I didn’t see the Grammy’s, but I saw the beautiful reactions to Tracy, Annie, and Joni on Threads. When I watched the replay of Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs I ugly cried like everyone else.
But it was a lingering grief that surprised me.
Seeing Tracy’s fabulous grey locs, her shiny, smiling face broke something open in me. The recognition of Time. The being back in 1988, while simultaneously remembering none of us gets out of here alive.
I imagine this sensing was true for many who grew up with these icons, now elders.
Elmo asked everyone how we were doing and broke the internet recently (with 180 million views), clearly we were all in our feels and ready to share what we experienced after the Grammy’s.
1988, the year Fast Car soared on the music charts, was my most difficult year.
I struggled to get through high school, tour with Grateful Dead, dodge domestic violence at home, tested out of high school at 16, moved in with a boyfriend twice my age in Ventura to escape DV, and then faced more DV from him.
Mother’s little helper became my best friend that summer. But I got out, moved to Bay Area again, and found some of the most amazing kids my age, including Snatam Kaur and Ocean Robbins, and focused on how to have global impact on climate change.
August 1988, when Fast Car was topping the charts, was that last gasp of summer before back-to-school. I had just spent a week in August at Camp Winnarainbow with Ram Dass, Sat Santokh, Calico, and Wavy Gravy learning spiritual activism and media. I was finally finding an appropriate outlet for my rebellious inner kid. And then that first Tuesday in September my dad was gone. Murdered. The rest of 1988 became a black hole.
Just when you think you’re done with grief, there’s something about music and context that has the power to re-awaken it in our cells. That flood of grief returned this week for me to hold and see.
It lingered for others as well. Over and over I saw people talking about the performance, talking about Tracy, talking about this collective moment.
Whether you feel it or not, there is much despair and grief weighing in the world. Tracy and Luke gave us a moment to reconnect with it, to remember who we are, and that we are not alone. Elmo reminded us to check in with each other at just the right moment.
My mentor Joanna Macy calls this “the work that reconnects.”
“The heart that breaks open can contain the whole universe.”
—Joanna Macy
Today is Toj in the Mayan calendar (Cholq’ij). It is my elder energy, and so I am learning what it represents for me in my last phase in this life.
Toj represents payment, and the sacred fire is the symbol of that way we can give back and recognize our humanity every 20 days.
My ajq’ij (Mayeb spiritual leader) says:
“We pay with our time, words, essence, and humility.”
— Tata Jerico
How are you giving back and reconnecting? It is a good day to light a candle and feel your gratitude for the Earth, the four directions, the people you love, and what you have been bestowed.
In this tender moment, as the echoes of Tracy and Luke’s performance stir the depths of our souls, we are beckoned to pause and reflect on the profound tapestry of life that weaves us all together.
This is important because it reminds us of the transformative power of music and shared experiences to heal and unite us across the divide of Time and Place. 🍉 🍉 🍉
Why now, you ask? Because in a world brimming with isolation, uncertainty, and violence, the collective outpouring of emotion in response to these melodies serves as a crucial reminder of our shared humanity and the urgent need for connection.
We need this now more than ever—to guide our way through our shared despair and grief, to find solace in the collective embrace of our global family, and to rekindle the flame of hope and action within each of us.
As we hear our own narratives in song and the shared story of humanity, let us embrace the wisdom of Toj, recognizing the sacred act of giving back as the essence of our humanity.
In lighting a candle, in feeling the earth beneath our feet, we acknowledge the beauty of our shared journey and the power of our collective spirit to heal, to love, and to reconnect.
Remember that in giving back and reconnecting with the essence of who we are, we discover the strength to navigate the challenges of this Time.
Together, in this shared moment of feels and awakening, we find the courage to continue our journey towards repair, resolution, and hopefully Tracy’s revolution.
“And I, I had a feeling that I belonged. I, I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone.”
—Tracy Chapman
Update 1/12/24… Please note: My friend Kelly Diels emailed to ask if I’d read Roxanne Gay’s take because they were very similar (FWIW, If I had, I woulds have cited Roxanne). Kelly told me this was good, in a similar vein to what I shared below. (Of course, it’s way better. I subscribed as a paid member so I could read it good!) Roxanne Gay caught the feel I didn’t land on in my writing (the missing part), that my grief of 1988 is that we would be okay now. Damn.
