blackgirl on mars: notes on a life in copenhagen (or how my alienation brings me closer to people).

Finland is a country.... According to some conspiracy theorists (my son tells me), Finland is not real-- but here I am about to land. It's my second time here, and I can see the forests from up high, and this gives me comfort. The flight from Copenhagen to Helsinki is uneventful and short, two things I value. I take a cab from the airport to where I'll be staying for a week - I'm here to conduct a workshop at UniArts Helsinki/Theatre Academy in connection with the  M/other Becomings Symposium ; a two-day event where I was also invited to be among the host of keynote speakers and panels.  m/other becomings  is a collaboration between   Laboratory for Aesthetics and Ecology (DK) , The Association for Arts and Mental Health (DK),   Kultivator (SE) ,  Art Lab Gnesta (SE) , and Bioart Society (FI). Helsinki is green and sunny - the sun is out for the seven of the eight days that I'm there and wherever I walk the smell of lilacs and elderberry seem to follow. On...

  One of the markets that managed to fare well during the pandemic was houseplants - here in the west we invested lots of time and money on our plant relatives. And although it's a symptom of our general mass consumption, this one didn't annoy me as the usual transactional exchanges tend to. It made sense - we were stuck indoors. And because I took many walks during the first pandemic lockdown in New York, I witnessed the fact that spring happened, relatively unobserved by the human demographic. I saw buds emerge, patches of strawberries and flowers burst open relatively on their own.  I know why I went houseplant crazy.  I had recently returned to Denmark, and my friend gifted me with a pin-striped calathea - or prayer plant. With its deep green leaves and pink pin stripes, I was intrigued. As with all plants in my possession, I immediately read what I could about this plant: they grew on the floor of the Amazon, they needed moist soil and not too much direct s...

Gratitude  to friends  who kiss  your hand  and so  mend your  heart. 

  This was my view this morning.  So happy to hear the birds and see the burst of nature outside my window.  I've been thinking about this blog for quite some time now; wanting to get back into it. I've missed the platform and connecting with you.  When I started this blog back in 2005, I had always envisioned a book (& other forms of media!) - I'm delighted to report that my second book, aptly entitled, "Blackgirl on Mars" will be out in February 2023.  Well, so much has changed (as it should) since beginning this blog. I'm 50 now (I always thought I would die at 42, so what a surprise!); I'm managing to create a life (mostly) on my terms; I've been connecting and meeting incredible new people and most of all, I've got my health and energy back (mostly).  More later - I just wanted to officially report that I'm back.