When I was a kid I LOVE LOVE LOVED to read. It was my favorite escape. I learned so much about other cultures, different places and had a very vivid imagination. I’d save my money for book fairs and ordered books through the Scholastic reader programs. When I got punished from TV, my family would still allow me to read. Reading was so fundamental as part of my early life.
Last year, I volunteered at the first annual 2-Cent Listen Festival. This event was basically to give kids free books. 
Sounded up my alley! I was overwhelmed by the amount of books, cool activities for kids and live performances that filled the day. I made a mental note that if it came back around again I’d definitely be in attendance. Well tomorrow is the day! The 2012 2-Cent Listen Literacy and Arts Festival is on! I attended a volunteer meeting last night and found this year’s festival has grown immensely! Beginning at 12 noon at 2523 Bayou Road in New Orleans, this year’s festival has all sorts of activities to stimulate the youth in a positive direction. BRING ‘EM OUT!!!!!!
I’ve always wanted to be a writer…one of my proudest moments was in the 9th grade when Ms. Simms handed me my essay and said, “You’re a good writer.” Another was when this super hot, intellectual Kappa guy wrote an editorial in the Southern University Digestabout how campus beauty queens were basically whack. I, a proudly elected campus queen, wrote a reply that was published and people responded favorably. A final memory was when I was selected Editor in Chief of a law school paper. My final editorial raised hairs, causing my Dean to not acknowledge me at graduation. I realized a long time ago the power of my written word. But I was hesitant to say I was a writer.
I remember telling my friend Holly over brunch that I wanted to write more. She said I had to meet her friend Jewel. I checked out Jewel’s blog and was immediately intimidated. She was a WRITER writer-as opposed to me, a person who liked to write. Jewel and I kept in touch and she invited me to a gathering of writers of color in New Orleans. Her goal was to create a space for writers in the city where we can cultivate our stories. This meeting was full of heavy hitters and we had to share something we had written. My favorite Times Picayune writer Jarvis DeBerry was there and he read from a piece I had read in the paper. His wife Kelly recited an original poem that was amazing. My now friend Kasimu there and he shared a post Katrina story that was hilarious and melancholy all at once. Nik Richard was there and read from his PUBLISHED book. My now friends Gian, Jamey, Maurice, Jeri and Jewel (and many others)…we all went around sharing these stories. I was OVERWHELMED with the talent in that room. I felt like I was among great writers and awaited them to tell me thank you for your interest but you’re not ready yet. That never happened. Instead they embraced me and have been nurturing my writing ever since. When it was time to produce my play, it was my writer’s group that helped iron out the kinks. I am a part of a something bigger than myself and we are sharing our stories.
Now everyone can see what we’ve been up to as our group gets ready to host our first summer reading series! I’m OVERWHELMED with emotion as I share this with you. I’m daily realizing my dreams and this is yet another reason why I am so grateful my journey found its way through New Orleans!!! Save the dates so you can come share our stories!
A couple of weeks ago I was at home bored on a Sunday night and someone tweeted they were watching Amazing Race. I used to love that show but hadn’t seen it in quite some time and decided to tune in. It was the season finale, which is the best part because I wasn’t attached to any couple-had no vibes for or against anyone…well except this one couple I’m not too fond of from my favorite reality competition show, Big Brother. Anyway, for the most part, I wasn’t attached to any one of finalists, I was just enjoying the show. In that relaxed state, I was able to grasp a great lesson.
Throughout the episode this one couple, Dave and Rachel, talked a lot about how they had won the most challenges in Amazing Race history and how they would be the victor. When it got to the last challenge, they crossed the finish line first…but they had missed one of the steps along the way and had to go back and complete it. Dave and Rachel never once complained about having to repeat the task. They didn’t fight one another about having to do it again. They did reflect on it but kept on going. When they made it back to the spot where they had missed the challenge, their competitors had the opportunity to win. Rachel who was doing the challenge didn’t even look at them. She kept focused on her task. She finished first and since she and Dave had already done the hike to the finish line, they were well prepared. They won, becoming the most winningest Amazing Race winner ever.
THE LESSON: Sometimes in our haste or anticipation of an end result, we miss steps along the way. This success we seek will remain elusive until we cover everything we need. Most of us had to learn our ABC’s before we started to read or write. We also had to know our numbers before we could do geometry, calculus or higher mathematics classes. Everything is a process that builds upon lessons learned. So even though today I feel like I’ve been doing this job for all this time and still only small victories, I realize that maybe there’s something to be learned or completed at this level before I can advance. I’m not always happy about it (Dave and Rachel weren’t) but I must deal with it and focus on the end result. It’s hard, tears have been and will continue to be shed, but like Dave and Rachel, I’ve just got to keep speaking the end result as if it were so…
Dusts myself off. Forces myself to stand up. Tries again.
