Six Sistas

It’s Posnan Poland.

Where people walk down the street 

and don’t speak 

to one another 

let alone to me.

The six sistas was there tho.

They came to scat and to scream

To sass and to sing

To sooth and sashay.

And the people heard

And the people spoke back.

Back to the one who praised another

While disregarding her own worth

Yet in her presentation

We and hopefully she 

Saw her self

And all she had to give.

Spoke back to the one 

Who took us to a place 

Where no one had been

And brought us back

To the place where we weren’t

and suddenly we were all there

And grateful for the ride.

Spoke back to the one unaware

Of how much she had

Yet gave us what she had

Not yet realizing

That it was more than enough

And that there was much much more

In her

Yet to be shared.

Back to the one who gave to us

What she just recently realized

That she had to give.

And she gave it in LOVE

In the hopes

That we would receive

And then share it with another.

The people spoke back

To the one who wanted to give

All that she had

Taking the risk of being unappreciated

While understanding that it ain’t about 

How much I have

But about how much I give

And then

She gave 

Her all.

And then they spoke back

To the one 

Who almost forgot she had it.

The one who was reminded

Where it was.

Then she went back 

And she got it.

And she gave it to the people

And to her sistas

And we were glad to see

That she had all that

And grateful that it wasn’t

All she had.

I the Brotha

Speak back to the siatas

And speak for Posnan 

And for the world.

When we say

WE Love you 

WE need you

And We want you in our lives.

Not for what you have to give

But for your Willingness to give it.

Cause in your doing what you do

We realize it can be done

What you have shown 

In your efforts to both create and to share

Is that despite 

The obstacles and barriers

That WE create 

In our own minds.

We can get through the stuff 

That ain’t really there

Except in us.

What we hear

Because of you

Is the need to go in

Assess and reflect 

On what we see inside

And then give it away

To make room for more

Than we had before.

Play on my sistas

Play On and On and On and On

Speak to us 

So that we too can speak

Not only back to you

But Forward 

To each other.

All over this world.

I’ll holla…

To comment or respond please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com

A Piece Of A Peace Of Mind

When I die

Bury me deep

With two Disciples at my feet

Put a shotgun across my chest

And Tell the nation I did my best.

The foregoing is an epitaph I memorized, as a member of the Blackstone Rangers street gang, in the early to late 1960s. From time to time, in looking at the gang related murders in Chicago, I’m reminded of how blessed I am to have lived through that era. In  thinking of my great-nephew John who, not long ago, was also involved in gang activity right in the very neighborhood that the majority of these murders are currently being committed. How grateful I am that he’s in a college in Texas, and having talked with him just the other day, I was made aware that he was a member of the rival Gangster Disciples street gang. How blessed and ironic it is, in regard to the foregoing epitaph, that there’s a forty year gap between our membership in rival gangs.  

Peer pressure, and the desire to be a part of an entity larger than myself, where I felt accepted and respected, coerced me into joining a gang. According to my nephew, he had no choice. His not wanting to be an ‘oddball’ was a part of his decision to join, and the peer pressure was more intense because it was accompanied by threats of fatal harm to both family and himself. As he shared with me, he didn’t want his mother having to deal with that manner of stress, and felt he had no choice but to join.

Both John and myself resigned from our gang affiliation voluntarily. I followed my sister Pat to Crane Jr. College and upon meeting Fred Hampton, chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, my consciousness was substantially altered. John, on the other hand, said that he was tired of “seeing everybody dying and getting locked up," and he felt that it would be best for everyone if he took leave of that particular lifestyle. As for what’s going on today, especially in our Chicago hometown, we both hope for the best, but agree that the current gang tragedies are not going to stop anytime soon.

So where do we go from here. We each go in to that place inside ourselves, where we can reassess who we are and decide what we’re going to do, not only as Chicagoans but as residents of this vast universe. The fact of the matter is that what’s going on in Chicago is only a microcosm of what’e going on across the globe. The Black P. Stone Nation and the Gangster Disciples have memberships across America and beyond, yet they are merely street gangs that are being targeted and focused on. There are other gangs however, that we spend way too much time ignoring. 

