You really need to go read this post.

Maybe the most empowering sentence in the whole post is: I went to priestess my sister’s wedding.

But there are other amazing bits.

I loved New Orleans the first time I laid eyes upon her. It was on that trip that I understood how the elements are embodied in our great cities. The four directions and their elemental correspondences play out in our nation’s landscape and our cities serve as great Guardians of the Directions. New York in the east has the power of intellect, with Air holding reign there. Chicago, that mighty meatpacking city in the north, holds the power of Earth. On the west coast, Water rules the city of dreamers that is San Francisco. And in the south, in New Orleans, sex and death are always dancing a hot tango, paying tribute to Fire’s power.

and


I’m back now in my city of dreams, one that the seismologists predict will see another great quake in the next decades to come. This weekend there were house parties and concerts all over the globe to raise awareness about climate change. I know there will be many more catastrophes and disasters of all types in this lifetime, some I may personally experience, and one I may even die in. There will be unkindness, selfishness, and even cruelty. And yet, there also will be resilience, and people reaching a hand out to help. How can we not marvel on how great cities and regular people come back, again and again and again?

My brilliant friend E. keeps going back to NO and saying what Deborah's girlfriend says: Go.

I'll add, if you go, eat at Bayona's and have afternoon tea at the Ritz.