Going Deeper

1 SPOT AVAILABLE!

Hello my Southern California folks! I'm leading a writing course for four weeks on going deeper. Deeper in our stories. Deeper in ourselves. Pulling out old and recent stories taking up space in our bodies. Stories we have not given voice to for all the reasons. We don't want to embarrass our families or ourselves. Because we are protecting abusers. Because we have been / are abusers. Together we will release stories that have never seen the light of day or felt the cold of night. You will NEVER be forced to share these stories. You will have the space and safety to if you choose. Often we write like someone is looking over our shoulders so we don't get all the way real. In this workshop you will tell the truth (the devil may or may not be shamed). For some of us we will be telling ourselves the truth about some stories for the first time. There will only be me and ten participants in the class. There is one spot available now. Classes begin Monday, March 9 and will continue every Monday for four weeks. $80 to register and $80 due first day of class. Registration will close after one more participant. Classes will be in a comfortable office on LaCienega and Century near LAX from 6pm to 8pm. You can pay via PayPal jahazainabu@gmail.com, Zelle jahazainabu@gmail.com, cash app $JahasArt, Venmo JahasArt. Hit me up if you have any questions. P.s. this is not a course to create you into being a beast on stage. You will be fierce though. Trust. Armed with all that power. With all that truth and realness. Come through, somebody. Come through.

Photos from today

10 questions from Cathy Crowell Thompson

1. When did you discover you had the gift for the spoken word?

2. You were so shy and proper growing up, how were you able to shake the label?

3. Why’d you cut your hair?

4. Why are you being so candid about your struggles and your past? (I appreciate it by the way, it’s helping me!)

5. Did you ever wish you had a brother too?

6. What has been your most unique, special muse?

7. What is your favorite piece of poetry? art?

8. What made you start painting?

9. What do you like most about being a Mom?

10. Did you want more children?

Lineup

Photos from last night in Leimert Park

Night clouds

I don't know why but I get afraid at night. Overwhelmed about everything. About nothing. Nothing I can do anything about in one day anyway. Been this way all month. At night I feel like nothing is happening fast enough. I feel stagnant. I feel unproductive. Hopeless even sometimes. Then the morning comes and somehow I'm ok. The nights though. And they are getting longer and longer.

Approval

This morning Uraeus was loading my paintings in the car for me to sell at the market. As I was getting in the car he was walking back into the apartment carrying a painting back in. When I asked him why that one couldn't go he said "I like this one." I smiled.

SOLD!

SOLD!

Photos from today

Going Deeper

UPDATE!!! THERE ARE NOW ONLY 2 SPOTS LEFT!

$80 to register and $80 due first day of class March 9.

You can register via PayPal jahazainabu@gmail.com, Zelle jahazainabu@gmail.com, cash app $JahasArt, Venmo JahasArt

Sunday Stories (9)

When I was first learning to do chores as a girl I started by doing the dishes. That was before most people had garbage disposals. I vividly recall a time I was standing over the trash can in the kitchen emptying rice from the pot.

My mother heard the sound of the metal spoon repeatedly clinking against the pot. Clink! Clink! Clink! She came into the kitchen and took the pot and spoon and told me to make sure I had rice in the spoon to go into the garbage. "Make each scrape count." I think her talk was more to keep the noise down than it was to become a life lesson. But that stayed with me.

I think about that now. As a writer I look at my work and wonder if I am making more noise than point. Often my days are filled with with me running from one client to the next to a class to a show to here and there and there and there. At the end of the day sometimes I feel spent but I am also wondering what actually got done. Clink! Clink! Clink! When my energy and gas are low and there are no new deposits in my account...clink! I wonder if I am making my scrapes count or if I am just busy banging on a pot.

There are other days too though. Days when I get home and feel like the pot got cleaned. And it's not about how much I did. More about if movements I made mattered to my mental and physical well being. I feel accomplished some days after a good long rest. After a good day at home doing nothing but watching movies. The body needs what the body needs.

Today was a good day. I got some work done. I laughed with friends. Ran errands. Spent time with my son. Even paid rent. Now I am finally settled at home in my favorite spot and this Lifetime show is about to get good! Night all.