Opposite of Life

I’ve been surrounded by death lately, by way of my friends and an acquaintance from unfortunate passings of their loved ones. I’m heartbroken for them and as an empath, I can become enveloped in their grief. I consider myself extremely optimistic, but I haven’t been able to find that outlook through this, so it’s become an internal struggle. The blanket statement, “at least they are not suffering anymore”, doesn’t seem to absorb the emotion, so I don't say it. Although their loved ones are in a spiritually peaceful place, they are still here on earth living through heartache every day.

I was speaking to my friend, Latasha, about a situation and telling her I felt like I wasn’t doing enough. I want to do more than pray for and over them, more than call, more than letting them know I’ll be there if they need. I want to take their pain away. In times such as these, I always just want to do more. Latasha assured me what I subconsciously knew, which was my prayers and support is all they need. She is right, the people that know me and know my heart understand that I want to do more for them, but being still and praying is enough. Right now, they are doing the best they can day by day to work through their emotions. It’s already understood that I’ll be there for them in whatever capacity they need if they just say the words.

Prayer to me is the biggest action there is, so I will continue without ceasing. To my friends who have lost someone recently I've said this to each of you individually but please know that I love you, I’m here to be present when you need and I can tell numerous corny jokes to at least put a smile on your face for a moment. To anyone else dealing with any type of suffering right now, I'm praying for the metamorphosis into your true healing.

Yellow Brick Road- Part I

We’ve all heard these quotes “it doesn’t matter how you get there, it’s what you do once you arrive” or “it doesn’t matter how slowly you go as long as you don’t stop”.  Ever since I’ve first heard of them (not sure what age) they have become subconscious mantras in my life. 

A good friend of mine, Camille, is a play writer. She has the ability to come up with amazing intricate stories that are built for the stage. We use to work together at a brand years ago. I have always admired the perseverance that she demonstrated for her writing while we were creating and building strategies or producing concepts. Even when she felt defeated she still kept on writing, learning, attending writing fellowships, etc. The first play I saw of hers a few years ago was “Lords Resistance”. She had been working on this for a while and I just remember her tenacity. To show her dedication she would work on it after work, weekends and sometimes during work (shhh don’t tell anyone) or whatever it took. And the play was great, I was honored and so proud of seeing her work come to life.  Although she wanted things to come together faster or was frustrated, she trusted the process and took it at a pace she was comfortable with.

She recently had a reading of her new play “Queen Nanny” and although I wasn’t able to attend the reading, I knew of the progression and I couldn’t be more appreciative of her sharing a piece of her creative mind. It’s not easy learning patience with yourself and the process of your creativity. So take your time to get to where you desire to be. You can’t rush because when your time comes, it’s just that, your time and you have no power over when that will be. But you do have control over how much effort you put in, so give your dreams their best shot at life. 

This was the flyer for her reading of “Queen Nanny”. I marked out the date of the reading.