These gangs are the Chicago City Council, the Illinois State Legislature, the FBI, the CIA, and the United Nations. They, like the street gangs, have been supposedly set up

 to protect the rights and well being of their constituents, but they too, through greed, corruption, and total disdain for everybody and everything that might hinder their selfish objectives, are subjecting everybody on the planet to murder and mayhem, through both covert and preconceived means. We have no choice but to envision and employ our own solutions of how to separate ourselves from the control of these gangs, that are posing as concerned and protective institutions, yet are thriving on the incarceration, disillusionment, poverty, dependency, and outright oppression of those of lower socio-economic status and inadequate mental-spiritual foundations. 

Let’s at least think about it y’all. Let’s share our thoughts with like-minded others, and vow not to look at situations as particular to one group of people, but as directly or indirectly related to us all. Then and only then can we adequately address] the tragedies that confront us on a day to day basis, and gain for ourselves at least a piece of a ‘Peace of Mind’. Hence, for me, a new epitaph that reads:

I ain’t ever gonna die,

But when I leave, 

This plane of existence,

I want you all to know that I was here,

And that I did all the good I could,

With what I had to work with.

I’ll holla…

To comment or respond please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com

Enjoy Being You

It’s never too late to start being you. We did it when we were toddlers, but starting at about 7 years old, we gave in to peer pressure, and began being who we thought was acceptabe to those around us. 

The situation is becoming complicated because the media is more adept at assigning our peers, and we are nadvertantly doing all we can to fit the mold of somebody we don’t even know. It’s hard enough keeping up with the neighborhood Joneses, but now that we’ve attained recognition on Facebook and Twitter, we actually believe that we need to be more like the Joneses that have celebrity status. We need to keep up with the ballers, the movers and the shakers, and start believing that we will never be all that we can be, until we get some more of this, that, or the other. 

There are a lot of diversions that we allow to hinder us from moving forward, and if we think about it, most things outside of self are actually beyond our capacity to actually do something about. Our families, our employers, our instructors, our social networks, and especially the so-called ‘powers that be’ are all entities that we are connected to in some way, and we spend most of our time trying to either fit in or get away from. However, because we feel that they have something we need, be it acceptance or finance, we do all that we can to meet the expectations that we believe they have of us. Subsequently we’re so focused on them, we lose sight of ourselves.

Don’t believe the hype y’all. We already have all that we need. We don’t have to try and be like the Joneses because we are the Joneses, and we’re capable of doing things with such integrity and discernment, that other folks will want to be like us. Life is not about focusing on how we want others to see us, or about what they think we have, it’s about who we really are, and what we’re doing to take ourselves to the next level.

My contention is that we either start doing what we love, or start loving what we do. The first step is of course to start being who we really are. Who are we? A divine creation… capable of doing things in a way that nobody else can. They might get close, but nobody can love, laugh, cry, sing, walk, talk, look, or even act exactly like we do. Nobody knows how deeply we love, how passionately we dislike, or how fervently we want to change the way things are. I’m the only one who truly understands why I do what it is that I do, and it’s totally up to me to love myself, and as long as it’s with good intent, to love what ever it is I might choose to do.

We must stop looking to others for acknowledgement, acceptance, and admiration, and start looking within. All three of them are there, and if we don’t see them, it’s because we haven’t yet discovered who we really are. Once we start, and continue looking at and improving self, once we acknowlege, accept, and are proud of who we are and what we stand for, others might not like us, but they have no other choice than to accept and respect who we are.

I’ll holla..

To comment or respond please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com

What's Your Opinion?

Isn’t it amazing how we debate, argue, and even physically fight  each other about something we believe, which, in reality, is somebody else’s opinion. There was a time when people believed the person who told them that the world was flat, and now we not only believe differently, but many of us have accepted the opinion that there are countless other worlds and even other galaxies to examine and explore. Yet, in spite of all the new stuff we’re hearing and believing, it’s still somebody else’s opinion. Nonetheless, we have accepted some of these opinions as truth, and are willing to do whatever it takes to prove their validity.

Check out this passage from page 15 of Ralph Ellison’s novel, ‘Invisible Man’, that reads like this.  “All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was.  I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. I was naive. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer.”  Does that hit home for you? It certainly does for me cause it’s so much easier to believe spomebody else’s stuff, than to take time out and actually decide for myself what it is that I believe.