The Audacity.We Are Not OkayYou know things are bad when thousands of people respond to a seemingly innocuous tweet from Elmo, a Sesame Street puppet. “Elmo is just checking in! How is every body doing?” he wrote. And who among us doesn’t want to be asked, once in a while, how we are doing, hoping that the person asking the question actually wants to hear what we have to say. When Elmo posed this question, there were cynical responses, of course. The internet and social media in particular, is often where sincerity goes to die. Lots of brands got in on the act, trying to create charming but viral moments. But mostly, it was just people sharing their sadness, loneliness, and hurt; there is so much of it. Broken marriages, fractured relationships with children, job loss, mortgage foreclosures, bank accounts with negative balances, cancer diagnoses, long COVID and the ongoing pandemic, common colds, depression, war, genocide, and on and on went the litany of human miseries great and small…Read more2 years ago · 297 likes · 25 comments · Roxane Gay💖 Wholehearted Testimonial from a Third-year Client
Ixchel is like a fine surgeon, always finding the exact place to direct their wisdom, so that I leave them more alive and empowered to create a life full of purpose and passion.
I was attracted to working with Ixchel Lunar when Kelly Diels, who I was working with in the domain of Feminist Marketing, gave them a GLOWING recommendation.
What I remember Kelly saying was that she had never more easily gotten into a flow state and that she had gotten an exponential amount of work done (with a very important project) when working with Ixchel.
I am now in my third year of working with Ixchel. I have never chosen to work with anyone nearly this long- that is my first and strongest testimonial to the powerful work they facilitate.
I have been a transformational coach and seminar leader for almost 40 years, so I have been around the block with coaches and content.
Ixchel is one of the wisest people I have ever worked with. Their knowledge is both wide and deep. I have never had a call with her that didn’t open up something profound for me. I have often been stuck in some area at the beginning of a session, but never at the end!
A few of the most attractive parts of their content for me are: Indigenous knowledge, flow state mastery, creativity, embodiment, radical rest, dopamine management, decolonizing time and alternatives to dominator culture context for living.
Ixchel is like a fine surgeon, always finding the exact place to direct their wisdom, so that I leave them more alive and empowered to create a life full of purpose and passion.
It was a no-brainer for me when our time came to renew or move on. I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it was not for working with her for these past years.
I wholeheartedly recommend Ixchel.
KATHY BENSON, TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP COACH
If you’d like to check-in with me,
hop on a Stellar Strategy Session or book a Stellar Astro/HD Session (Now $333).
Stay wild, love fiercely. Your presence is golden.
With stardust and celestial love ✨🪐💫
xo Ixchel
P.S. Citing is a feminist and decolonial power move (/ht to Kelly Diels for making that an anthem). If you’ve gained insights and shifts from my work, please remember to cite me and share Dragon 🐉 Letters with a friend. Not citing is a form of epistemicide.
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I was raised and bore children on the traditional, unceded, and stolen lands of the Coast and Central Valley Miwok (colonized as Petaluma, CA) and Nisenan (colonized as Sacramento and Fair Oaks, CA), past, present, and future. I also write, work, and live in the highland forest of the traditional, unceded and stolen lands of the Totonac, Nahua, and Mexicah, past, present, and future, in what is known as Coatepec, Veracruz, Mexico.
P.P.S. I do not live or consent to the colonial impositions regarding the construct of Time. I also practice honoring rhythms of work, play, and rest so that I can serve you with embodied presence and with loving care. This means I may take several days to respond to your requests and questions. (h/t Eva Glamaris)
P.P.S. A mention is not necessarily an endorsement of someone. It’s an acknowledgment, a citation, of the origin of information in my process of understanding. (h/t Kelly Diels)
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Copyright © 2026, Cheyenne, WY, and Veracruz, Mexico, All rights reserved. Sharing your lineage of knowledge is decolonial. When iterating, please cite me. Not citing is epistemicide.
