moving into your own spotlight
Little Khadijah stood patiently in the back of the classroom looking at the table covered in seashells. She looked at each one in turn, admiring their individual fragility and softness. She wondered at the muted colors and the unusual shapes. Each looked different and yet somehow they were all the same. She looked on, mustering as much interest as possible, as she patiently waited for her teacher to return to the room.
Listen to me tell the story on YouTube or read the text below:
Just some weeks ago I had a dream: An eye appeared before me, beautiful and bold. I examined the Eye and wondered at the joy it exuded. While staring and examining it in awe, the Eye swung back, like a door opening to a new pathway. I stepped through the opening into a room. In front of me, on the couch, sat my inner child or me as a child. I was ecstatic to see her and to have the opportunity to physically embrace her. I walked over to her, and although I could tell she had a different intent for my being there, I insisted on holding her as tightly as I could. My heart was full of the desire to show her I value her and love her and to defeat any neglect. She received my coddling patiently but it quickly became apparent that she had a task for me and needed me to focus.
Click here to listen to me read the story on YouTube:
“When I grow up and become a boy,” Little Khadijah would say, “then I’m gonna…” and usually this passionate declaration would be followed by the description of some kind of fantastic adventure.
As a child I would make completely outrageous statements that seemed quite the norm to me. Often these claims were met with humor and teasing but I could not be deterred.
“One day they will see.” I thought to myself.
One evening I sat on the phone with my grandad, a very tall, brown man with an afro of gray hair. He spent many years working in the factories for Ford Motor Company and rented out properties he had bought, building his wealth. On the weekends he mowed their well-kept lawn, fixed the plumbing, worked on his car and visited his grandchildren. My grandad took pride in being a “self-made man’s man”. Masculinity was everything to him. We are talking about a man who refused to sleep on flowered bedsheets.
Super achievement is a new trend swelling up around us. Currently, motivational videos, podcasts and other media are calling us to get started manifesting our dreams into reality. These new trends are quite effective and deliver great messages, encouraging us to get in touch with our inner potential. While it is good to become more productive, still it is wiser to make sure that when we begin to build and to demand more of ourselves that our constructions have solid foundations.
Listen to me tell the story here on YouTube or read the text below:
My Wake Up Call
The gift of expression has always been important to me. As a child I remember sitting in the window of my mother’s bedroom looking out at our green space. There was a tree in particular I liked very much. In that window, overlooking my tree, I would write poems few desired to read. Upon finishing I would make my way throughout the house, stopping in each occupied room to recite my newest creation proudly. All of the eye rolls, the pity and the giggles passed by me like whispers on wind. Now looking back I can see and hear the pity and annoyance clearly, but in my 8-year old heart space, I could only sense the delight that one feels when sharing a piece of their soul.
Values are beliefs signifying what is important to us. Our values are windows into the heart of who we are. When we define our values, we give ourselves the opportunity to explore our inmost being and to understand what motivates our actions and decisions. We can use them not only to understand ourselves better but also to understand others and even to anticipate their decisions. One might go as far as to say that your values are a description of your essence.