From the Beginning

I was born in village as pictured above. I was born at home on a Friday and was the last child of four. The Essequibo Coast is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and the Essequibo River. From my Grandmother's window you have an uninterrupted view of the Ocean and the progressive Horizon. In our village we relied heavily on these water ways for all our needs. We feed ourselves and maintained every aspect of our lives including transportation using these water ways. Our major source of light was moonlight, we had no refrigerators so we only cooked what could be eaten by the family in that day. We planted gardens and ate the produce. It was a small village and every one knew each other by name. Our free time was spent as you see above, being. Being one with our surroundings. Through my adult life I have always felt a strong connection to where I was born. Can you tell the person I am and the person I will become from knowing where I was born? Can you tell who you truly are and who you will become by looking at where you were born? I bet you can. The time, place, date and of course the alignments of the planets are direct indicators of who YOU are. This reminder that no matter where your life takes you to never forget where your life started.

Thank You

I am fortunate and so are you to have true friends. Friendship is defined by Webster as supportive behavior between two or more beings. Support is defined as to hold in position so as to keep from falling, sinking, or slipping. To bear the weight of, especially from below. My friends provide me with that level of support. They keep me from falling, literally as well as figuratively, sinking or slipping. They bear the weight especially from below; such that the things they do to support me, are done without expectation of public recognition. Its as if they operate below the surface to keep me standing and intact. Tonight I am issuing a great THANK YOU to you all for your support and ask you to continue to stand by me as they have always done.

Push On

I am moving ahead in being the the woman I have always wanted to be. The one I was created to be. I am moving ahead because my dreams are taking flight and most of all because I cannot be left behind. I strive to be relevant in the eyes of my children so that at every juncture I can relate to them. Its deeper than providing an example for them its more of being their Inspiration.

Amazing Grace

Last night before I feel asleep I recognize the presence of Amazing Grace in my life. I was filled with pure humility for yet another chance to succeed. Grace is defined as the enabling power sufficient for progression or the necessary power to succeed. Divine Grace is defined as an indispensable gift from God for development, improvement, and character expansion. With this gift we can overcome our inherent limitations, weaknesses, and faults.

Divine Grace also can be defined as God's empowering presence in ones life enabling them to do and be what they were created to do and be. This is manifested by the multitude of chances we are given to fulfill our life's purpose. Chances to develop who we are, to truly inhabit ourselves. In spite of the many times we have abandoned our journey.

My life the River

My Lauren told me that a friend of hers noticed the that she and her brother did not look much alike and wanted to know if they had different fathers. Lauren has heard this before and knows how to answer best. Her usual answers is "Yes of course, that's why I am so much smarter." I asked her if this questions bothered her any. She said no and I believed her. I have always felt it is best to be honest with Lauren and explain why she and her brothers have different fathers. You see it was clearly not my intention as I set out on my life's path to have different fathers for my children. I recently read that what water wants to do is to basically flow downhill by the straightest possible route. Meandering is what happens when a river's best intentions were somehow thwarted. In end of course, rivers get their way and eventually succeed through the meander even if it takes a life time or more. And this is my life's story, I set out to live the straightest possible of lives, but my intentions were thwarted. In the end I hope I can eventually succeed through all my meanders and truly have a life that brought me true joy and for that I will be most proud.

Today I had to stop and listen to what my body was saying. I have been doing the most and getting very little rest, the perfect recipe for a depleted immune system. My children caught a cold and I followed suit. Today I decided to cancel everything I had to do and truly listen to my body and provide the care it required. Mostly, it needs rest. I began treating my immune system with all the things I know it loves, vitamin C, echinacea and drank peppermint tea to relax and soothe all areas that were disturbed. Sometimes in all your grand plans your body signals to you to slow down. Any illness can be taken as a direct message from the body to stop and listen to its needs. After all you are not in control of everything, as a matter of fact anything! So its going to be an early night.

The face of a modern herbalist

In my article on Urban Herbalism I address whats it like to be an herbalist living in NYC and how I keep this beautiful tradition alive and well living in the City. Here's the link http://EzineArticles.com/?id=1656264

Barack Obama - Coco Tee

Tonight as I sat here contemplating one more opportunity to volunteer. I began to feel exhausted. I realized that before I could help anyone I need to make sure that I was OK. You see Loving your Neighbor as Yourself is a biblical commandment, as a matter of fact the second commandment, superseded only by loving God. For me, I forget many times the part of the commandment that says "As you love Yourself."

Its my nature to reach to take up a cause. As a matter of fact, I felt like I was born to fight for many different causes. I am a cause junkie. But when you really think about in order to please God you have to love yourself as much as you love your neighbor. Self love is the beginning of loving. If you have read my blogs, I am still learning to love and value me as much as I value others. If I have the desire to take care of my neighbor, then I should have an equal desire to take care of myself, realizing that putting myself first does not make me selfish. Its like when you get on a plane and the crew runs through all the safety features in case anything should happen and they tell parents or those traveling with young children to first secure their oxygen mask first and then your child's; well its like that when you put yourself first, it give you the necessary ability to be able to take care of others. Do not neglect yourselves by giving all you have to others. Do you relate, let me know?

Believe - in the Possibility

Today I awoke with the word Possibility in my mind. Possibility is defined by Webster as the capability of existing, being true. When you think of it in these terms you begin to see that the very act of living/existence breeds possibilities. Being true, true to yourself, breeds even more possibilities. Other words for possibility are: conceivable, potential, opportunity. Put these together and the sum of it is, if you exist, and are true to your being, whatever you conceive, you have the potential to create the perfect opportunity. Today believe anything is possible.

President Elect Barack Obama

So much in my heart that can be put into words. Its like the faces that I saw today on the street, we needn't communicate to know what each of us was thinking. We are a part of this country and our voices will be heard today! I am an American living in a New America. God bless President Obama and his family. Yes, Daddy in your life time!

You are worthy

When my self-esteem takes a beating my self worth should kick in. I consider myself to be a confident person. I am confident in front of my peers and in front of strangers. As a matter of fact I recently took a personality test and I was found to be outgoing. So I would say my self esteem is intact for now. But even when my self esteem has been great, my self worth has not always been great. Lurking behind the exterior was and sometimes is some one who can forget the value of herself - her self worth. Your self esteem can go up and down. Its how you feel about yourself at the present time good or bad. Its changeable, it can grow if you get a promotion, a compliment or loose that hard to loose last ten pounds. Self worth is innate, you are born with it, its a gift from God. You are worthwhile person you have a value from birth. Your life is an expression of divine energy and purpose. The thing with self worth is that you can forget you have it. So what I am issuing to you is a reminder, you are worthy even if your self esteem is not quite on point today.