A tribute to my ancestors on a Special Day

I rose this morning to the darkness of the day. Opened the blinds because the outdoors and all of its possibility called my name. Asked me to open up to it. To see what it had to offer. To feel the magic of this day as I did some 11 years ago when my precious daughter came out of me into this world. Ready to embrace it. Knowing what to do without me telling her. Without me showing her. Her wide eyes staring into my eyes as if to say, "I have arrived."

When I opened the blinds, there in front of me was a lone star. A star that twinkled in the otherwise dark sky. I stood and looked at that star and all I heard was the voice of Dr. Maya Angelou reciting, “Still I rise”. A lump formed in my throat as I remembered on this happy day for me and my daughter and my family that a voice has gone from this Earth to embody that star. To be that star that shone into my eyes this morning. Finding its way into my soul. And it was in that moment that I knew I had to honour my ancestors in order for me to honour my daughter on her special day. Because without them, there could be no her because there could be no me nor my family without the work they did before me. Before us.

Today is my daughter’s birthday. Her 11^th birthday and I was between two minds as to whether to write my tribute to Dr. Maya Angelou or to talk about my daughter. But it was that star that encouraged me to do both.

You see my daughter is the next generation.  The generation that is coming up looking to us for direction. Looking to us for guidance. Looking to us to lead by example.  So I am dedicating this tribute to my elders to my beautiful daughter as a birthday gift so she can remember those that came before her. So she can know those that paved the way for her to lead a life less troubled than her elders who came before her did. To know I am not cheating her of her birthday but enhancing her birthright of being who she is as she is because of those who walked before her.

Dr. Maya Angelou

Nelson Mandela

Our leaders

Our elders

Are leaving us

Moving on

Making room for us

The younger

The future

To rise

To rise our heads

Above the crowd

To hold our heads high

To hold our shoulders erect

To not cast our eyes down

But to look forward

To remember

From whence we have come

To sing our song

To enunciate our words

To speak their names

To hold them in regard

To honor their legacy

The path they paved for us

By respecting what they have done

By continuing their journey

Making it our own

Not through blood

Not through hatred

Not through degradation

But through rising up

Rising up

With dignity

With honour

With pride

And assurance

To know

We are a part

Of a changing world

A world open for us

Whether it is ready for us

Or not

To know

It is up to us

To honour

Dr. Maya Angelou

Nelson Mandela

And those that came before them

Those that paved the way for them

Paving the way for us

By being the best we can

By accepting with pride

We are descendants of slaves

Brought to this new world

Not to enslave our minds

But to free our minds

Open our minds

To all that is possible

To bring forth our gifts

Of spirituality

Mysticism

And old world secrets

Locked deep in the recesses of our brains

To this New World

To change its complexion

To break down its walls

To bridge gaps that need to be bridged

To lessen its complexity

By taking away its sameness

And bringing it forth

Into

A world of

Diversity

Understanding

And blending

To be the phenomenal people

We were born to be

Sent here to be

Descendants of slaves

Descendants of slave masters

Together

Forging the way

Of yesterday’s tears to

Today

Tomorrow

And always

As we rise up

Proclaiming in the words of Dr. Maya Angelou

“Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.”

Still we rise

Still we rise

We rise

We rise

We rise

RIP Dr. Maya Angelou

RIP Nelson Mandela

Matriarch and Patriarch

Of our modern times

To so many of us

Though you are gone

In the physical

In our hearts and souls

You will always remain

As

We will forever

Speak

Your names

With honour and respect

Gratitude and Peace

Love and Light

Dr. Maya Angelou

Nelson Mandela

We will forever

Speak your names

Your names

Your names

Happy Birthday to my beautiful daughter, Sedona-Sky Duffy, who understands the importance of Dr. Maya Angelou and Nelson Mandela and the legacy they have both left behind. Paving the way for her to leave her legacy behind if she so chooses. What better gift to give than the gift of history and time to my daughter on her 11^th birthday. Happy Birthday beautiful girl. Phenomenal girl on her way to becoming a Phenomenal Woman with the support of those who have gone before her to pave her way. Namaste.

