One of the things that you hear most about healthy relationships, families, and communities is that they are built on trust. Now, I have to admit, that this confuses me a little bit. I mean, what is this ‘Trust’ thing anyway? To find out more about how to cultivate trust, I did a bit of research. John Gottman, Ph.D. at the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley defines trust using the acronym ‘Attune’:
- Awareness of your partner’s emotion;
- Turning toward the emotion;
- Tolerance of two different viewpoints;
- trying to Understanding your partner;
- Non-defensive responses to your partner;
- and responding with Empathy.
Are you surprised? I have to admit that I was. I grew up in a culture where having ‘trust’ in a relationship meant something straightforward, like having trust that someone is not ‘cheating’ on you, or trusting that they will show up when they said they would. Matthew and Terces seem to have a similar idea about trust in relationship. Here are some of the things that they are committed to:
This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Eric-James Horton, Certified Health Counselor, Chef, and co-owner of "Conscious Nosh Chef Services." Conscious Nosh is a bay area business that helps customers create personal health and diet plans, and delivers hand crafted healthy and delicious foods to their doorsteps to help them stay on track. (They also make overwhelmingly delicious 
The Raw Food Family are a couple of parents, Katie and Ka, and their four beautiful children, who have been enjoying a lifestyle full of raw foods and travel together for over 6 years. 
With my Great-Grandmother passing on last week, I am fully present to how blessed my life is and how it wouldn't have been possible without her (and all of the Grandmothers who have come before me). I realize how blessed I am to have known my Great-Grandmother and to have had her in my life for so long. I was truly raised by a village. Not only did I know her, but I lived with her, was raised by her, held by her. I come from a line of powerful women. My Great-Grandmother, Grandmother, Aunt, and my Mother all raised me. Alongside them stood my Great-Grandfather, Grandfather, Uncle, and (step)Father (who fully stepped in to be my father and take me as his first child when I was a baby). They've watched me grow, learn, stumble, get up, take a stand, love, find myself, be myself, graduate, get married, move away, move back home, loving me through it all. Through them, through my Great-Grandmother, I have learned (lived) community. Living with her has taught me so much about loving and taking care of each other. It was never anything that was considered as a decision in my family. It was just what we did for each other, even when it was hard. It was (is) a way of being. 
I signed up for the 
Every person has a story to share. Mine is about forgiveness.
At Cafe Gratitude, we experience our community as ever inclusive, larger than life, and growing every day. Even so, it is thrilling to find whole new chapters of our extended family who have been inspired by our offerings, and who are crafting powerful, abundant, conscious, lives. That being said, I would like to introduce you to 
As the holiday season ramps up I am so happy to share with all of you and new insight I just had. Recently I saw that the only way to move through whatever lesson I might be in, whatever challenge I might be facing, whatever reality I might be creating.... is to be in FULL gratitude for all it brings.
In June 2007 I stepped in Cafe Gratitude for dinner a bit reluctantly. I was going to a French concert with a friend of mine and she picked that restaurant. I was disappointed at not going to a French restaurant for some nice meat and sauce, plus the word "cafe" did not promise anything good to me.