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Falling in love. The way of mastery — The Way of Mastery

I am in love with you. I do not necessarily want to have sex with you. I may or may not be physically attracted to you. Maybe you are my friend, someone I knew my entire life, or maybe you are a stranger that I’ve just come into contact with. Maybe you are a man. Maybe you are a woman. Maybe you share the same sentiments but maybe you are completely freaked out by the proclamation. Maybe you lean in or maybe you build a wall. I am in love with you. It has nothing to do with physical or material. It has nothing to do with what I want from you or what I want to do with you. It has nothing to do with your features, your smile, your whit, your charm or your body. I am in love with. You happen to fit, hand-in-glove, with the very patterns of consciousness that I carry in the depth of my being. Happenstance, there is no such thing so I know this meeting is divine. I am forever grateful for this moment and sometimes, oftentimes, most times it is just that…a moment, fleeting.

am. in. love. with.

You.

*i wonder if we, the collective will arrive here in this dimension but then I read in the way of mastery: “your journey to God is alone” and so I will use my energy to love not wonder.

we wear the mask.

We Wear the Mask

BY PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR

We wear the mask that grins and lies,

It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—

This debt we pay to human guile;

With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,

And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,

In counting all our tears and sighs?

Nay, let them only see us, while

We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries

To thee from tortured souls arise.

We sing, but oh the clay is vile

Beneath our feet, and long the mile;

But let the world dream otherwise,

We wear the mask!

A word!

“For nothing can be received until the place is prepared for it to enter. And you can only give what you have been willing to receive. If you receive a drop of water into your glass, that is all that you can give to another. But he that receives all, gives all. And he that gives all, receive tenfold more.”

Open your hands and your heart and experience the fullness thereof.

Peace.

sage.

Everyone needs a sage. No debate.

I often say I am the individual and the collective. I experience life as an individual and I experience life as the collective. It requires a lot of mindfulness because the weight of the collective can be extremely heavy. Too heavy for any individual to take on.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that anxiety and depression is heavily affecting the collective right now. I feel it. I’m experiencing it. And what I’ve come to find as a remedy is a sage. Your sage may be your mama, your friends mama, your girlfriend, your auntie, your teacher, your therapist. She holds space for you. She’s spiritually grounded. She exudes love. She passes no judgement. She gives no advice instead she is lead by spirit to offer words and resources that leave you full, heard, loved and equipped. She holds your hand be it literally or theoretically. She listens. She’s generous with her time, her space and her wisdom. She’s there for you. She’s been there before, right where you are. She knows what you are dealing with and her faith allows her to reassure you that it gets better. She speaks over your life and has the vision and foresight to see what’s possible for you. Even when you can’t see it.

You get you a sage. Seek out your sage, share with them what you’re dealing with and watch God in human form wrap the love of the divine feminine around you until you can pick yourself up and walk again. Until you feel lighter. Until you can see clearly. Until you sleep through the night. Until your tears are dry. Until you are at peace in your soul.

Braveheart.

The truth is so much more beautiful than a lie. I know we all have some sort of image to uphold. Pride. Ego. Fear. Sometimes it does not occur as a lie. Sometimes it’s just none of anyone’s business and i advocate for privacy, i do. But gosh the truth, the messy, vulnerable truth is so refreshing. It’s so beautiful. It’s so human. All heart. All Love. The truth heals. It frees you up to feel something different, or take different actions. The truth transforms. It enlivens the truth teller. A lie, well it puts up a good front. It may allow you shallow approval and acceptance from outside sources but it kills you, slowly. It binds you up, holds you hostage, it’s like a foot on your neck. Freedom is however yours on the other side of the truth.

2017.

This year made me realize that my very existence is the epitome of love. I live the life of my dreams, literally. I get whatever I am willing to die for. I am not talking physical death, I’m talking ego death. I am surrounded by some of the most phenomenal, magical human beings. I am adventurous and most times too spontaneous for even my own good. I feel everything. I am empathic and learning to set healthy boundaries. This year I really began to decipher between what thoughts and feelings belong to me and what is not mine. My thoughts and feelings get sorted too, what’s coming from authentic Shyah vs. afraid Shyah. I decipher not to judge but to choose because feelings are not facts.

In numerology, we operate on nine-year cycles, each year has a sort of theme that sums of the lessons and reality of that year. 2017 was a personal two-year for me. Two years can be slow and focused on heavily on partnership. My two year was riddled with false starts, thwarted plans, and a resolute necessity for partnership.I spent the first half of the year ill. Generally, I did not feel well, most mornings I woke up achy and nauseous. Other mornings I felt faint with high fevers, chills and swollen lymph nodes. Doctor appointment after doctor appointment and all the physicians were able to tell me was that my body seemed to be fighting off an infection but all test were coming back clear so they were not sure what infection I had. The best thing they could offer was naproxen to help with the pain. Frustrated was an understatement.

