053 Who Gets To Be Hangry?

Also, Join Our 2025 Power Mapping Group!

1.Who Gets to Be Hangry?

Last week, I rushed to meet a friend for dinner. Realizing I hadn't even eaten lunch, I grabbed a small ginger candy on my way out to tide me over. Huge mistake. This unsuspecting morsel shot my blood sugar way up, then crashed it, before I'd even gotten off the subway.

I shakily stepped into Tacombi (a trendy taco joint in Fort Greene) to be greeted by the very smiley host, Gio. "I'm a bit early," I said, "but can I have something to eat straight away? I think I'm borderline hangry and nobody needs that!" Gio laughed and brought over a cup of corn and then a taco de lengua.

By the time my friend arrived, my physiology had returned to almost normal. I even did a joyful shimmy as I ordered a spicy margarita and another taco—back to consuming things for pleasure, not just need.

My friend, who I drank my margarita with that night, knows a thing or two about hunger. She had spent a year attending dozens of mental health emergencies at elementary schools in NYC. In all but two cases, the "mental health crisis" had not been a mental health issue at all. Once at the school, she had found a child who was not mentally ill but was experiencing significant hunger.

We know that hunger shows up in our behavior. After all, it was I who had shown up shaky and hangry to Tacombi that night. But we don't see hunger; we see "bad behavior." And too often we don't see a hungry child, we see a so-called bad child.

This is why at the beginning of every Young New Yorkers class, we carefully laid out a bottle of water, a granola bar, and piece of fruit next to the first exercise on each person's desk. It's why we had extra snacks in a big welcoming bowl off to the side. It's why we ate pizza at the end.

How can we engage in restorative justice over the top of our hunger? How can we learn when we haven't eaten, sometimes for days? The answer is obvious: we can't.

At the end of the evening, Gio shared—with a literal hand on his open heart—that as well as being the restaurant's host, he was proud to prepare meals for people who were hungry out of Tacombi's kitchen. "Wow!" I said. "We were just talking about hunger, and how it affects everything!"

"Really!" said Gio. "Well, it was meant to be!"

And so, with the helpful hand of serendipity, this year I'm donating to support Gio's work feeding hungry New Yorkers, including hundreds of children, who too often do not know when their next meal will come.

2.Power Mapping

2025—It’s on!

I am inviting a maximum of 18 people to join two different cohorts for a New Year Power Mapping program, on zoom.

This is for you if:

• You want to bring something into reality really badly. Something that might even feel a little bit impossible.

• Or you are feeling lost or stuck and are frustrated to the max.

What to expect:

Needless to say, our 8 weeks together is one of my favorite things to do each year. I love holding space for people to realize how extraordinary they are. To experience it. To taste it.

Using powerful creative exercises from my decade leading Young New Yorkers, we'll visualize (and clear) blocks, make stellar decisions, and map clear paths forward.

Through proven language and art-based techniques - originally developed for court-involved youth - you'll gain profound clarity on your life, goals, and dreams.

Working together, you'll build authentic connections and in turn a collective momentum that amplifies your own accountability, energy, and action toward realizing something remarkable.

At the end of our 8 weeks together you should be blown away by your own damn self. It should even feel a bit magical.

Testimonials:

I loved Rachel's power mapping group for many reasons, and an incredible takeaway is I have continued a weekly accountability thread with one of the members for almost two years since the group ended! There was a wonderful mix of deep introspection, group support, laughter, and creativity to help me get out of the solitary muck and into action!

—Rishauna Z.

Rachel and the mapping course were not only productive and meaningful but really fun and interesting! Learning from my group was so good for me. I work a lot on my own and it was refreshing to hear of similar feelings and behaviors. Moreover, learning how to rethink and reframe issues with fun and creative activities really put me in a place to move forward!! And I am moving forward, still.

—Kathy K.

Rachel’s magnetic personality inspires belief that anything is possible, and she is able to effortlessly get a confession of your wildest dreams and goals (and the more mundane ones with next steps.) I love looking over the past few year since I’ve been doing Power Mapping and seeing what I have manifest. I highly recommend!

—Star A.

Nitty Gritty

• 9 people per cohort

• 7 x 90 min group sessions (Value $560)

• 1 x 60 min 1:1 Map sessions (Value $240)

• 1 X 30 min 1:1 Check-in session (Value $120)

Pricing

$390, if you book in December (Total Value $920)

$490, if you book in January (Total Value $920)

3.Stocking Stuffer

I have launched a RECEIVE Journal. It’s for, you know, living a life of untold abundance.

It is also very good for anyone that has a habit of doom scrolling. This way you can hold doom in one hand, and reverence for the miracle of life in the other, as simultaneous truths.

You can purchase a black one here, or a yellow one here.