Unlocking Your Highest Potential: A Letter of Encouragement to You

via http://etsy.me/135ftmJ

Dear Friend,

Do you know that YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING,

a BRIGHT explosion of LIGHT in the darkness that surrounds?

Do you know how much YOU ARE LOVED, IMPORTANT, and SO PRECIOUS, oh so precious that to lose you would bring so much pain and tears?

Do not be afraid.

Stand tall because you were meant to sit a top a mountain and SHINE BRIGHT, brighter than the sun. YOUR SMILE is needed; your love, your strength, your thoughts, YOUR WORDS, and the sound of YOUR LAUGHTER create bursts of HAPPINESS and JOY all around.

I know how it is.

I too have felt the on going frustrations of this life, the push of darkness against the chest, and the rejection that comes with being different, being other, BEING YOURSELF.

I understand the pain of waiting, the conditions that say nothing will change, that you’re stuck or worse, trapped in a dark, cold pit with no way out.

I too hear the voices that whisper criticism and negativity

one.

after.

the.

other.

The whispers that tell the lie, “You will not be loved.”

NOT TRUE!

They are all but illusions that dissipate when you shake them with the earthquake of power that lies within you. 

prosperoussoul.com

Yes, YOU! 

You possess boundless strength, a heart that sees eternity, and a soul that sings melodies more beautiful than heaven’s angels.

No one on this planet can BE YOU.

No one can create the life written in your footsteps and inked in the hearts of those who:

have met you,

shared meals with you,

laughed with you,

cried with you,

dreamed with you,

danced with you,

hugged you,

kissed you,
heard your voice,

and held your held.

Do not lose HOPE. Hold on to FAITH. And do not give up on LOVE.

Continue to create DREAMS that surprise you and lift you higher without end.

Don’t let hurt from the past cramp your heart and keep it from loving again.

LOVE again.

And again.

And again.

Yes, you really are that amazing.

And it’s okay to see some things like love, friendship, failures, victories, and dreams through a simple lens. Overthinking tends to bring more harm and confusion than good.

And if you must be afraid, take a step forward anyway because you never know where you can go, who you can meet, what you can accomplish, and all the things you can see, taste, feel, and know. 

Life is an adventure waiting for you!

And if someone should dare belittle you or sound off all your weaknesses and make you feel less than the amazing individual you really are, know that it speaks more loudly about their insecurities, failures, and shortcomings than yours. It’s not about you, but rather them. The truth is they’re jealous of you, your dreams, your power, and the light within you that pierces through anything and anyone.

And always be true to yourself and your voice because anything else or less would be a true tragedy and a great loss. This world already has enough of both.

So please, BE YOU and share the beauty that comes along with it.

via pamspence.com

And, always remember like my amazing friend Geo once said to me, “Never, never lose your sense of HUMOR.”

Loving you,

A fellow human being 

Know someone in need of encouragement? Please share this with them! :) 

Hair, Love, and Beauty Myths

I’ve had days where I wish I had the gall of my English advisor from college to shave my head bald. I remember her naked caramel head so easy to spot, beautiful and free from those dead strings that caused me so much trouble time after time. She confided that she was tired of her hair and what it took to figure it out. I nodded then because I understood completely of course. Only two points in my brief history on this earth found me happy about my hair and both were when I had a hairdresser cut it super short.

However, sometime ago I resisted the short crop and desired my hair to grow long, but I did not want to do so with my chemically straightened hair (I’m Black so I’ve had relaxers put in my hair since I was five-years-old to make my hair straight). I wanted my hair to grow long in its natural state. And that folks was where all the trouble, pain, and unforeseen beliefs emerged to shock and terrify me. 

I always like to believe I’m an open, intellectual, forward thinking person. My natural hair possessed a character of its own and proved that there were some areas I needed to work on: love and beauty myths. To spoil the ending, I used a relaxer and killed my natural hair, barely one year old.   

The story begins in the spring of my stay in Korea. I had a rockin’ Mohawk thanks to a hip Korean hairdresser, but my hairstyle grew out in a very awkward state. I thought about a return to that hairstylist but decided against it for a reason I can’t remember. 

My mohawk and I. And coffee!

Several weeks later I found myself very irritable with my hair and took a pair of scissors to it and chopped everything. Had I lost my mind? Maybe. I accumulated much stress from the school I worked for and that might have spilled over to the impatience with my hair. Did I love the cut? Totally. Did I come to regret it? Sadly, yes.

snip, snip, SNIP!

