Most everyone can recall the moment they landed in the City of Angels, at least this is true of those of us born elsewhere. I arrived in the mid-1970’s with my head filled with all the dreams one might imagine a recent high school graduate to hold, expecting the whole world to dance along side of me. Living high above the bustle of Hollywood Boulevard, I stood on my balcony envisioning an upward trajectory as far as the stars in the night sky. Everyone had such dreams. Waiters were dancers, bartenders were writers, bus drivers and store clerks and front desk gals all aspiring actors. We nodded passionately as we passed each other in our day to day, believing that everyone’s aspiration could be realized with each affirmation. Ram Dass’s Be Here Now, already battered and earmarked, gave us the right to declare this was our moment, our now. One could feel the dynamic currents in the expanse of a cobalt blue sky and the fanning of the feathery palms overhead as you drove along the curves of Sunset Boulevard straight through the Palisades to the broad Pacific coastline. What couldn’t we do here? Possible was a battle cry being shouted by everyone in the city, a beautiful star-studded La-La Land of guarantees. A community that applauded each other with giant billboards and kind reviews. There were no impossibles. 

Just like everyone, I had a portfolio. I took my every-girl looks into every audition with every confidence. Where else can you show up so utterly unprepared to take on the world with such conviction? Today, Los Angeles County is home to 10 million people, many with grandiose Hollywood ambition, but far more who are just as excited to start a family and provide an honest contribution to their community. As fires continue to rage, it is all these unique individuals who have lost their homes, their jobs, their neighborhoods that we must hold in our hearts. 

I love the innocence of my younger self, the way she walked with pure possibility, the way she danced on glass, sometimes smooth other times broken, into every dawn. She is my hero. I thank Los Angeles for making space for my dreams to soar for as long as they did. I suppose growing up teaches us to protect and nurture the most precious parts of ourselves. To find one’s value and in turn protect our fragile communities. In tragedy the frail and flimsy quickly becomes all too obvious. Perhaps as we move to strengthen these in our selves we can strive to build systems that hold neighborhoods in safety. 

LA will require all the care and patience and support our country can gather to rebuild. A city of teachers and bakers and pipe-fitters and bankers and children and elderly and yes, artists, is not something to turn your back on. They all project hope and spur dreams for us.

Please do whatever you can to grant this city some hope from such unfathomable tragedy. There are many avenues to gift your support, such as this Go Fund Me site which has a dedicated page to get funds directly into the hands of those most affected.