasingly bare. And I wonder if they feel vulnerable just as we do when we let go of those familiar ways? But I do know beyond that fear of letting go are many blessings waiting to be gifted to us. And that the abundance of the harvest, the peace in thanksgiving is worth the risk of being bare, raw, and open to an unexpected new life…

AUTUMN by Monza Noff

URGE ME TO DROP EVERY LEAF I DON'T NEED

EVERY TASK OR HABIT I REPEAT PAST ITS SEASON

EVERY SORROW I REHEARSE

EACH UNFUFILLED HOPE I RECALL

EVERY PERSON OR POSSESION TO WHICH I CLING-

UNTIL MY BRANCHES ARE BARE, UNTIL I HOLD FAST TO NOTHING.

TUTOR ME THROUGH THE STRAINING NIGHT WINDS

IN THE PASSION OF MOAN AND PANT,

THE GIFT OF LETTING GO

AT THE MOMENT OF MOST ABUNDANCE

IN THE WAY OF FALLING APPLES, FIGS, MAPLE LEAVES, PECANS

SHOW ME THE WAY OF DYING IN GLORIOUS BOLDNESS-

YELLOW,

GOLD,

ORANGE,

RUST,

RED,

BURGANDY.

Gratitude and Thanksgiving,