I absolutely love being a mother

I absolutely love being a mother. It is one of the most rewarding roles I have ever taken on in my life as well as one of the most challenging. Wanting to give my children as much rope as I can so they can fly while at the same time keeping a hold of the rope so they know they are loved no matter what. Trying to find that delicate balance of holding on while letting go. Of knowing my children are here to live their lives. Not mine.

I look into their eyes sometimes and am mesmerized by what I see, by what I feel. I look at their bodies and am surprised by how much they are growing and maturing, becoming adults very quickly. I listen to their words and am proud of their depth and breadth of life.

I was reminded of this the other night when my family went out for dinner to celebrate my husband’s birthday. Sometimes I found myself having an out of body experience – looking on my family with pride from a position outside of us.

To watch and listen to my son and daughter – their quick wit, mature sense of humor and ability to deliver one liners without changing their expressions is so interesting to watch. And then seeing them sometimes reverting back to that place of need – that place between child and adult is so fascinating. So exhilarating to know they have their whole lives still ahead of them if that is what the Divine has in store for them.

Their recollection of events and information they have picked up along the way and being able to relay their understanding and comprehension of it with such conviction and passion made my heart sing. Listening to them having their own opinions about life and what they have learned is heartwarming because I know they are becoming their own people able to stand on their own two feet. Individuals sprung from the same DNA but using it according to their own will.

I loved listening to them, not as their mother, but as an individual sometimes just so I could hear them from an outsider’s perspective and be able to not judge so I could let them go. Let them explore who they are and what they want without my influence. Guiding them but not directing them. As Khalil Gibran says we are the vessels through which they come.

I love watching my children interacting with each other. The love and respect they have for each other is a beautiful thing to witness because they have a bond that I had always hoped for when we decided to have more than one child. Allaying my fears that one child would feel more loved than the other. Watching them together lets me know they both know they are loved in their own special way. And in turn they are able to love each other so deeply and openly.

To be honest I was afraid to have another child after our son because I feared I would not be able to love another in the way I fell in love with him when he was born. But love has a funny way of splitting itself while remaining whole at the same time when it comes to motherhood and children. As it did and does for me right now.

The love I have for my children is unlike any love I have ever known. It is an instinctual love full of pride and reverence. It is a love that comes from my core and expands with each child. It is pure and absolutely unadulterated.

I never wanted to be a mother because I was afraid I would leave my children before they were ready as my mother did with me when I suddenly became a motherless daughter at the age of 13. But what I realize more than anything now that I am a mother is my mother leaving me so abruptly and unexpectedly, though heartbreaking at the time and still to some extent now, was preparing me to become the caring and compassionate mother I am today for my children.

Her death taught me to never take anything for granted. To be present for my children. To love them unconditionally and to let them know all the time how much I love them and how much they mean to me so if I have to leave them suddenly and move on to the next world, they will know they were loved and will continue to carry my love with them no matter where they go.

To teach them that a life filled with love is much greater than a life without love.  To show them to live as fully as they can and as compassionately as they can because tomorrow is promised to no one. Lessons I would never have learned had I not become a mother. That’s why I love being a mother because by becoming a mother I know so much more about love, compassion, faith, forgiveness, trust and letting go while holding on without strangling.

In gratitude to my children for choosing me as their mother and to my husband for choosing me as his partner allowing us to be the growing and loving family we are today. Namaste

The beauty of lasting friendships

Lasting friendships are some of the most beautiful and grounding relationships we can ever have. They ask for nothing. They seek nothing. They are just there for us when we need them without questions, without demand. They wait for us when we take off on paths different from theirs. When we go off on journeys of our own.

I have a few friends that have been in my life for many years. The degree of our friendships coming and going over the years as and when we need each other. We know we are there for each other no matter what, no matter when, no matter how. And the beauty of these relationships is that we do not need to crowd each other. Do not need to be in each other’s physical space all the time. But trust that we are always present for each other when the time is right again.

We have an understanding that goes beyond the physical and is locked in a place where we know each other on a level that is almost indescribable. These friends are near and dear to my heart as they are a part of me as I am a part of them.