I let the hair grow naturally, determined to stop the conditioned urge to chemically straighten it. In the meantime, I bought and wore a wig to my classes or when I went out and about because it was already enough to attract stares in Korea due to my skin tone without garnering more curious attention for my boyish crop. When I grew tired of the wig, I put on a beanie and that remained my default hairstyle—a gray or black beanie over my head. I had yet to see anyone in the city with hair cut as short as mine and I should not have cared so much but I did. Things grew easier when I returned to the States, home of individuality and self-expression. Tell me why I still felt uncomfortable with my emerging afro. By December, I had my mother relax my hair. Good-bye, natural hair.

My mini-afro and I. Adieu! Until tomorrow.

It’s January and I’m not proud of what I did to my hair because my reasons arose from a negative mindset and deep rejection of a part of myself. I underestimated the mental journey that accompanied the choice of natural hair. To become a new person, the person I desired myself to be, I had to let go of all the misconceptions of beauty that I grew up with since childhood. It involved the erasure of all the images that I once believed made up a beautiful woman because most of those images were what others desired to see in women and not what I wanted to see in myself. I was old enough to know what I wanted, but not courageous enough to let the world know I was at peace and confident with my decision. And that’s part of what makes a woman a woman, someone who is comfortable in her own skin.   

Thus, why I love beginnings. I will try again. I am trying again. I’ve uncovered my ugly truths and inhibitions, laying them bare so I can attack them. With that, I can move through the years with new confidence and love. I must love my body and all the components that make it up. True. I am not my hair but my hair is part of my body and I own my body. I don’t want to make decisions about my body based on what the world persuades or conditions me to do with it, but rather what I desire because that leads to true happiness. And if I love and accept my body, I love and accept the bodies of others. And if we love and accept each others' bodies, their idiocracies, quirks and specialness, then maybe we would all have something less to worry about.

How about you? Ever felt self-conscious or insecure about a part of yourself? What did you do to overcome it? Would love to hear your responses!

Thanks for reading,

Sammy :)

Tomorrow is not Assured.

Hi Folks!

Posting for the next few weeks before New Years will be somewhat sporadic since I've switched locations to spend time with my family in Georgia. Regular posting will resume after New Years. Until then, please continue browsing around and I'll try updating as much as I can. Enjoy the remainder of the year and hold tight to your family and friends and tell them you love them. Tomorrow is not assured. Many happy wishes!

thanks for reading,
CSS :)

It’s Not about Me. It’s about Them.

December 12, 2012. December 21, 2012. December 31, 2012. What do all these dates have in common? You already know. It’s the end of the world, folks! What is it with humanity and the world ending? Are we finally fed up with life? Are the depressed economies, the boneheads in government who offer no solutions, desensitization to violence, globalization, constant connectedness, instant gratification, mindless consuming, endless freak environmental disasters and wars, excessive boredom and shock antics, and you and me and everyone else finally catching up to us and we’re ready for the experiment that is humanity to be shut down? Been there, done that! Nothing new can surprise us or shake awake our sedated minds. Smells like a revolution is in order. But it’s not the world that needs changing, it’s you and me; it’s us. It’s time we live up to Ghandi’s endlessly repeated quote: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” The thing about beautiful words is they strike but don’t often hit their target.

Last I checked, we haven’t ended world hunger and poverty, cured AIDS, made contact with ETs, commercialized flying cars, destroyed all nuclear arsenals, completely liberate ourselves from fossil fuels, achieve worldwide literacy, and I could go on forever and ever until my head explodes, but the point is this: something hasn’t been done yet, and we need to find out what it is and do it. And we don’t have to be geniuses because we are the experts of our lives and dreams. There are connections to make, people to meet, bonds to strengthen, gaps to close, communication barriers to break down, needs to focus on, understandings to reach, and lives to touch, rescue, love and hug.  So in the end, it’s not about me. It’s about them. The people in our lives, people outside our doors, outside our country—everyone else. 

Yeah, I want to make money, publish books that garner fame and recognition, be an excellent teacher, and create organizations that dismantle and create institutions, but all these things would mean nothing if I didn’t have love for my fellow human beings. So you know what excites me about life? Meeting new people. Because it means I discover another soul with whom I can make a possible connection. Now, I know can’t bond with everyone, but it’s still worth it whether those connections die or thrive. It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant like sharing a life or death experience with someone for it to be meaningful. 

Naima, if you're reading this. Contact me. :)

Sometimes it’s as fleeting as a meeting on a train. I met a kind, lovely young lady on the subway who proceeded to tell me about her name and its origin. Naima. My stop cut our conversation short. I hopped off and realized I hadn’t gotten her contact info and instantly regretted it. I won’t ever see her again, but I still remember her, and those brief five minutes were meaningful to me. Take a leap and talk to a stranger. Not everyone is an ax murderer. (Should I put up a disclaimer somewhere, hmmm?)

Wait! Where’s the part about writing? Errrr… that will come tomorrow since I punk’d out on Tuesday. :)

Thanks for reading,

CSS