Thursday, June 2, 2011
Realization
I hated going to the hair dresser; early, every saturday morning. I knew when the "new growth" came in, I better not scratch or I would be in for a burning surprise. Week after week, month after month, for 12 years of my life I used to inflict self-hate on myself with my mother's permission. One day, I went to the hair dresser, and told her, that there was nothing wrong with the way my hair grew in its natural form, and I never got a relaxer since. I can rock my fro, make it curly with conditioner, wear weave, or flat iron it myself. I realized that I was beautiful, thick (hair and body) dark skinned, versatile and amazing in every way, and that others need to see it for themselves, or look in the mirror.
Monday, May 30, 2011
My guitar...
With only 5 strings gracing it's body, a guitar can evoke the hell of out some emotions, huh? A loud, harsh sounding strike of an electric guitar can make you wanna scream, get you pissed off and wanna punch somebody in the face. But think about that deep constant pluck that makes the bass-line of any Erykah Badu song hot. Everytime I hear a bass I get to nodding my head and smiling...and let's not forget the acoustic guitar; the sweet gel of chords that made us all fall in love with India Arie. The plain, empty but simple sound of a mellow guitar makes me feel sunny, sweet and pure. What's the point of me going on and on about a guitar? It's a foundation brick to music.
Music is an expression of love. Why is it that black, white, or other, all people use music to express feelings that cant be explained with written or spoken words alone? Simply put--it is God's gift to us; to further our expressions of love. The proof is in the pudding; music makes anyone feel better when they're down, provides us a path to enter a realm of worship and lastly, connects the human race. I don't know when the last time you popped an Alicia Keys CD in, or got up and dance to show old school MJ, but treat yourself this week.
-Dani
Music is an expression of love. Why is it that black, white, or other, all people use music to express feelings that cant be explained with written or spoken words alone? Simply put--it is God's gift to us; to further our expressions of love. The proof is in the pudding; music makes anyone feel better when they're down, provides us a path to enter a realm of worship and lastly, connects the human race. I don't know when the last time you popped an Alicia Keys CD in, or got up and dance to show old school MJ, but treat yourself this week.
-Dani
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Approval
How many times have you asked "girl how does this look on me”? Is this cute?” hoping your girl will have your back and agree that your freakum dress fits you perfectly. We all seek approval from our family, friends, lovers, and the general public. Think about it, how many times have you posted a new picture on Facebook and kept checking back to see how many "likes" or "comments" it’s received. As people, we yearn for people to let us know that we are going in the right direction, making the right decision, and are just "good" at whatever the task is at hand. We feed off compliments, confirmations, and reassurance. But what happens when you don't get that approval?
Take a step back, and think about a time that you were assured in a decision, but everyone; family, friends, church members, boyfriend, girlfriend-- thought it was stupid? What made you stay firm in your decision? Was it God? Was it a little “voice” inside you? Did you get a sign from somewhere advising you to “go with your gut”? Or was it the goal of you trying to “prove everybody wrong”? Whichever you give the credit to for helping you disregard the lack of approval you had, you made the decision and have to live with it; including all the good and bad it may have brought to you….
I can remember when I made the decision to go to Hampton University, a moderate size Black college in Virginia, in a place that some of my family members refer to as “the middle of nowhere”. I had no family or friends there, oh, and not to mention, no scholarship. I had received full scholarships from 5 schools, partial scholarships to 7, not to mention a scholarship to Xavier University in New Orleans (my 2nd choice school) and gotten an offer to dance at Miles College—something I really enjoyed to do. I just heard God telling me “Hampton is the school you want to go to, and you belong there”.
So despite the advice from friends and family, even my own youth minister at the time asking why would I spend so much money going to college when I could go for free, I enrolled at HU….13 days before freshman orientation was supposed to start I get a phone call from an unknown number. I pick up, slightly confused because I was not expecting a phone call, and slightly annoyed because I did not know who it wasJ. It was the Mayor’s Office (Atlanta) calling me to informed me that I had received a scholarship to Hampton University; a full scholarship at that. During my time at Hampton, I met a host of friends and acquaintances, the President of the United States and led an organization on campus.
People, when God speaks, the “little voice” inside you, or your gut feeling speaks, you have to move. There’s a catch to this. Sometimes that feeling doesn’t get you the approval of everyone else? So what do you do? I’m reminded of a scripture; Romans 8:31 “For if God is for us, who can be against us?” Let him lead you to the right direction, everyone else will approve after a while. Trust yourself, believe in yourself, and know that you will be okay with whatever you chose to do. The approval of your family and friends will come after a while. The “likes” will add up. Just make sure you approve of yourself.
-Dani
Take a step back, and think about a time that you were assured in a decision, but everyone; family, friends, church members, boyfriend, girlfriend-- thought it was stupid? What made you stay firm in your decision? Was it God? Was it a little “voice” inside you? Did you get a sign from somewhere advising you to “go with your gut”? Or was it the goal of you trying to “prove everybody wrong”? Whichever you give the credit to for helping you disregard the lack of approval you had, you made the decision and have to live with it; including all the good and bad it may have brought to you….
I can remember when I made the decision to go to Hampton University, a moderate size Black college in Virginia, in a place that some of my family members refer to as “the middle of nowhere”. I had no family or friends there, oh, and not to mention, no scholarship. I had received full scholarships from 5 schools, partial scholarships to 7, not to mention a scholarship to Xavier University in New Orleans (my 2nd choice school) and gotten an offer to dance at Miles College—something I really enjoyed to do. I just heard God telling me “Hampton is the school you want to go to, and you belong there”.
So despite the advice from friends and family, even my own youth minister at the time asking why would I spend so much money going to college when I could go for free, I enrolled at HU….13 days before freshman orientation was supposed to start I get a phone call from an unknown number. I pick up, slightly confused because I was not expecting a phone call, and slightly annoyed because I did not know who it wasJ. It was the Mayor’s Office (Atlanta) calling me to informed me that I had received a scholarship to Hampton University; a full scholarship at that. During my time at Hampton, I met a host of friends and acquaintances, the President of the United States and led an organization on campus.
People, when God speaks, the “little voice” inside you, or your gut feeling speaks, you have to move. There’s a catch to this. Sometimes that feeling doesn’t get you the approval of everyone else? So what do you do? I’m reminded of a scripture; Romans 8:31 “For if God is for us, who can be against us?” Let him lead you to the right direction, everyone else will approve after a while. Trust yourself, believe in yourself, and know that you will be okay with whatever you chose to do. The approval of your family and friends will come after a while. The “likes” will add up. Just make sure you approve of yourself.
-Dani
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Why Not?
I always talk out loud to myself, wishing I had an audience to discuss all these issues floating around in my head. So I battled with the idea of starting a blog. I thought it would be too time consuming, or something to do out of boredom, but I find it exhilirating, fulfilling and rewarding. Make sure you tell all your friends about my site, I will have some "poppin" topics in the days, weeks, and months to come. So spread some love and I hope you enjoy your visit to the Soapbox.
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