I am reminded of the freedom and trust of these relationships because I met a friend last night. A friend who was a constant in my life when we lived in France. A friend who found me when I needed to be found. Who stuck with me and helped me through a very difficult time in my life. A friend who did not judge. Does not judge but was there whenever I needed her. We had not seen each other in 6 and a half years and had not spoken to each other during that time frame either. But for some reason our paths intersected again last night. Bringing us back together in a country that is not our own.

And when we met each other it was like we had seen each other every day. As if time had stood still but gone on at the same time. We stepped right back into the girlfriends we were some 6 and half years before. Bringing each other up to date on where we had left off without the need to fill in all the details because those details did not really matter to us. Grateful for the opportunity to be in each other’s presence for a fleeting few hours. But those hours were enough to fill us up again. To remind us of how precious good, lasting and enduring friendships really are. How our souls need to be reconnected from time to time in a physical way.

Last night I was reminded these special friendships ground us. Help us to remember who we are, were and will be. They provide us with compasses on where we are in our lives by bringing us back to people who we know will always have our backs. Will always love us no matter what. Will always have a special place in our hearts. Who are able to accept that sometimes life will take us on very different paths and are willing to let go of the physical friendship until the time our paths are meant to reconnect. Picking up where we left off without questions or regret.

We talked, laughed, commiserated, and walked back down memory lane from time to time – two women who have grown in the 6 and a half years but yet remained the same at the core. At the place of the heart.

I love my near and dear friends. The ones who demand nothing from me. Seek nothing from me. Except for me to be happy and to know I hold a special place in their hearts as they do mine.

We parted last night hugging each other over and over again. Promising to meet again sometime soon. Hopefully sooner than 6 and a half years and hopefully with more time. Both departing with me being grateful for fate bringing us back together in a country that is not our own. But giving us time nonetheless to remember how key it is to let in those who have our best interests at heart. Knowing that those friendships will never let us down. Will never turn their backs on us. They may change and grow and sometimes mellow out but at the core they are our core who keep us grounded, rooted in the knowledge we never walk this earth plane alone.

In total and utter gratitude for the lasting, enduring, shaping, trusting, friendships that seek nothing, demand nothing but remain as constants in our spiritual inner lives. Namaste to my beautiful friend Beatrice Roynard, my French sister, mon amie tres bonne.

My only regret is that we did not take a photograph together but am grateful to know I have the picture of us forever etched in my heart. Safe journey until we meet again.

Nothing more powerful than the power of love

There is nothing more powerful than the power of love. Nothing more entangling than the power of love. Nothing more fulfilling than the power of love.

The scent. The touch. The feel of love. Only love uplifts us, fulfills us and gives us purpose.

It is love that wakes us up in the morning with its promise of love. It is love that fills our hearts so we know compassion in a way we would never have known. Love is more powerful than any other emotion we have because it is love that makes us who we are. A lack of love leaves us wrinkled, without purpose and full of fear.

It is love that gives us that glow. That energy that everyone wants to be around. That feeling of trust and abandon that what will be will be.

I was reminded of the power of love last night when my husband of 21 years took my hand and held it in his. A simple gesture that was done without expectation but was done with the intention of passing his love onto me. Filling my whole being with this intense burst of feelings that is almost impossible to describe. Or to explain. Except to say with his simple gestures I knew and felt his love pour into me as I felt my love pour into him. An exchange of feelings without saying a word. A recommitment of our commitment to each other without speaking a word. An enduring love is a love that knows even on  those days when we feel so far from love, love still remains, we just have to find our way back to it.

An enduring love is the love that knows that no matter what happens, no matter where we are taken, we have faith that all roads will lead us back to the place of love that brought us together in the first place. The place where there is nothing but love, true love. An enduring love knows even in the face of temptation, there is nothing more satisfying than being with the one who knows who we truly are, really are beneath all the protective layers we put up to guard ourselves from hurt and pain.

An enduring love knows and guides us to be the best people we can be even when we feel we can give no more. Love knows there is nothing more powerful than it. Nothing more enduring than it. And that’s why when we find love, we must nurture it even when we feel we can give no more. Even when we feel like we have gone to the brink of despair, we must remember love conquers all. Heals all. Is all.