We all have opinions, and it’s to our very well being that these diverse points of view don’t fall on deaf ears. But we have to receive the words we hear with discernment, and perhaps formulate our own in order to create an additional means for dealing with the situations that confront and subsequently affect us all.  My contention is that we don’t just accept someone else’s opinion. We examine it, we study its validity, and then we determine how it will be useful to the agenda and consciousness that we’ve hopefully established and developed for ourselves.

Let’s agree to disagree about other peoples’ opinions. Not just about the opinions themselves, but about how we plan to address them.

I’ll holla…

To comment or respond please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com

Room For One More

We're surrounded by space, yet people all over the world are subjected to overcrowded conditions. There's talk of population explosions and subsequent food and water shortages.  These issues are being addressed here in America, perhaps inadvertently, by alternative birth control methods fueled by the unjust incarceration of millions of young men and women, who have committed relatively minor crimes. Then there's the millions of people dying at a very young age in Asia and Africa, because of their having been subjected to the lack of child labor laws. These situations are not being discussed because we are overly complacent when it comes to the well-being of others. After all, they don't seem to affect us, and they do offset the alleged problem of not enough room.

The truth of the matter is that there's plenty of room on this planet for all of us, and perhaps billions more. I've travelled for miles and miles, right here in California, and seen nothing but land. The same holds true for other parts of this country, and Europe and Africa as well. The word is that a lot of this land is uninhabitable and incapable of producing crops, but with all the available technology, and brilliant minds, I cannot believe that there's no means for housing and food production all over the world. 

The trouble is that there's not enough of us cultivating our hearts. We are so focused on the so-called problems of our past, and the preconceived difficulties of our future, that we lose track of the fact that we're still here and thereby have an opportunity to make things work to the benefit of others. I'm so grateful to those who have already unlocked their hearts, and are attempting through their artistic and creative talents, to make us aware that there are unlimited possibilities available to each of us, to make life better for us all.

‘Each one teach one’ as the saying goes, and if we go through life with that intent we must be ever mindful that our efforts are not in vain. Of course it gets rough sometimes, and we occasionally think that we are not doing enough. Don't get discouraged. cause It always gets greater later. And whether you see it or not, please believe that if LOVE is your intent in the things that you do, simply because of having heard, read, or actually been in your presence, someone else's life has been enhanced. 

And please, please, please…never forget that no matter how crowded it may seem to be, just be still for one moment, and you'll be able to see that because there's space in your heart for one more, collectively this vision will somewhere somehow…. make room for one more…all over the globe.

I'll holla...

To comment or respond please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com

WHY

As a self-proclaimed philosopher, I’m always questioning our existence. Who we are and why we’re here is what I want to know. I also see myself as an exhorter, and thereby spend a considerable amount of time trying to encourage others to believe in themselves. It is with this in mind that I implore you to consider the what, when and how of your particular manner of living.

What, in your opinion, is really going on in this world of ours. Is it Love, Peace and Happiness or is it Hostility, Chaos and Despair?

When do memories of the past, and fears of an unknown future, cause your optimism to give way to the negativity that is so easily brought about by our thoughts alone?

How do you feel about the metaphorical cards that you’re being dealt on a day to day basis? Do you usually receive a winning hand? Or are you, in your opinion, getting most of the time, a bunch of useless car that have little or no value at all?

Now the whats, whens, and hows are my own philosophical inquiries, and here’s how I view them… Everything works out, exactly as it’s supposed to, when we take part in the work. Just be prepared for the outcome to possibly take a long time, and for the result to not necessarily be what you desired or expected.

Life is fair. It doesn’t always seem to be so because we’ve been trained to focus on self and not on the relativity of our situation. We’re so busy asking why is this happening to me, that we don’t even stop to consider how our response to what’s happening will affect others. After all, everybody is going through stuff all the time, and when we lose sight of that reality, our stuff will always seem bigger and more difficult to resolve than everybody else’s. 

At times I feel blessed by the lessons I’ve learned, because it enables me to see the role I played, in causing whatever happened to take place. Yet, more often than I’m comfortable with, I feel the need to stand guard against the conflict and pain that might occur.  What I’ve resolved to do thereby, is the best I can, with whatever I have to work with, and view the outcome not as what it should or should not be, but as what it is.

