Inspiration

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“I think there are things for all of us to do as long as we’re here…” –Gwendolyn Brooks

I’m still here. That means there’s work for me to do.

You’re still here. There’s work for you to do too.

Your heart of hearts knows all about your unique work. Today, I hope you unpack the layers which keep you from doing your work. I hope you get to the heart of the matter, the heart of your joy, the heart of your unique worth in this world.

Go deeper into the shadows and find the glimmers of truth.

The world is waiting for all that your beautiful soul has to give.

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“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” –Alice Walker

I have power. You have power too.

As Black and Brown people, we’re often told we have little to no power because of our skin.

That’s not true. We can draw on the wisdom of the elders who walked before us, the God who dwells within us, and the ancient earth around us.

This kind of power is more than skin-deep. It’s eternal and unmoveable. It’s in the soil, rain, and stars. Our palm prints hold the stories of our fathers. Our laughter contains the lullabies of our mothers.

It’s available to us today, and I’m not giving any of it up.

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“Only by learning to live in harmony with your contradictions can you keep it all afloat.” -Audre Lorde

The more I’ve learned to live with my contradictions, the more at peace I’ve been with myself.

I can laugh at a funny movie and later, rage at police brutality.

I can love Black Jesus and be critical of the Church.

I can look forward to taking my life in a new direction and sob over what I’m leaving behind.

Nothing in life is one hundred percent ‘either-or’. If we look closely enough, if we open our hearts to see the full story, we’ll notice the contradictions, the vagaries, the maybes.

If we’re brave enough, we’ll say: “My contradictions are fine. I am enough.”

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“Nobody is as powerful as we make them out to be.” -Alice Walker

I’m getting to the point where I can laugh at racism. In the grand scheme of things, no system of power has complete authority over how I live.

Yes, systems of oppression harm Black and Brown people. Yet when I am marginalized in their world, I create a world where Black and Brown people are centered.

When I am the minority in their scheme of things, Black and Brown people become celebrated and centered in my scheme.

If I choose, racist notions of power can set me on a path of becoming more autonomous and more creative. I can create spaces where I am blackity-black-black and free.

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“Don’t wait around for other people to be happy for you. Any happiness you get you’ve got to make for yourself.”–Alice Walker

I learned this the hard way. For a long time, I strived and worked and labored so that others would be happy for me. I gave others power that I should’ve kept for myself. In the end, I felt exhausted, depleted, and bitter.

In order to reclaim my happiness, I had to let go of things which fed this vicious cycle of happiness-seeking and people pleasing. That was an act of faith on my part.

Happiness was within my reach all along. I didn’t have to rely on others to give it to me. This realization set me on the path of liberation.