It was the simple gesture of my husband taking my hand last night that reminded me of the intimacy of enduring love. That opened me up to remember what love truly is. To understand it is a journey just like everything else in our lives. Sweeping us up in it power , shooting us to our highest heights before bringing us back to ground us before plummeting us to our deepest fears. But when we let go and love, we understand there is nothing more powerful than love. Nothing more satisfying than love. Nothing more enduring than love. Nothing more powerful than the power of love.

Love. Love. Love. 

Falling in love is a beautiful thing

Falling in love is a beautiful thing

A liberating thing

A pill called ecstasy

For free

It opens us

Wide

To the World

Here and Now

It makes us vulnerable

Fragile

Fresh

It allows us to explore

Deep

Deep

Down

It sends shivers up and down our spine

It allows us to breathe

Really breathe

And closes no doors

But leaves them all open

Beckoning us

To enter

Whichever one we choose

It is the sun rising in the morning

The burst of red

In a sun setting sky

It is the smell of a rose

The call of a dove

The waves crashing on the shore

It is the music of life

That which sustains us

And maintains us

Yet grows us

There is nothing like

Falling in love

With who we are and what we are

There is nothing like the rush

Of falling in love

And it can come every day

In every way

Unexpected of course

But liberating nonetheless

It is finding and exploring our passion

Letting it carry us

To the gates of love

Thrusting us through

So we explode

With joy

And abandon

Falling in love

There is nothing like it

It is the first kiss

The first caress

The look that carries us away

From this world to the next

Where magic

And fantasy coexist

With reality

It is the rollercoaster that takes us to the highest heights

Then drops us before we can let out a breath

Falling in love is magic

And I try to do it

Again and again

By engaging in my passion

Letting it carry me away

So I can create

And be me

Wonderful

Loving

Compassionate

Me

Falling in love

There is nothing like it

At all

In this entire world

The rush

The urgency

The feel

Love

Wonderful

Breathtaking

Love

I love falling in love

Because

Falling in love is a beautiful thing

A liberating thing

Love

Moving beyond a dream filled with fear

Last night I had one of those prophetic dreams. One of those dreams that stays with you and rattles you. Makes you rethink everything but for some reason I can’t remember the whole dream or the characters involved but what I do remember is the sign that appeared – the sign that is etched in  my memory and it was the sign on a pink background that had the word FEAR etched into it in white letters. There were accompanying words around it. Words to help me through my fear but for some reason those words remained in the dream and are somewhere in the recesses of my brain I’m sure but not anywhere where I can remember them. As a matter of fact. I can’t remember what the dream was trying to tell me but I know it was a sign. An answer to a prayer.

I woke up this morning paralyzed with fear. Afraid to move. Afraid to get out of the comfort of my bed. The security of my room. I wanted to stay in bed believing fear could not touch me there or stop me from doing what I need to do. Even though in my mind I knew it was fear that was keeping me in bed. Telling me to stay where I was. Fooling me into believing where I was was the best place for me because I know it and am comfortable with it.

Eventually I told myself to get out of bed, to try to understand what the dream was trying to tell me. So I reached for my phone. For some reason that was where I was being led. I checked one message on my phone and found this quote that a friend had posted on my Facebook page, “Love can be hard. Love requires you to be kind when you are angry, patient when you feel anxious, compassionate when you judge others, caring when you feel apathetic, trust when you've been wronged, let go when you want to hold on, know that the other person is you, take risks when you're scared, to always see the lesson and never look back once you've decided." (Jackson Kiddard )

Thank you Michelle St. Jane for being my angel today because it was your message that allowed me to get out of bed with vigor. Allowed me to throw back the comforters on my bed, casting aside the false comfort and security I was feeling. allowing me to understand it was that falsehood that was keeping me mired in fear. Opening me to accept in order to move beyond my fears, I have to live each moment and believe in me.

I walked into the bathroom feeling truly heard and with pep in my step. Knowing my guides were on my side helping me and leading me to answers propelling me to know I am good enough for whatever I choose to do. And in doing so I was rewarded even further with these two other words of inspirations waiting just for me,

“I am open to the guidance of synchronicity and do not let expectations hinder my path.”

