"Don't ask what the world needs...

What next?  
To build a life.  A beautiful life.  Full of joy, creative expression, passion.  Full of love and comfort.  Adventure and risk will be with me always.  
In all these considerations I have to make to figure out what I want to do, I have to remember these things.  And I suppose its not the end of the world that I am not a particularly picky person.  I am pretty much ok no matter what may come.   Even though I am not always confident in my own abilities, my parents seem to see something that I don’t.  And they love me despite everything.  
Really I suppose I am in an incredibly unique position.  I may be stressed by all the options out there, but hey- I’m free!!!
I’m ready for anything.  I can feel it in my veins that I am destined for incredible things.  Huge things--- changing the world!!! I can make a difference to one person’s life, I can make the world a better place.  I want to channel all the people who have meant something to me in my life.  Made it all the more beautiful for their gifts.
My blood- Dad, Elizabeth, MayaPapaya, Mom, Mama, Grandma, Mama, Kerry, Kirsty, Grandpa, Bobby, Ann.
Suzanne, Ann and Dick Winland, Abby Hillman.
Marsha, Roger, Sarah Adams, for bringing arts to my life, allowing me to see how I might live a more meaningful life. To Jim, Sue Wallin, Ron.  
All the Wallersteins.
All my teachers over the years and years.  Everyone who has encouraged my development.
My sweet old friends- Cesily, Monica, Katie, Carly
To my new-found friends, to my roommate Tiffany, and to the wonderfully ethereal community I find myself to be a part of in Green Point. To the people who have welcomed me here to New York, without any expectation of favors returned.  To the warmth and joy found at the church, and the feeling of possibilities and never ending energy. For the commitment to welcoming. All Souls is the the epitome of what I love about New York. And The main reason I choose to stay here.
To Tami Small for her love, to Rebecca Shapiro, Marguerite Rhodes, Peggy Crane, even Phyllis. Giving out of the goodness of their hearts to a young lady they hardly know, opening their homes and welcoming me.
Sometimes they love me more than I am willing to love myself.  Here is everyone in my heart, poking through.
It is so easy to take it all for granted and say I deserve more than what I have.  It is so easy to forget all of the wonderful, beautiful people and places I have met, all of the dances and songs I have learned, all of the poems and prayers that have been whispered in my presence.
It is so so so very easy to throw everything away and to hole up in my loneliness.  To try to be someone else.  To forget that my most valuable possession is my ability to see inside the heart of another human being and to hold that spirit.
I love you all. Now it is my turn to look inside my heart and see what I have to offer to you, and to offer my gratitude in a more tangible way.
Most of all I must say thank you to the earth. For sustaining me. For accepting me, and not spitting me out. Even though I am part of a system that doesn't acknowledge your beauty enough.


"...ask what makes you come alive, because what the world needs is more people who have come alive," Howard Thurman. 
Here's to joy, fulfillment, life, and love!