Die Roach Die! ....and henna

I woke up yesterday morning with my mother yelling "Die roach die!!!".  OK so it wasn't right when I woke up that I heard this lovely phrase but it was close.  My mother, who cherishes all life, who is the sweetest person I know, hates Hates roaches.  For her to let me have a pet roach is a huge thing! Huge!  Of course that is how great a mom she is.  I cannot imagine my life without her in it. She is my best friend in the world.   

I made henna today which is always a wonderful thing.  It symbolizes the beginning of summer for me as well as...well, me.  It was in henna is where I first started to find myself.  In henna I first started to have confidence.  I felt like I was good at something for the first time.  Henna makes me feel strong and beautiful.  It makes me feel close to the earth- one with God.  For me henna can heal.  I am sure that most people would scratch their head at this thought- how can henna, body art, have such a strong effect on anyone?  My response? I have no idea but it does for me.  I am looking forward to having enough time that I can cover my hands and feet and even legs in this substance.  It is how I grieve it is how I celebrate and show off my joy to the world and as it fades from my skin I move on to my next journey.  When I am not doing henna regularly I always forget how happy it makes me feel, how whole it makes me, and I do not want to make the time for it.  If you have never had henna done to you or done it to yourself let me explain.  The process of making the henna paste takes about a day then the actually design and dying process can be anywhere from 2 hours to 12.  The amount of time you let the henna stay on your skin directly relates to how dark the dye will turn out.  I try to leave on the paste as long as i possibly can since i love the way dark henna looks.  Anyway, so when i have not done henna for a while it does not seem worth it to make the time to make the henna then do the design- most of the time i force myself to make time because i know once i start doing it i will be happy.  That is what henna is for me: Happiness and Grace- a touch of truth in a world that doesn't make sense.