“Cultivate the discipline to look on the bright side, and refrain from entertaining anxiety-producing scenarios (“There’s no way she’ll date me, I’m too short”) or their subsequent what-ifs (“What if they think my writing is cliché?” “What if the boss is secretly thinking of firing me?”). Because if you don’t think positively, the planets will cheerfully say, “Makes no difference to us,” and reinforce your concerns instead.”

And finally I saw this one that allowed me to breathe and to know no matter what I am okay and will be okay. Fear is just there to remind me to keep going, to keep pushing because when I am feeling it, I am being led to move beyond the falsehoods of comfort and security, “Take the initiative instead of waiting for the other guy to approach you. Your efforts will be justly (and properly) rewarded.”

So angels, guides, and the power of the Divine, I thank you for helping me to see the only one stopping me is me and my false sense of security. Thank you for sending me fear in my dreams that sent me on a quest to work my way through it and get out of bed to see and appreciate the glory in this beautiful moment and day. And to me it is up to me to be me and do what resonates with me. Namaste

Life has a funny way of rooting us

Life has a funny way of bringing us

Back to the centre

The Universe has an interesting way 

Of answering us

Giving us 

What we ask for

The direction 

We need

The insight 

About life

Rooting us back

To the present moment

By sending us death

Reminding us that death is waiting for us

It is around the corner

And there is no escaping it

All of us were born to die

We each have a death sentence

And at some point 

Our maker will come

To take us back home

Yesterday I wrote about my vulnerabilities

Expressed them

Put them out there

Released them

Surrendered them

Did not dwell on them

Just let them go

Opening the door

For my truth to enter

Allowing room for it to come

And when it came

It came as two not one

Reminding me

Nudging me to know

I was being shown the way

Given the insight

To remember

My life is short

Very, very short

And that no moment 

Is promised 

To anyone

Death comes in many ways

The complete removal of our physical being

Or the removal of us from situations that no longer resonate with us

And I saw both those things happen yesterday

Both to people I know

One who was told he was no longer needed

That his time had come

And it was time to move on

A blast to his ego

A blow to his dream

But was it really

Or was it a wakeup call

To know that he did not heed the signs

So the signs stopped

Ending the road for him

To show him the new way

To help him to go where he is meant to go

Then later I discovered that a friend had died

Moved from this physical space

Back to the maker

Back to where he came from

Where we all come from

Young, gifted and still a long life ahead of him

Were the comments that came when his news broke

But who are we to say

Who are we to think

There is always tomorrow

When there is no tomorrow

It is only right here

Right now

This moment

And how we choose to live

In this moment

Is all that matters

I cried a tear last night

For the ones who have lost

And the ones who will lose

Including myself

Because death is calling

Rattling at my door

It is the only promise

We have

The only truth we know

But yet we all live

Like there is tomorrow

When tomorrow never comes

I hear you life

I am listening Universe

This is my life

And my life alone

This is my moment

And my moment alone

I have to live it

As truthfully

And fully as I can

Because there is no tomorrow

Tomorrow never comes

The power of our collective consciousness

Last night I watched the Interdenominational memorial service for those who lost their lives in the tragedy that occurred in Sandyhook in Connecticut and I was filled with such hope. Such love. To have many different religions share the same stage essentially sharing the same story. The belief in a higher power. Faith in the One Source. Reverence of all that we may not see nor understand but know is there was powerful beyond words.

It’s a shame that we allow different beliefs, religions, cultures, races to blind us from accepting we are all one, bond by a common thread until something tragic occurs linking us back to that common source. It’s a shame that so many children, innocent children, had to die in order for us to feel that common thread weaving through our hearts all around the world. But it happened and we got to experience the sharing of grief and disbelief that one human being could cause such pain. But was it one human being or was it our collective consciousness that led to this tragic event?

As President Obama said yesterday we have a collective responsibility to do a better job in caring for and raising our children to have compassion, love and a sense of belonging in this world so they will not snap one day and kill the innocence left in our world. We have a collective responsibility to preserve our communities by raising children who are givers to society rather than takers.

