Dear Lulu,
There is no shame in being powerful. The shame — the sin — is in turning away from your power: your grace, your gifts, your life.
You are a strong woman, the bravest one I know. Fight. Yes, get angry. Protect yourself! You are a goddess. You are Quan Yin. You are Wonder Woman!
You’ve heard all this before. One day you’ll take it in.
On to the news:
I made a hula hoop! It was easier than I thought. Dawn had some old irrigation tubing behind the pub; she let me cut off a length of it. Michael had a connector (of course he did!) to join the two ends. You’ve got to soften the ends first (I dunked ’em in boiling water for a few minutes), then push them over the connector. Voilá! (or vi-ola, as Dad says) a hula hoop.
Then, I taught myself to use it.
I seem to think I should be able to do everything perfectly the first time out. It’s so hard to encourage myself to persevere. I should know dance steps immediately; I should understand calculus effortlessly; I shouldn’t need to practice anything; I should already know. Despite these beliefs, I kept hooping (in the privacy of the meadow behind the house). Until, finally, I got it. My body figured out how to keep the hoop swinging around my waist. Fun!
And sweaty. You should try it. Then we could go on the road as the Hooping Hipster Sisters, or the Rolling Rotini Ranigazoos, or the — well, you get the picture. Fame! Fortune! Adventure! Oh right, we’ve got that now. Nevermind.
Just got Naomi Wolf’s latest from the Bookmobile. Was disappointed at how poorly written it was. Luckily, they had a book by another Naomi (Shihab Nye): I’ll Ask You Three Times: Are You Okay? Great title, yes?
Rita (Michael’s sister) sat in on rehearsal last week, with her mandolin. This poetry-music piece may turn into a bigger production than I thought. We don’t seem to be done with it yet. Each time we meet, ideas flow and morph and inspire other ideas. He is the easiest person to work with. Never dismisses any notion, great or small, not even nonverbally (you know how people do: raise an eyebrow, look away, snort). He is also the easiest person to get along with. No expectations that I should be any different than I am. I can actually relax around him. Sometimes.
Well, that’s the news, pretty much.
(Are you okay?)
Love you lots,
(Are you okay?)
*Queenie*
(Are you really okay?)
Letters to Lulu 