Spread The Love

I love holidays. Even if they are filled with overspending and overeating. We can have all good things in moderation right? Anyhow, holidays are gentle reminders throughout the year for us to pause, reflect, and celebrate. As we celebrate another Valentine's Day (one of my Top 5 favorite holidays), I am reminded of the importance of love. Loving our families, our boos, and our friends. Love, when done well, is amazing. Love not only covers our imperfections and allows us to come as we are, but it also gives us hope and strength. Love-especially selfless, unconditional agape love, gives us a purpose greater than ourselves.  Love supports our dreams, comforts us in tough times, and can be our voice of reason.

Love makes everything better. 

The media constantly reminds us of all the hatred and violence around us. So how can we do our part to spread more love? We can do this in so many simple yet intentional ways everyday by doing things like saying good morning, asking how someone is doing, or by helping someone out. We can all do just a little more to spread love. Our acts of love of our way of sharing Gods love throughout our various circles of influence. You never know how one small gesture of love can change someone's day or life. We need to love---heavy. Remember that Mali Music song Heavy Love I shared before?

I believe in the power of love. I am truly grateful to love and be loved. Let this Valentine's Day be a reminder to love and let yourself be loved. Do the things that make you feel loved and that allow you to spend time with people you love everyday. Share a cupcake, laugh at silly things, be mushy, let your child get that extra five minutes of whatever they've been begging for, Call someone unexpectedly, surprise someone with something you know they'll like and most importantly, take some time to love on yourself. 

Love has a pulse. Can you feel yours?

Take the time to intentionally love on someone today. You won't regret it.

Black Girl Got The Juice

Hey y'all! I'm BACK!  I know, I know it's been far too long but I am so glad to be back on the heels of yet another glorious Beyonce performance. I have so many awesome things to share on this whirlwind of journey that I have been on this past year. I am getting my juice back--the juice that I never really left me but is coming out swinging in 2016. 

What is this juice I'm talking about? Glad you asked:

This revolution for Black women and girls across the country comes from one of my favorite clothing designers Joshlyn Turner who is also the owner of The Write Fit. I've always looked at myself and my sister friends and recognized that there was something different in us. Something that propels us to move forward and impact the world around us in so many profound ways in spite of the many challenges that we may face. Sometimes our days are long and thankless. We experience stress, health issues, have setbacks, and often get very little sleep. However, by the grace of God, Black women across the country continue to come out on top because we have the juice. Joshlyn says that Black Girls Got The Juice is important to her because it is her--it is all of us. "With so much emphasis placed on our image, I constantly look in the mirror and tell myself that I am enough. You might ask where our juice comes from. Our ancestors gave us the juice. We been had it, we always will. We are the driving force of society. We are the leaders in entertainment, music, education, and fashion. Everything we touch is golden. And the purpose of this line is to show Black women, young and old, that the juice has and always will be the driving force of this world. Never forget."

I am a firm believer in uplifting, supporting, and celebrating sisters. So how can I not spread the word? What better message to remind us that even in the midst of chaos in the pursuit of our dreams, our work, school, and relationships--no one can take our juice from us. Let this juice that runs through our veins drive us to reach new heights in our whatever our calling is in 2016 and beyond. My grandparents gave me my juice and I am using it to do great things and to be a model for the Black girls in my life who need someone to remind them that they have it too in a world that often depicts them as less than. Excellence is not exceptional; it is the Black girl standard.  

As my boo Beyonce says dream it, work hard, and grind till we own it. We got the juice y'all!

Black Girls Got The Juice.

What gives you your juice? How are you using it this year?