I was watching a MasterClass special last night. Past guest of the show JayZ, Maya Angelou, Jon Bon Jovi, Morgan Freeman, Ted Turner, Jane Fonda, Goldie Hawn and others sat down and discussed some of their failures and not so brightest moments. They all said when they got to a point in the past where they may have experienced pain or defeat, they found the strength within themselves to not quit or give up. They also said at the height of their pain they found a way to get busy and that business helped get them to where they needed to be.
Rewind to last week. One of my favorite people in the blogosphere issued a challenge asking participants to go from being inspired to being creative. Little did she know her call to action was just what I needed to shake me out of this space of doubt, fear and stagnation I’ve found myself in lately. The INSPIRATION TO CREATION Challenge challenged bloggers to actually do a Pinterest DIY -something we’d pinned in the past and have yet to do.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved collage/inspiration walls and have pinned several on my Pinterest. So during this
challenge I will actually do one myself in my home. I’m pretty excited and up for the challenge! I hope this will give me the “umph” I need to get going on a slew of ideas that I’ve been “pinning” in real life.
Here’s the other bloggers partaking in the challenge. Take a look at what they’re creating:
Kristina at Le Fabuleux Destin
and the creator of the challenge Kisha at Chronicled
In honor of this recent activity, my Monday Motivational Song is Big Sean’s “I DO IT”! Hope it gets you doing today as well!
When I was a little girl, I spent many a night dancing with a broom in the kitchen imagining it was some beautiful man sweeping me off my feet. I’d daydream that we were on some fabulous dance floor with my hair blowing in the wind and a spotlight on us. This imaginary man of mine had amazing moves and I always dreamed of dancing the night away with some suitable gent! Well fast forward to 2012 and I have yet to be dazzled on a dance floor! (Well let me clarify by saying my smooth moves from the kitchen did not carry over into my adult life!) I was randomly flipping channels the other night and ran across Dancing w/the Stars. This beautiful man name William Levy captivated me! Here’s a small ode to some men who are light on their feet that are not too shabby to look at!!!
WILLIAM LEVY, Actor
The man who inspired this post himself. I admit, I don’t know much of what he was saying but it did not matter because his look was quite enough! LAWD OH LAWD this guy is HOT! He’s going to have me tuning into Telemundo a bit more often!!!
COLUMBUS SHORT, Actor
Now a days he’s a GLADIATOR IN A SUIT on ABC’s hot new show SCANDAL but Columbus Short made his way into my heart when he “walked it out” on STOMP THE YARD! That boy has moves and a cute azz smile to match mmmmmhhhhmmm yessir.
USHER, THE Entertainer
Ever since he danced his way out of his pants for his hit LEAVE THE ONE I’M WITH I knew this boy was not playing with us! URSHER baby is the man with dancing!
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, Singer/Actor
Oh cute ass JT…people don’t talk too much about his moves but yes he surely does have them! Love me some JT!
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
We don’t get to see them often but ole’ Barry has some moves! He’s class with it and has the one thing my broom suitor did-he looks Michelle directly in her eyes and engages her in small talk while they dance!
Who are some light on their feet hotties you enjoy?!?
I love to do updates on ladies featured in my “She Makes Me Wanna” column!!!! If you don’t recall, I did a piece on Holly Hobbs’ pursuits back in ’09. Check out this article from today’s Times Picayune from NOLA.com on my girl’s project coming to fruition! What a way to preserve New Orleans’ rich hip hop culture!!!! Click here for the article! What a great reminder that all good things take time!
I was just reading a great blog post on The Daily Love, a site full of inspiring and motivating posts that challenge me to open my mind and heart. Well this lady, Dr. Samantha Sutton, spoke of making promises to herself. In a nutshell, I can be flaky with my word. I’m a very flowery speaker in general so when it comes to speaking what’s on my mind/heart, it can come out very passionately…and in that moment, I REALLY feel what I say. Issue is when that moment passes and I have time to think about it, I can talk my way out of those things and my number one way is by using “logic”. I say well logically I didn’t mean that or there’s no way that can happen or my favorite is well I just changed my mind.
