Hip Hop Gospel 2.14.2011

Feb 14 2011 Published by under Music

It’s Valentine’s Day so I’m supposed to blog about love, right? And how the holiday shouldn’t drive anyone into psychotic, angry, or depressive behavior. And how you don’t need to be in a relationship to feel the love. And how you don’t even really need to acknowledge that it’s Valentine’s Day if you don’t want to, but for the love of God, don’t spend all day pissing on those who are indeed feeling the love right now.

But you know what? I think my readers are smart enough to already know that shit, so I won’t waste a post hitting you over the head with common sense.

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The Vision Board Challenge Part Two

Jan 11 2010 Published by under Uncategorized

If you haven’t read part one of The Vision Board Challenge, you can get caught up here.

As promised, here are the boards of my e-Sisters who also participated in the Vision Board Challenge:

@sweetblyss

@JGRunsTheCity

@KeeyanaHall

Creating this vision board has been an incredibly rewarding experience for me. For starters, it helped me get over a huge fear I’ve had since surviving my emotional breakdown: committing to a vision for my life. At the beginning of 2008, I set forth New Years Resolutions and a plan to put myself on the “path to success” and by the end of February 2008, my entire life had fallen apart. I didn’t want to make the mistake of creating another plan and killing myself with the pressure to see it through. In creating this vision board, I realized that my fears were giving still giving depression control over my life. Even if I no longer had any of the symptoms, by holding back for fear of relapse, I was doing myself more harm than good. In order to truly defeat the illness, I’d have to completely reclaim my life and that included taking on new challenges.

What also made this project so wonderful were the women who participated. In 2009, I had a to deal with the betrayal from a new female friend that made me put a “hiring freeze” on new friendships with women. I’ve had the same solid, reliable group of girlfriends for ten years and I’d decided that they were all that I needed. My new group of “e-Sisters” have helped to reaffirm my faith in the power of the female bond and reminded me what a group of focused young women can accomplish when we treat each other as friends and not competitors. I truly believe that I am walking into 2010 with more power and positivity than I’ve had in quite sometime. For this, I am eternally grateful.

For those reading, I recommend that you grab a group of friends and design your future. I promise you will not regret it!

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The Vision Board Challenge Part One

Jan 09 2010 Published by under Uncategorized

I’ve been wanting to make a vision board since the summer, but I had difficulty wrapping my mind around actually putting my dreams on paper. Looking back, I realize how hectic my life was back then and it was difficult to really quiet myself to ask the important questions about my future. I also think that my fear of plans had a lot to do with it. I’m hesitant to put things on paper because I like to take life one day at a time. Not that I’m without an overall direction, but as I’ve stated on numerous occasions, plans make me anxious.

While perusing some of my favorite blogs earlier this week, I came across Aaronica’s Vision Board post. I’d been playing with the idea of my own board but was still harboring some fear about committing to a vision. I found her post inspiring and it certainly made me consider my own a little more, but I still wasn’t quite ready…

On Thursday. I noticed that one of my e-Sisters JG, was tweeting about putting together her vision board and I felt myself become more inspired. I mentioned to her and another one of our homies, Jenifer, that I wanted to do a vision board as well. Next thing I knew, I had a deadline of Sunday to complete my board. Sunday? Four days to plan my future? Yikes!

I wrote down some keywords and ideas that I wanted to convey and on Friday, I got to work. Surprisingly, once I started looking for pictures, the process became easy. I simply chose the images that made my heart smile. I also used power words and included some of my favorite quotes. (From gospel, rap and love song lyrics to writer’s quotes to pastor’s quotes. It was so authentically me. I loved it.) What made the process even more rewarding is that SLB happened to be with me when I put the board together. Explaining and sharing my vision with him was the icing on the cake.

I finished the board last night, and (drum roll please…..)

Synopsis

  • Spirituality is the center of the board because I aim to live spiritually. The quote in the middle says “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience…We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” I also used my favorite Ntozake Shange quote, “I found God in myself and I loved Her. I loved Her fiercely.”
  • Under spirituality is writing, which is my God-given talent. The three books represented are the books that helped shape my outlook on life and were also written by women I admire. I included the tentative title of my own memoir: “No Matter What: The Chronicles of a Skinny Black Girl.”
  • Bottom center symbolizes prosperity: a career centered around books, cash, real estate and a high FICO score. There’s a quote there that says “Money talks. Wealth whispers.” My favorite money quote.
  • Top left corner: My relationship and love life. There’s a pic of me and the boo with pics of Will and Jada. A lot of people criticize their marriage due to rumor of it being “open,” but I admire their willingness to throw out the rulebook and create the situation that works best for them. From their happily blended family to their open affection and passion, I think they’re awesome. There’s also a lyric from Anthony Hamilton’s “The Point of It All” that says “And no matter what the storm may bring, I’m fine with you,” which represents sticking out the hard times.
  • Center to bottom left corner: Things that bring joy to my life including good friends, hip-hop, good food and good drinks. At the very bottom is the quote “To suffer is to defend a false identity,” which I learned in therapy after the suicide attempt. It’s a reminder to stay true to myself.
  • Top right corner: Travel destinations
  • Center to bottom right corner represents what I want to convey to the world: confidence, style, a free spirit, and power.

Coming soon: Part Two of the Vision Board challenge which will feature the boards of the wonderful women who took this journey with me. Shout out to JG, Jenifer and Alissa. Can’t wait to show off your boards!!

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