No matter where we come from. No matter how much wealth we may have. No matter what our religious beliefs are. Nor the colour of our skin. When we die we die the same way. Our spirits, our souls leave our physical bodies and go back to where we originated - wherever it may be. And the physical facade of our essence selves is stripped away and becomes nothing but a shell of what we truly are.

So at the end of the day does it make sense for us to judge, to criticize, to ostracize in order to make ourselves feel more superior to someone or something that is only temporary? For when we strip away all that is physical what remains is an essence, a spirit, a soul that has no boundaries, no definitions, and no form. What we are left with is an infinite existence full of love, light and compassion. And there is no distinction between any of us because we once again become a part of the whole. The One Source, God, Yahweh, Buddha, whatever name we chose to have faith in. To believe in.

Today my island home, Bermuda, will go to the polls to vote for our next Governing party. What we all must do is vote from our hearts and souls not from a place of coercion, divisiveness nor meanspiritness. We must vote for the party we believe has the best interests of our country, our children, and our future. The party that will help to bring us together as a community to allow us to remember we are raising the next generation and we want them to be raised with compassion, love and a sense of belonging so we can stop destroying our human race and the place we call home, this beautiful planet we are inhabitating called Earth.

May we go out today with love in our hearts, light in our eyes and compassion filling our souls to be the change we want to see. In peace, love and light, I pray. Amen.

An Indescribable Pain gives me wings

May 18, 1976, I am standing on the hill hanging out with my friends. I see my da’s car snaking slowly down the hill. A chill runs through me. No matter how hard I try I can’t pull my eyes away from the car. My friends are shouting and playing around behind me. Having a good time. I feel like they are in a different dimension to me. Though I can hear them, I feel like they are far away. Muted sounds. Something deep within my core is chilled. It is only when the car moves out of my sight that I snap out of the trance. I shake my body. Hug myself. Letting the coldness seep out. I turn and go running back to my friends. Shaking the feelings of dread. Pushing them to the back of my mind.

A few hours later just before dusk, my brother comes looking for me. I know instantly when I see his face that something is wrong. Once again that feeling creeps back in.

“You need to come home,” he says.

“No, I’m having fun,” I answer.

“You need to come home now,” he says again, not smiling. Demanding.

I don’t want to go. I want to stay where I am. It feels safer here. But I go. He walks in front of me. Not speaking. Not looking at me. He disappears in the house before me. Leaves the door ajar behind him. I hear voices. Strange voices. My heart races. I walk through the kitchen door slowly. I feel like I am going to suffocate. The air is so thick. There are people here. People that aren’t usually here. And then I hear my sister say to someone on the phone, “She’s gone.”

I look at her. I look round the kitchen. And I know because I can’t breathe. I know because deep in my core something has broken. Died. I know and I scream, “Who’s gone? Who’s gone?” Over and over again. Like a broken record. Trying to drown out the news.

They stare at me. They don’t know what to say. A tear rolls down my sister’s face. I start to shake. I can’t breathe. I look from face to face. Then my little brother runs into the room. His little face broken. “Mama’s dead!” he cries. “Mama’s dead.” Like a broken record. Like a startled child.

And then I hear a piercing scream. And then I feel my body retch. And then I feel arms around me. Guiding me. Trying to protect me. And then I realise the scream is mine. The pain is mine. And I can’t stop it. They can’t stop it. No one can.

My worst nightmare has come true. My best friend. The love of my life. My mama is gone. Dead. Just like that. No goodbye. Nothing. Just disappeared. Gone. I feel like I have broken into a trillion, bazillion tiny little fragile pieces and I scream some more.

May 18, 2012 and I still feel the pain I felt when I heard the news. When my life changed unexpectedly. Instantly. And without warning. Some 36years later I still feel like that 13 year old girl when I first wake up. It happens every May 18. Some years worse than others. Some years better than others. But now I understand that pain. I know that pain has given me the wings to be who I am. That pain allowed me to grow in ways I would never have dreamed possible before. That pain taught me forgiveness, compassion, empathy and love. And that pain comes every year to remind me.

