Speak Up!
Our voices are a gift. We have the ability to speak our desires into existence. We also have the abilities to speak our fears into existence. We can change our reality. We can change our thoughts. We can change our lives when we speak. We have become complacent and comfortable. We are muted. If you are not content with your life its time to speak up!
Pearls
I grew up wanting to wear my grandmother's pearls. I loved how beautiful and shiny they were against her brown skin. I knew it was a special occasion if my grandmother was wearing her pearls. Ironically, "pearl" was one of her nicknames. My grandmother valued her pearls, maybe because she knew what it cost her or maybe because wearing her pearls made her forget momentarily that she was a Black woman raised in the segregated South.
The bible speaks about not throwing your pearls to swine. Simply put, don't give what you value away. Some species of oysters die when a pearl is harvested. Are you willing to die for what you produced? Are you willing to die for your purpose to be accomplished? Your life's work is your pearl.
Pearls are produced by irritation. The defense mechanism of the oyster is to isolate the irritant. What's irritating you? It's producing your pearls. Every layer you use to isolate the irritation is adding dimension, color, and value to your pearls.
Gifted
I was introduced to Nina Simone at a young age. I loved her raspy voice. I loved how she sang her politics and called it all jazz. I loved how this unapologetically big nosed black woman was able to leave us feeling good, spellbound, all while telling stories about four women and strange fruit. She was one of the first to tell me that I was young, gifted, and black. I learned that my youth was a gift. I learned that my blackness was a gift. I learned that my ability to write and express myself poetically was a gift.
Your intellect, your sense of humor, your business acumen are all a gift. Be unapologetically who you are because you are a gift. You are gifted. You are blessed. You are a blessing. To truly be young, black, and gifted is to recognize that you are the gift. Your complexion, your hair, your smile, your hips, your thighs, your nose and your eyes are a gift. Your sincerity, your peace, your joy, your faith, your heart, your spirit are a gift. You are gifted! Your talents, your treasure, your pain and your pleasure are a gift. Your desire, your dreams, your plans and your purpose are a gift. You are gifted.
Contribution
I sat in church yesterday and listened to the guest speaker, Sam Collier say, "there's a difference between a moment and a movement." He spoke about the conversion of Paul being a moment that led to a movement. I began to think about all the moments in my life that could have led to a movement. I thought about the moments when fear and doubt paralyzed me. Then, I thought about all the times I moved. I thought about all the times I finished. I finished starting the business. I threw that show. I wrote those books. I sold those t-shirts. I made those cards. I wrote those poems. Those are my contributions. Those are my movements. It's easy to focus on what you didn't do, but what have you finished? What did you accomplish? What's your contribution? Maybe it's that little boy or little girl you are raising. Maybe it's that overtime you are putting in at your job. Maybe it's those ideas that are keeping you up at night. Whatever it is, you have something the world needs.