Who I am, is an integral part of the WE. Why I’m here is to contribute my unique gift and talents to the welfare of all, regardless of what others are saying or participating in. Ironically,It’s all about us, not me. And if I continue to remind myself that taking things personally hinders my growth, it becomes easier for me to live life as it is and not how i think it should be.. I can’t change what others say or do, but I can accept them for who they are, and do what I can to benefit us both, with or without their help. Why? Because ultimately, that’s the only benevolent choice I have.        

I’ll holla…

To comment or respond please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com

Do It When You Do

Had a few plans for today, that didn’t work out as intended. Got up about 8:00am, did my postures and sounds, then after eating breakfast and watching Wendy Williams, I wound up on Facebook. Before I knew what had happened, it was 5:24PM, and I was just getting started on this blog, which was only one of the intended plans.

Haven’t we come up with some great thoughts and wonderful ideas ya’ll? Have you ever been by yourself somewhere, or in a deep conversation with somebody, and all of a sudden a thought that seemed beyond your capacity to even imagine, came to mind? After realizing that you need to do something before you forget, you wrote it down, store it in your memory bank, or put it on your to do list and vowed that some day, in some way, you’re going to make that thought become a reality.

Now I’m not just talking of those giant thoughts. I’m speaking of the little ones as well. You’re sitting in the living room and you notice all the dust and tiny bits of debris under the couch. Or you’re in the bedroom and you see cake, cookie or some other kind of crumb on the carpet. Maybe you’re in the bathroom and see small strands of hair in the corner. It’s evening time though, you’ve had a relatively busy day, and you say to yourself, “I need to address that, first chance I get…on tomorrow.”

Well, here it is tomorrow, and everything is the same as it was yesterday. Last night’s intent to tidy up is still pending, but there are so many other things, like eating, watching TV, or relaxing, that you’d be better off if you did right now. These things wind up  being all you’re gonna do, cause you’ve had a relatively busy day, doing other stuff that you don’t even remember having done.

Everything’s okay though, cause at some point company’s gonna come over, and you already know that once they let you know they’re coming, you’re gonna do something in the way of tidying up before they get there. That great idea you came up with? It’s also gonna manifest, even if it takes 20 years, cause it’s going to keep popping up in your mind until you do something about it.

What do I think about all this? Nothing. I got enough on my plate right now without attempting to come up with some intellectual or philosophical ideology, that will only gives me more stuff to do.  All I have to say for now is reflected in my friend Jean Ann’s voicemail..

"Hi, this is Jean Ann.  I'm out living life to the fullest and I hope that you’re doing the same.  We're living in wonderful times and in troubled times.  But life is still extremely exciting."

Life actually is exciting, and I’m going to live it as it comes. As for the plans I had earlier, I did write this blog. As for the other plans, as long as my not doing them right now doesn’t cause anybody any harm, I’ll just do them…when I do.

I’ll holla…

To comment or respond please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com

No More Black/White Friendships In Irvine?

It was about a month ago and, according to an eyewitness account, around the corner from our new home in Irvine, five policemen were in front of a neighbor’s home, with guns drawn, yelling for those inside to come out with their hands up.  Now I’ve been confronted by police several times, in pretty much the same manner, and have also witnessed quite a few similar incidents.  But this is Irvine, California, the place where I told my neighbor that I felt safer in, than anywhere I’d ever lived.  What a timely reminder that black folks, abeit protected by the police form a criminal element, must be continually cognizant of the fact that we are never fully protected from the police in racially related situations.

According to the person who witnessed the encounter, a young man had come out of the house with his hands up, gave his name, and informed the officers that he lived there.  The witness happened to recognize the young man, and sensing his apprehension and fear, yelled out that he was present and that he was watching.  After the young man responded with a thank you, one of the officers crossed the street, and asked the witness about he and the young man’s affiliation.  As he responded that they were not only neighbors, but that both of their families were friends, the officer called out a code 4, at which time the other officers holstered their weapons and stood down.  Soon after, two more young men, one black, the other of Arab descent, came out of the house voluntarily.

As the story goes, the police had received a report that mail had been taken from a nearby mailbox, and that the affiliated family was on vacation. When the police arrived however, the garage was open, there was a car in the driveway, and someone in the house, who didn’t immediately answer the door when the police announced their presence.  Reportedly, the guns were drawn in response to the situation.