I started Iyanla’s 21 Days of Forgiveness and aggressively and intentionally released any anger and resentment I was holding on to. I felt angry a lot and I wanted to create a space for my body to heal itself. I know that anger is not a breeding ground for healing. I started using all natural products, started a plant-based diet too. In June I was fed up, I was sick! On somedays I found myself questioning my own mortality, something had to give. I prayed and I did something I would not normally do I began sharing with people. I even posted on Instagram that I was in pain. People offered prayer, kind thoughts, and suggestions on possible diagnosis I should ask my doctor to look into. I also made up my mind during that time that my body would be healed by July. Late June, I found a holistic doctor in Atlanta, Dr. Maisha Clairborne on my first visit I shared my symptoms, we talked, laughed, talked some more. One immediate difference I found in Dr. Clairborne’s office was the presence of love. She was kind, knowledgeable, engaged and committed to my relief. She had some ideas on what may be causing these symptoms and she ran test to confirm. LYME DISEASE. I had Lyme Disease, contracted in at some point in late 2016 and it was wreaking havoc on my physical and emotional well-being. She put me on an aggressive 8-week treatment plan. Things got worst but then they began to get better and for the first time in over six months waking up was not the most painful event of my day. #LoveLiftedMe

July. I decided to move out of my comfy, quaint, sanctuary of an apartment. I have been in this apartment for three years and I really made it into a retreat for myself. I had other plans and for those plans to manifest I had to bring closure to this level of comfort and prepare myself for what it is I really wanted. I was moving in with a friend for a few months, and let me tell you the process to get me out of my apartment was tumultuous. Tears, no not like a few tears. Sobs. I was so emotional, thank God for Sista Ash or I may have changed my mind altogether. I pushed through, packed my things in the final hour. Ok honestly in the final hours I was still crying but I have friends like Justin Terry and Louis Alston. They showed up at my apartment with a pickup truck and packed the rest of my things. They packed everything onto the truck and in our cars at almost 4am we were caravanning across Atlanta with my things spread between three cars. That night I experienced love and partnership on a completely new and inspiring level. They held me down! My capacity to give and to love expanded immensely on July 19th. #LoveLiftedMe.

The next morning I was headed to the airport, Washington DC bound for a work trip, then to Richmond, VA for Doula training. When I got back to Atlanta I learned that my moving plans had completely fallen through in the most dramatic, unnerving way. Not even six days later and I was moving my things to storage. Not just I. It was me, Stephanie, Thomas, and a friend of Thomas’. We were moving my things to storage and I was still figuring out where I would stay temporarily. Temporarily became four months; I’ve stayed on couches, in bedrooms, at homes, with friends. Stephanie. Lisa. Louis. Tevie. Nakiya. Ayodele. Thomas. They picked me up. Listened to me. Encouraged Me. Made me dinner. Showed me so much grace and so much love. #LoveLiftedMe

I cried a lot this year. I laughed a lot too. I began working on the things that I am willing to give my life over to, projects like Black to Africa. I no longer have space or capacity to merely exist in any area of life. I must thrive. I must do the things my soul incarnated here in this body for me to do.I must live so that the end of my day is well worth it not just for my sake but also for generations to come. I know I live an incredible life and I know that I would not be able to without those that stand in the gap, push me off the ledge when I’m too scared to do it myself. Hold my hand when I need to be comforted, tell me the truth when a lie is less painful. I hate naming names out fear of forgetting someone but these angels are representative of the love that lifted me in 2017. Leah. Sista Ash. Louis. Mom. Dad. A. Malaika. Charm. Anton. Kiya. Tevie. Stephanie. Thomas. Michelle. CeCe. Deon. Angela. Justin. Isvari. Saurel. John. Halleemah. Kristel. LaTrese. Frank. Maggie. Malika. Carm. Brandi. WBM. Rie Rie. Bee Bee. Uncle E. Suratu. Brendalyn. Dr. Clairborne. Every group chat that made me laugh. Every prayer or kind thought that I may never know of Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Here’s to 2018. The year I increase my havingness, upgrade all areas of life, contribute to the culture, heal, and create.

2017 bore #LoveLiftedMe

2017 bore a giant.

Thank you 2017.

Thoughts on Healing from Cape Town

What is my purpose in life? To heal that which needs to be healed.

If it is true that we are souls who incarnated to have this human experience then what we do professionally is a minimal matter in comparison to how willing we are to allow ourselves to heal. Consider we incarnated to heal generational wounds. Also, consider the ONLY way this is possible is by being intentional about learning the tough lessons. Looking at what hurts most and dealing with the root cause of it. What if we did not turn down the opportunity to be uncomfortable because we were so sure that the heat of the fire was exactly what was needed to move us through.