How to use your* prostitute. (*yes, you have one regardless of your sex)
June 1, 2010 | Filed Under Challenge, Consider this, Pay attention | 8 Comments
I’m different. I’ve always been different, always felt different, but didn’t always have peace with it. Sometimes I fought it, bumped heads with others because of it, and even embraced it. It’s a sordid past I share with it. As I matured, though, I began to appreciate the fact that I was different. I eventually found it odd that most of us spend so much of our youth trying to fit in before usually spending the rest of our lives trying to distinguish ourselves. After all, aren’t we all different?
My official occupation for the past five years should read “nomad”. I’ve lived in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Antonio, St. Louis, and even in an L.A. suburb. Right now, I’m on my way to South Korea. Each line of my resume places me in a different state and/or in a different industry so it’s quite likely that most companies seeking a long-term employee will immediately discard it upon review despite my qualifications; it doesn’t exactly scream company loyalty. Here’s the thing: I’m okay with that. Why? Because I’m different. That fact is evidenced not just by my thought process, hairstyle, interests or style of dress; my journey and choices are highly reflective of my individuality. My path hasn’t always been easy or glamorous, but it has been true to my essence as a free spirit.
Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, here’s a little something else: you’re different, too. You have dreams you haven’t followed, thoughts you haven’t shared, passions you haven’t explored. In short, you have a life you haven’t lived.
Who are you and where are you?
May 28, 2010 | Filed Under Consider this, Pay attention | 3 Comments
Pay attention to the lessons in your journey. Be still, be quiet, be patient and you will find that your life and your body teach you more than you may know.
Many of us grow up believing it’s necessary to hide or deny parts of ourselves for acceptance: for our self-acceptance and for everyone else’s. Clearly, this logic is flawed. Nothing is more important to acceptance, whether internal or external, than self-honesty about who you are and where you are. Maybe you’re vulnerable, scared, needy, insecure, lonely, unhappy, into “strange” things “no one else” is into, a “geek”…whatever. How can you ever truly connect with yourself or anyone else without honoring your truths? You can’t so it’s ridiculous to even try.
Is your love love?
April 27, 2010 | Filed Under Consider this, Pay attention | 2 Comments
So much of our worlds are inherited. Often times, what we think about ourselves, about others, how we behave and cope with emotional stress, our expectations as it relates to career, love, and life in general, and so much more are all passed down to us from the people we interact with and from what we read or hear. Children are perfect little recorders of their environments. They pick up the vocabulary, the dialect, and all the subtleties of the human behavior surrounding them. Because of that, the emotional space a child grows up in plays a major role in how they experience and demonstrate their emotions throughout life.
My last relationship was my first adult relationship, and I went into it stumbling, wanting this love, yet very fearful. Much of the time we were together, instead of placing my trust in my partner and what we were building, I was afraid to really open myself up and let him in, let him know where I’d been and what I battled with. In being dishonest with myself, I was dishonest with him. I thought I knew how to love, but I didn’t. The reality was that I didn’t know how to love myself, so I didn’t know how to love him and I felt sort of inept the whole time we were together. Why couldn’t I open up? Why couldn’t I articulate my feelings? Why was I so afraid to be vulnerable and discuss my emotions? Why couldn’t I treat him the way he deserved to be treated?
One word: dysfunction. I was dysfunctional.
Value: Look Deeper
April 26, 2010 | Filed Under Challenge, Inspiring, Pay attention, Rewritable words | 4 Comments
by Khalilah Yasmin
I woke up today and remembered a dream that I have frequently. I dream about someone that mattered to me and was taken from me. And that dream got me to thinking about ‘value’. As I look around me and the world we live in, a lot of our values are distorted.
The way in which we judge our significant others, our friends, and the people we choose to entertain, is taken very lightly. It saddens me. While it is not uncommon anymore to see a woman with a man just for his finances, what about when they run out? The same can be said about a man for a woman. Many people place value on things that are not constant and everlasting. I’m not about to give you the paddy cake riddle that ‘It’s what’s on the inside that counts’.
Allow me to go deeper.
Food, Inc.
April 22, 2010 | Filed Under Consider this, Do your research!, Health, Inspiring, Learn something, Moment of Truth, Pay attention, Rewritable words, Watch this, Website | Leave a Comment
I was all over Twitter with it, but everyone doesn’t use Twitter, so I decided to share some of the information, reminders and thoughts I had while watching Food, Inc., on PBS. Food, Inc. is an incredibly eye-opening film everyone who eats should see. PBS believes this so strongly that it’s airing the film on national television and streaming it in its entirety online from April 22 – April 29. Check your local listings for television viewing.
- Even if you don’t eat at a fast food restaurant, you’re still eating food made for/within that system. [If you haven't already, read Fast Food Nation.]
- “Chickens never see sunlight. They’re pretty much in the dark all the time.”
- “This isn’t farming, this is just mass production.”
- “It doesn’t matter if the chickens get sick, all of the chickens will be sent for processing.”
- Learn about the industrial food system.
- 30% of the land in the US is used to produce corn.
- Farm-raised fish is eating corn.
- Average American eats over 200 lbs. of meat a year. Ugh. Do you know how long it takes for meat to leave your body??
- Reminder: there’s manure in your meat! Bon appetit!
We are a process.
April 20, 2010 | Filed Under Consider this, Moment of Truth, Pay attention, Rewritable words | 4 Comments
I am a process. You are a process. We are a process. Each of us is perpetually ‘becoming’. There is no [natural] end. What doesn’t grow is dead.
Perfection is illusory, yet I strive to manifest it in the most possible way by simply being better. Sometimes, I fail. Sometimes, I succeed. Some lessons take a while to truly get and some changes take longer to implement than desired. Everything in its course as everything happens in its own time. Knowing that, however, shouldn’t negate exercising effort.
Just today, I told my cousin how I feel like a late bloomer in some ways. She said, “I don’t think you’re a late bloomer, you just have your own lessons to learn and you will. Be patient with yourself, you’ll get it in God’s time.”
I’m not who I was and at some point, I won’t be who I am now. The term “growing pains” is appropriate for so many phases in life, if not the sum of it. Growth–change–can hurt. Does hurt. But taking refuge in stagnation is no remedy.
Great words…
April 6, 2010 | Filed Under Moment of Truth, Pay attention, Rewritable words | Leave a Comment
but that it is too low and we reach it.”
- Michaelangelo
“said the shotgun to the head”
March 17, 2010 | Filed Under Inspiring, Listen, Pay attention, Watch this | Leave a Comment
One of my favorite poets in the world, Saul Williams‘ words frequently cause envy. They make me want to read more, know more, write more. There’s an undeniable courage in all his creations that inspire the heart of the reader/listener. If you want bite sized pieces, he tweets at @SaulWilliams.
Be inspired!
March 5, 2010 | Filed Under Inspiring, Pay attention | 2 Comments
Today, I’ll be accompanying my grandmother to the hospital for some tests. Yesterday, I found out that pain she’s been complaining about is a stomach aneurism, not ulcers like she’s been saying. Also turns out, she knew.
Finding the good: we’re going to attempt making this 79 year-old woman stop smoking. May the force be with us. If we succeed, she will have finally quit and her health will improve. If we don’t succeed, we tried. I’m fortunate enough to be with her now through all of this, no matter what happens.
Aha! moment
March 3, 2010 | Filed Under Consider this, Pay attention, Random, Thoughts | 2 Comments
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