Just when I thought I had a routine in place for myself and sharing my story, life has its ways of showing up and stirring the pot. So here I return from yet another hiatus, and that is okay. I believe that the time I have taken away from my commitment to "Words of Truth" has allowed me to expand in other areas to engage with the community. Either way, I am simply riding the waves of transitions during these unpredictable times of being alive right now as I have taken my 33rd orbit around the sun this year.
If you look back and reflect upon the timeline of your life, you can see the many transitions you have encountered within this lifetime. It is quite clear that we are all currently undergoing a major transition right now, Â both globally and (hopefully) personally. Some people are even declaring that we have entered into a new world. This may or may not be the case, but what I do know is that this is certainly a strange time to be alive right now. While many people I know may be feeling a bit hopeless and maybe even burnt out by this year's madness, I still have hope for 2020.
There is a Chinese proverb which states that within every crisis is great opportunity. Although this is not always easy to recognize, it is something that I do believe wholeheartedly. Within my own experience of transitions throughout life, most of what I once believed to be a crisis turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I've come a long way from being a child conceived out of rape, abused, moved around from home to home, abused some more, bullied, rejected, isolated, and learning how to be independent as a teen. As an adult I worked full-time while attending college full-time, working twice as hard as my caucasian peers in an attempt to equally attain a greater life for myself. While doing so, I was racially profiled and criminalized by a not-so-just criminal justice system and was also inadequately represented when I was raped within that same year.
Yes, to be a black woman in a white-supremist country is challenging and yet I would not be the woman that I am today had I been born caucasian. While living a greater portion of my life in survival mode has created barriers for me to grow mentally and emotionally, I've learned to be extremely resourceful. I think it is for this reason, and mostly through God's good grace, that my resourcefulness has led me down a journey in life that no one could have seen coming and is still unfolding before my very eyes. Where I used to hold onto anger and aggression, I now carry love and compassion. Feelings of hate and resent have transformed into understanding and forgiveness. A once closed mind, now open and vastly expanding.
Very recently [for my 33rd birthday to be exact], I surprised myself by deciding to plan a silent protest in response to the murdering of George Floyd and all other forms of police brutality. In the past, I have ceased to take action upon any known case of racial inequality and police brutality. Instead, I would become silently angry as I waited for all of the media coverage to die down enough for me to block out the fact that I am amongst a race of human beings who are still not treated as such in the 21st century! In planning this, I connected with a greater purpose for not only helping others experience a way to heal themselves but also fight for justice peacefully. Previously, I shared my view on justice and how I have been able to experience justice by healing from learning how to heal from past traumas, however there is still a lot of injustice in our world that many others face and, as an empowered healer, I am learning that perhaps it is now time for me to also serve others in establishing justice. As a community, we must not only hold ourselves accountable, but each other as well if we would like to attain the change we seek but inspiring and building up one another.
While there are many matters to be concerned with regarding the many inequalities we face, I hope that within this time of transition that we can also see the opportunity to come together and make an impact within our world like never before. In terms of racial injustice, the last major shift amongst communities nationwide was influenced by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who stated, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that." and loving one another starts with first loving ourselves. It is okay to feel whatever we may feel in this moment - anger, grief, sadness, etc. - however in order to enact change, we must first start with ourselves. By practicing mindfulness during troubling times, we find our breath and we find clarity on necessary actions needed to be taken in order to move forward with the right actions needed for enforcing change. We also allow ourselves to heal from the emotional trauma of inequity. With this being said, please take a moment to reflect upon how you are contributing to the change you seek.
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