Love's Lesson

At the end of 2012 I was forced to face the meaning of love, as it applied to me. That process was not rose colored nor candy coated. However, on the other side of it I did find an answer. Love, for me, began... with me. It started with the understanding that I was lovable, to God if no one else. Then expanded with the embrace of the concept that how and who I love was a choice that only I was entitled to make. Lastly,  there was the grasping of the notion that love is not always saccharine covered, but it's bitter sweet texture though stark on the tongue,just like dark chocolate, is so much better for your health, mental and physical. From that journey of self discovery that pulled me half way through 2013 this poem emerged. I offer it to you, an early Valentine. And I send you all... Love

Promise to my Unborn Daughter

I will never tell you gilded tales of happily ever after.
Love is splendid work,
And happy is a choice.

I will teach you to love your desire
And be independent of necessity;
That Prince Charming is just a fallible man with good manners.
So, don't paint him with rose colored expectation
that will always cause him to fall short in your eyes
and you to be disappointed.

I will teach you that imperfection does not equal defect
And that broken hearts don't equal broken spirits.
I will  tell you that self love is prerequisite for all that is to follow
And show you that it's true by the way I treat myself.

I know I can not spare you the pitfalls and growing pains of life.
Because even if my lessons afford you opportunity to sidestep some,
Others will thrive in their place
to teach some unknown lesson
I couldn't have predicted.

I just want to make the way clear
For you to discover new obstacles to overcome.
So that you can make the way clearer still
For our daughters yet to come.

Freedom

"Freedom is not something that anybody can be given. Freedom is something people take, and people are as free as they want to be." ~James Baldwin

I have always sung. It is where my “voice” has always lived. Not just the melodic retelling of others stories in others words. I sing because in it I have always been able to tell my truth. It is my gift from Spirit by which to obtain my freedom. I was 7 when I realized that anyone other than me wanted to hear me sing. I was 9 when I realized that my voice could inspire others. I was 12 when I wrote my first song and realized my voice could be used to tell MY truth. I was 16 when I wrote a song about apartheid on MLK’s holiday weekend and sang it to my mother. I was changed when she looked at me with eyes that said “You are SO much more than the little girl I birthed.” 

This gift of song has carried me through my greatest loss and toughest times in life. However, it wasn’t until this past year that I realized that this gift of song was so much more than a gift. It was my salvation. We all face challenges in life and I truly believe that Spirit allows us challenges knowing that we are fully equipped to overcome them. The Most Beloved is sure of our success because of the divine preparation put into all of us. We are all provided with that talent, that gift that will not only sustain us through the tough times but propel us to the other side of the darkness. (1 Cor 10:13)

During my personal and health challenges at the end of 2012 and through 2013 it was the ability to write my feelings that allowed me to overcome. And that day in late July 2013 when I bust out in spontaneous song for the first time in months, the cloud lifted and I could see the coming of day. It was in that moment that the reflection of all my difficult times came rushing to mind and I was able to see that whenever I was at the brink of complete annihilation or self-destruction the love of Spirit, through this gift of song I was given, lifted me.

The only thing in life that is free is choice. The rest we will have to work for. That includes freedom itself. The wonderful part is that we’ve already been provided with the tools needed to free ourselves. Incidentally, those are the same tools given to each of us to play our part in freeing the planet. We often hear the old adage “We won’t have world peace until there is inner peace.” And though its use is cliché, the truth of the statement remains. As we each use our personal talents to free ourselves from the tyranny of fear, doubt and limitation, we will inspire others to discover and use theirs as well. The more of us that are free, the more of us available to devote our time and energy to inspire and guide others to personal freedom. Personal freedom is the key to equality and freedom reigning in the world. For the personally free among us will not be able to accept less than all of us being free. As I prepare to release my first musical offering in the form of an EP to the world this year, my hope is that this gift of song that frees me a little more each time I open my mouth, will lead others to discover their own gift to the road of freedom and in doing so inch us all a little closer to when we:

 “will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.