Relinquish my Strength?! Uh, No.

Hello, beautiful souls 💖

I’d like to discuss something that has been tugging on my heart strings lately. Ive noticed that there has been a reel trending on social media about ‘strong black women’. In case you aren’t familiar with it, it goes a little something like this:

I am not a strong black woman. I am delicate, fragile, and I can’t do it all on my own…

There’s more to the reel, and I don’t remember the audio verbatim but I’d like to address the sentiment. I viewed this audio as a cry for help from my queens who are tired of carrying the load alone.

Being strong is a blessing and a curse in today’s society. When a person is strong, they are often given more weight to carry. The growing assumption is that since you’ve carried so much, you can carry a little more…and a bit more…and wait, here’s a little more. People typically don’t check on or offer assistance to strong people. And that can cause even the strongest of people to be weary.

Yet, strength is a gift. It is earned based on perseverance and is the by product of experience and wisdom. Strength is an invaluable attribute that should be celebrated.

I am strong.

I didn’t think of myself as strong at one point. I endured quite a bit of misfortune as well as mistreatment from people I loved and to be honest I felt anything but strong. At times I felt broken, lost, and out of control. And that’s okay too. A strong person doesn’t feel strong all the time. In fact, a person is strong because they go through painful experiences and still stand.

Strength is often appreciated in the hard times. In relationships I was often commended for my strength when I helped my mate with an issue they were facing or found a solution to a problem when my partner didn’t have one. But when I stood up for myself, I was told often that I was “too strong”.

What does that mean?!

The same strength that was admired and appreciated was quickly shunned and viewed as a negative attribute once I established some boundaries. That is not how things work.

That being said, strength is an attribute that I’ve earned and I will not relinquish my strength so that a person will accept me. I am strong, I am soft, I am fierce, I am sweet. I am human. We are human. And we all deserve to be loved and accepted as we are.

Until next time, beautiful souls 💖

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Self-Evaluation

Hello beautiful souls 💖

This week, the focus is on self-evaluation. Self-evaluation is the third (and most pivotal) step in our evolution. Self evaluation, or shadow work, is a process that has brought forth a lot of healing for me on my journey.

Self Evaluation is so important because no real progress can be made without it.

No one can truly show up for themselves; neither can they be intentional without evaluating their behaviors first. Self evaluation enables a person to know their strengths and challenges. Only then can a person truly show up and adequately assess the areas where they should be more intentional.

What does self evaluation really mean?

My interpretation of self evaluation is a combination of self awareness and self discovery. It’s being 100% truthful with myself about my emotions and triggers. When I feel triggered or become frustrated, I immediately ask myself why I am feeling the way that I am. I consider the four agreements- am I breaking one of them? I continue to ask myself questions and evaluating my emotions and responses until I find the root of the problem.

Sometimes, my evaluation goes deeper than a few self check questions and I take a more extensive approach that involves journaling and meditation.

Each step in the Evolution process works together to ensure our progression into greatness. Self evaluation eventually leads to self mastery- a beautiful level of elevation that I am still striving to reach.

The process of evaluating ourselves may be uncomfortable at times, but it is definitely worth it! This brings up our vibration as well as prevents us from repeating painful lessons.

Whatever method of self-evaluation you use,(journaling, meditation, prayer, hobbies and activities, therapy, etc) I wish you well on your evolution.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions, and/or comment if you have tips or suggestions to add to this topic. 🙂

Until next time beautiful souls 💖

Strawberries

Hello beautiful souls 💖

I was thinking about a meme that I saw on Instagram some time ago. It said something to the degree of ‘you could be the juiciest, sweetest strawberry in the world. There’s still gonna be some people that don’t like strawberries. And it hit me.

Again.

This is information that I already knew, but at the time I needed to be reminded. Sometimes self depreciating thoughts and ego creep in and try to cause me to revert back to my old ways.

I’m still relatively new to this stage in my life where I speak and think freely without fear of rejection or repercussions. The stage where the best isn’t yet to come; the best is here and now because I create it with my mind. I am here. In this beautiful stage where I dare to be my happiest and most authentic. I dare to be who I am- unabashed.

And this stage has become a permanent place.

I am grateful to have reached this place in my life where I finally realize that I can be myself. I live in a liberating state where I don’t feel the need to explain how and why strawberries are awesome. I find joy and solace in who I am. I love my uniqueness. And the dislike or disapproval of others does not change that.

I am a sweet, juicy strawberry. Not everyone likes strawberries.

And that’s okay.

To all my other strawberries out there; stay sweet!

Until next time beautiful souls 💖

The Ultimate Goal

Hello beautiful souls 💖

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately in regards to my goals. As I grow and evolve, I find it imperative to not only identify my desires, but to set a plan in motion to obtain the things that I desire.