After reading Dr. Sutton’s post, I realize if I can’t keep my word to myself, how can I expect others to keep their word to me?!?! So here’s five promises I make to myself RIGHT NOW but VOW to keep no matter what. I can do it and this post will make keeping these vows that much more important. (And if these were EASY I wouldn’t need to write about them on my blog!)
- Keep My Hands Out of My Face – I must admit I’m a p-popper…lol not that p! Pimple popping is one of my favorite hobbies that does not serve me! I’ve heard my entire life to keep my hands out of my face but it’s such a natural habit. I can’t take seeing the shadow of a bump on my face! Or if I’m nervous I stay picking at it-such a habit! So right now (and my esthician Torrie will appreciate this one), hands out of my face!
- Spend A Portion of Every Check On Me – I’m cheap. I don’t like spending money (in general) because I feel like I don’t have enough yet I never have enough. I realize this type of thinking does not serve me (or anyone but I digress).I work extremely hard yet my money/things I buy with money don’t really reflect that. I vow now that every time I get money I need to get something for myself…something for me to enjoy. OF COURSE I know to do this in the parameters of my budget. But unlike before I’m ready to make “spend on DaVida” a budget line item!
- Work Out 3 times a week PERIOD – I am a yo-yo dieter. I don’t like to work out but I do it when I’m too heavy for my taste. I gain this same weight every year, then I go crazy to lose it, then I chill, then I’m heavy so I work out…and on and on the cycle goes! This is no way to live. I should work out 3xs/week just because it will keep me in shape. (Lord knows I almost passed out walking up some stairs last week to meet my girl to go hang out!) Also, I know my family history, working out just three times a week from now until I expire is something I MUST do!
- Spend Time w/my Granny at least once/month – When I lived in California, I couldn’t see my family until major holidays…and that was cool with me lol. Now I live about 90 minutes max away from my Granny and I don’t go nearly enough. I make time for everything under the sun. I must make this time because when she’s gone (which I pray is not for some time), I’ll miss those times dearly. She’s my heart and I love her more than anyone else in the world. I need to put the same effort into spending time with her that I do w/spending time with these guys I “date”. (Addition to that: stop ignoring my mom’s calls when I don’t feel like talking.)
- Gratitude 365 – For 365 days, I commit to write down five things I’m grateful for everyday for the next year-and hopefully by then it will be a habit for life!
So any promises you think you should make to yourself? How bout you do it!
Today’s song is so simple yet so profound…I can not say it enough…I’m so emotional (in a good way) as I think of all I have to be grateful for.
Grateful, grateful, grateful, gratefulness is flowing from my heart…Happy Monday.
The old saying goes when people show you who they are believe them! For some reason I struggle with this one…A LOT! I
consider myself a visionary so I tend to see people as I want them to be not for who they are. This isn’t just in relationships with men, but across the board. If there is a glimmer of good in a person I have the ability to zero in on it, focus there and become blinded to all else. But the truth is the signs are always there and along the way, folk tell you who they are every time.
Case in point, a long time ago a “friend” betrayed me. To this day they have excuses of the betrayal and we both don’t talk about it as if it never happened (mostly bc she’s of the opinion she did not when she so blatantly did which I guess is the issue for me but I digress). But I KNOW it happened. I can say I’ve moved on, but I have not forgotten. That person has not changed at all. That same streak of selfishness and inconsideration of others seems to lie at the core of who she is yet I pretend as if I don’t see it. I focus on that glimmer of light because after all if she can be that fucked up what does that say about me. The question is have I forgiven? And if I have forgiven, why does it still bother me?!? Does this mean I haven’t truly forgiven?!?
I’ve been watching Oprah’s Lifeclass and really trying to get the full benefit of the lessons. On forgiveness, they said that forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past can be any different. I guess according to that scenario, I haven’t forgiven. I wish the past could have been different. I wish that she or I had been different maybe it would have gone down differently. Then every time she does something characteristic of that old situation, it wouldn’t upset me so. I don’t know why I had chosen to stay in this “friendship” so long harboring these feelings. I thought forgiving was moving on, forgetting what had happened and making a new way…but you can’t get brand new with old crap! So today I bravely let that “friendship” go and I’m officially done (AGAIN but FOR REAL THIS TIME). Now I can get about the healing of self that will allow me to see things/people/scenarios more clearly the first go round. Luckily Lifeclass also said, “Forgiveness is like medicine. Medicine that can heal your pain, bring you peace and ultimately set you free.”
I had the thrill of my acting lifetime when I got to be a part of a production of FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF. Ricknise, our stage manager on the show, is a mass comm major. Here’s a great piece she did on the show!!!!