May 18 is always a sad day for me but also a day for me to recollect from whence I have come. To be grateful for the time I had with my mother. To be grateful for all her life and death has taught me. And continues to teach me.

May 18 a day of reverence for me. Rest in peace mama. I will always love you. And thank you for teaching me “I wasn’t built to break."

Writing from a place of Honesty and Authenticity

The blog I wrote yesterday about being in the mud evoked strong emotions from people who read it. The feedback I got from it was amazing. Simply because I was speaking my truth.

One of my friends told me she admires my honesty, authenticity, and my willingness to share.  She said some people will never be able to be as self-reflective and aware as I am. Making me realise this is why I write.

I then decided to watch the BET awards last night. I wasn’t sure why but I felt compelled to watch it even though I had DVRed it ages ago. But last night I wanted to see Dr. Maya Angelou being awarded for her contribution to Literacy. And once again I knew I was being delivered a message from the Universe when Dr. Angelou said in her Thank You speech, “I write the Human Truth.... I come as 1 but I stand as 10,000. ...What you learn, teach. What you get, give.”

Tears rolled down my face. Chills ran up and down my spine. As I understood why I write. I understood why I am here and why each and every day I feel compelled to give through my writing and it is because I have been given this gift of writing to share. To write my human truth as Dr. Angelou does. To share my life experiences and lessons honestly, openly and authentically in the best way I know how. By writing. To help myself to grow and in the process to help those who follow me to grow as well. By writing from a place of compassion, empathy and understanding. From a place of honesty and authenticity. From a place of truth and seeking.

To know that though each of us may come as one, each of us stands together with shared experiences reaching back through the human experience. Passed down from generation to generation. Evoking feelings, memories and hope within us that we forget we have. Instilling the desire within us to live authentic lives because we have the blood, sweat and tears of those who have gone before us, who paved the way for us, to be where we are today as a part of our DNA.

We are not alone. We are never alone. Because each and every one of us has the spirit of the human consciousness as our guide if we are willing to listen to it, honour it, and be grateful for it.

Many question why I write and if I am afraid of what people will say. And sometimes I do question why I write. Sometimes I do question what people will say. But now I remember why I write, through one of the greatest connectors of our time, Dr. Maya Angelou. I write because I write my Human Truth. The Human Truth.
Thank you Dr. Angelou for knowing why the Caged Bird sings and giving writers like me the confidence to write and grow. 

Pick your friends wisely

I was reading my Florida sister’s blog, @The Daily Own, called 12 Lesson Everyone Should Know. And it was this lesson that resonated with me, "If you get in the mud with the pigs, the mud is bound to come off on you.  So pick your friends wisely."

A light bulb went off in my head about why I was feeling so dirty yesterday. It forced me to reflect on an experience I had when I sat in judgement about someone else. Said horrible things about the person because they have said horrible things about me. And it did not feel right deep down in my soul when I said the things I said or afterward either.

My philosophy in life is two wrongs don’t make a right. And just because someone says something hurtful about me does not give me the right to try to hurt them back. Because if I do, I am jumping in the mud and getting covered in it.

I do not like being dirty. And I most definitely do not like being in the mud with pigs. And now I know, yesterday I allowed my ego to take over. Used my ego to make myself feel strong. To feel like I had risen above the attacks of others. But in fact all I did was end up waist deep in the mud. Feeling guilty. Reckless and ashamed that I had.

So reading my sisters’ blog helped me tor remember that I need to be careful about allowing my ego to get in the way of the light, love and peace I want in my life. Because the only way I am going to attract them and keep them in my life is to give them. We always get what we give. It’s the laws of the Universe.

So today I am planning to shower for that little while longer. Washing that mud off my body. Out of my soul and spirit. Cleansing my mind of the guilt and shame for reducing myself to that level. Forgiving myself for doing what I did. Forgiving the person for the unkind words they have been uttering about me. Surrendering to the lesson that I was meant to learn from getting in the mud. And going back out into the world as the beacon of light, love and peace that I am.

And for my sisters in Florida @The Daily Own for reminding me about how much I dislike being in the mud, I am truly grateful.

The Daily Own