So, I asked myself what my goals are and even what my ultimate goal is. This is what I came up with:

The ultimate goal for me is to feel high without stimulants. To “get high” at will. I’d like to achieve a state of elevation and remain there. Additionally, I want to open and balance my crown Chakra and experience nirvana. For a moment I questioned myself. I wondered if my ultimate goal was perhaps a bit lofty. After some thought I decided that I’d rather live my life trying to obtain it than to prematurely count myself out.

I then formulated a plan to discover and experience my own bliss. I found that the key to nirvana for me is expansion. In order to expand, I must dare to step out of the predictable and the ordinary, and take that leap of faith into the exciting, creative, bold…intoxicating even!

I cannot settle for a dull existence. I will not resign to working a job that I absolutely hate just to pay my bills. Although I know I have to make a living, I will make the time to build the life that I want. The point of this human experience is to bound boldly and fearlessly out of mediocrity and explore the possibilities of life. And then take those possibilities and make them realities.. A reality where I love and live without limits and encourage others to do the same.

My goal is to be worry free- to be fearless. To appreciate life..to be grateful for who I am and what I have.. to spread love, passion, fire…To lose control sometimes and not always go with the safest choice. Not to be irresponsible or wreckless- but to be okay with not knowing how every day will end because somehow I know that life will be beautiful and superb. That is my ultimate goal.

And that is my hope and dream for you as well. For you to achieve your ultimate goal. There is room and time and space for each and every one of us to experience our own nirvana. Complete and utter bliss. We just have to dare to step put of our comfort zones.

I am stepping out. Who’s coming with me? 😉

Until next time beautiful souls 💖

Trust your Intuition

Hi!

I didn’t write last week because I didn’t feel like I had anything particularly helpful to blog about. Maybe next time, I will share a poem instead of not writing at all. We shall see…

Well, this week, I wanted to share something that happened to me that actually had me a bit out of sorts. I share this to emphasize the importance of trusting your own intuition.

About a week ago, after I meditated, I was on YouTube and I saw a pick a card video posted by The Gem Goddess. (I subscribe to her channel and I think she’s awesome and gifted.) So, I pick a card and proceed to listen to the reading…it was on point! I mean; spot on! She told me some great things as well as truths that I needed to hear.

I was reignited! I felt good.

About 10 minutes later, I noticed a YouTube notification and so I checked it out. It was a comment from Gem! I freaked out. It said, “message me on WhatsApp I have a vision for you.”

My mind was reeling. I was thinking ‘Wow. She actually responded to my comment, I wonder what she has to say…‘ ya know; things of that nature.

I don’t even have WhatsApp, but I downloaded it onto my phone and set it up so that I could message Gem.

She asked a few basic questions and I answered. She let me know that I needed a private reading; to which I said, okay. She then told me the price. It didn’t feel right to me, but I shook it off. After all, she’s The Gem Goddess!

She said that I needed to send her ‘a deposit’ so that she could schedule my reading via video call. I thought to myself, Let me stop being cheap. This is an investment. I’m investing in myself.

So I shrugged off that uneasy feeling and proceeded. I asked if she had cash app and she said yes. She sent me the info, and I looked up the name.

Wait, what?!

So I stopped in my tracks. That should be the end of the story, right? Wrong!

I got another message from “her”, asking if I had made the payment. When I responded that I didn’t because of the picture, she explained that he is her assistant and that her account has limits. Okay, I guess that makes sense…

All of this is happening while I’m running errands. I was driving up to my daughter’s job and received a WhatsApp video call. My sister answers it for me and I see the guy pictured. And then for a few seconds, I saw Gem Goddess on the screen. She was saying something but I couldn’t make it out. The signal dropped, but I figured it was because I was driving through the mountain area.

Seeing her on the screen; my skepticism faded. There was another message. Something to the affect of ‘see, I told you.’ Well, my mind was eased and I sent the payment through cash app.

After a little while of messaging back and forth, a began to feel like things weren’t right again. After a couple more basic questions, I noticed that the person’s speech patterns weren’t like hers at all. I realize that I don’t know her personally, but she didn’t at all come across how she does on the videos. And the things that were being said in this chat didn’t line up with the original reading. These things didn’t resonate with me at all!

And then I realized that I had been scammed. I don’t know how this con artist got access to her YouTube channel (I’m assuming that he hacked it) but this was not Gem Goddess.

At the risk of sounding dramatic; I felt violated. I had spoken to this person in confidence about things that were personal and private because I believed that they were someone else. And what’s more, this person took money from me!

I was upset, embarrassed, and hurt. But I’m okay now. It was a lesson learned, and now; more than ever I know to trust my intuition. We all have intuition. We all have light in us, and it is our duty to cultivate it, use it, and let it shine.

Trust yourselves beautiful people!

Until next time; much love. Be blessed and be free. 💜