Now I’ve looked down the barrels of police weapons pointed directly at me, and have experienced the helplessness that ensues. I’ve also approached an area down the street from my own home, surrounded by officers with pistols and assault rifles drawn. But that was Chicago ya’ll, and that’s the nature of stuff that occurs there every day.  What happened last Tuesday in Irvine is not a normal occurrence, and I’m not convinced that what happened had nothing to do with the fact that two of the young men, coming out of that house with their hands up, were black.

My heartfelt intent is to inform others about what’s going on, and to ask that we at least consider the ramifications that may occur.  Our civil authorities claim to be working on the issues that accompany the matter of diversity, yet the manifestations of these very issues are hushed up, and hidden, as if they never happened.  The incident of which we speak, points to the possibility of white parents, informing their white children, of the potential danger that may accompany their affiliation with black youth. Is that particular aspect of diversity going to be addressed here in Irvine? 

Can’t tell you what you should do, just reminding you that this kind of stuff ain’t gon stop until something is done.  As for me and mine, we’ll be here in irvine, hoping not to forget what time it really is, and seeing things as they really are, and not how we wish they would be.

I’ll holla 

To comment or respond please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com

We're Still Here

I’m not going to say that acts of oppression have not been perpetrated on people of other persuasions, but being black I tend to focus on what’s happening from the black perspective.  The world we live in is seemingly controlled by the small minority of people who possess the majority of the wealth, and who we mistakenly believe have more power than ourselves.  Why?  Because they have the wherewithal and the capability, to use the tolls of divide and conquer, to keep us feeling that we have less power than they do.

Let’s check out a piece entitled, “1.5 Million Missing Black Men,” written by Justin Wolfers, David Leonhardt and Kevin Quealy, and found in the April 20, 2015 issue of the New York Times.  Here’s how it goes….

“For every 100 black women not in jail, there are only 83 black men. The remaining men — 1.5 million of them — are, in a sense, missing.  Among cities with sizable black populations, the largest single gap is in Ferguson, Mo. 40 missing black men for every 100 black women.  North Charleston, S.C., has a gap larger than 75 percent of cities, 25 missing black men for every 100 black women.  This gap — driven mostly by incarceration and early deaths — barely exists among whites.  1 missing white man for every 100 white women.”

This is just one example of the stuff that I’ve been made aware of, and its validity is based solely on the knowledge and integrity of it’s authors.  However, I’m positive that if anybody, of any race, does a bit of research about their own people, they’ll find that circumstances such as this, stemming from the concept of divide and conquer, are still prevalent.

From black men being infected with syphilis, to black female students being sterilized as a means of population control, atrocities are being committed by the few, to control the many.  Experimentation, at the risk of life, was not invented by Adolph Hitler, not did it stop with his demise.  It ain’t just Jews and Black folks that have been targeted, it’s all of us. The alleged ‘powers that be,’ already know that it’s not the among of power that they have that enables them to control us, it’s the amount of power that we think they have that does. 

Crack cocaine, syphilis, sterilization, incarceration and other means are employed by the so-called elite, to gain more insight on how to maintain the status quo, while, at the same time, impressing upon the rest of us how powerless we are, and how important it is for us to support them.

Ironically however, we’re still here and standing stronger than we know. Why, because everything that exists is beyond the jurisdiction of those trying to control it.  It’s the Creator who has the real power, and each of us can access it by recognizing who we are, what we’ve been given to work with, and then using it collectively to do what needs to be done for the sake of righteousness.  That’s why were still here.

I’ll holla.

To comment or respond please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com

Ain't It Wonderful

Woke up this morning feeling congested, exhausted, and immersed in a continuum of 66 year old pain. Nothing to be alarmed about per se, but this is the fourth time in a row I’ve gotten up feeling like a bunch of people beat my ass while I was sleep. What concerned me was that if I’d gone through drug withdrawal symptoms countless times, and they always subsided within 72 hours, why is this flu-like condition, still in full effect after more than 96 hours? 

Then I reflected on my recent bout with cancer and hepatitis. I thought about the fact that I had worked at least 14 hours a day for the past two weeks, moving into that new house and making it look like Nicole and Calvin’s house. Life is always going to do what it do, and these and other factors have definitely played a role in my temporary setback. However, I’ve decided that on this day, no matter what, I’m gonna get out of this bed and experience Louis Armstrong’s song… ‘What A Wonderful World’.

I sincerely believe that nothing takes place in anyone’s life, including dialogue, that is not related to something happening right then or that will be taking place sometime later on. My intent thereby, is to listen and to learn. When I got up this morning, remembering Louis Armstrong’s song, I became determined to live it, by sharing this blog with you. Not because I got so much to say, but because we have all been put here to share what we have experienced, in order that others might benefit.

It’s a definite delight to get up feeling wonderfully alive just because you can, and what a joy to be excited about the opportunity to say to, and/or do something for, somebody else. We can all create beauty through conversations, music and the arts, and then participate in the love that comes from doing so. But what about t he days we get up feeling like I did, and really don’t want anybody to know that, right now, the world, as we see it, ain’t all that wonderful.

So glad I got up this morning with wonderful on my mind cause it don’t happen all the time. There are quite a few times I ask myself…Why am I feeling this way?” Or

“What I’m gon do about this, that or the other?” Well, It’s a new day, another opportunity to make it wonderful for you and for me. So Im gonna finish this blog, and look forward to what lies ahead.

Let me close by sharing my rendition of those Louis Armstrong lyrics, so that perhaps they will enhance your day as they have done mine. 

I see skies of blue, clouds of white,

Bright blessed days, dark sacred nights,

And I think to myself…What a wonderful world.

The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky,

Are also on the faces, of people passing by,

I see friends shaking hands, saying how do you do,

What they’re really saying is …I love you.

I hear babies cryin, as I watch em grow,

They’ll learn more, than I’ll ever know,

And I think to myself, What a wonderful world.

I think to myself, what a wonderful world.  Oh, Yea.

I’ll holla… 

To comment or respond please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com

Practice What You Preach

I love listening to Barry White sing his songs. He’s on the ancesteral plane now, but he’s left some memories that will last always. For those of you who were of age in the 1970’s, you already know that if you were with a loved one, and wanted to set a romantic mood, all you had to do was turn down the light and put on some Barry White. Now whether he purposed it or not however, Barry also featured some spiritual analogies in his love songs, and the one I want to focus on iright now is ‘Practice What You Preach’.  Y’all bear with me as I give you a sample of the lyrics. 

‘You keep telling me this and telling me that. You say once I’m with you I’ll never go back. You say there’s a lesson that you want to teach, well here I am baby, practice what you preach’.

Now preaching is usually viewed as a verbal rendition of the subject being discussed. Ministers, orators, and anybody who has something to say, that takes more than two or three minutes to say it, is considered by some to be preaching. As for me, how you carry yourself is also a form of preaching. If you look like you’re doing okay, then that’s what you’re preaching about. On the other hand, If you’re not doing okay, and you’re acting like you are, then you’re not practicing what you preach.

How do we better enable ourselves to practice what we preach? Well, the one thing we can do first is to establish and maintain a spritual connection. There’s an adage taken from the Big Book Of Alcoholics Anonymous, that I employ, which may be of benefit to you as well. It goes like this. ’What we really have is a daily reprieve, contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition’. 

Upon arising in the morning, or anytime we’re experiencing a  degree of discomfort, be it physical, mental, or emotional, we can first acknowledge that it’s time for us to adjust our attitude and/or our subsequent behavior. We can then make a concerted effort, be it through prayer, meditation, music or whatever, to connect to that spiritual foundation which brings us to the place we’d like to be.

If somebody or some thing affects us in a negative way, at anytime during the day, we can take our mind off that person or thing, and remind ourselves that we can do nothing about them or it until we feel better about ourselves. We can then ask ourselves what we need to think and/or do differently that will take us out of the funk we’re in. We might not find immediate comfort, but by making a conscious effort to change our behavioral thoughts, and by acting like we already are where we want to be, we can rest assured that we’re on the path to being of one accord with another. We can then acknowledge that we’re okay, and fully capable of practicing what we preach.

The Maestro, Barry White, inadvertently perhaps, has implored us all to practice what we preach. Amicably co- existing with others, is our reason for being here, and whatever positiveness we can share, is our means for doing so. By altering our own behavior as need be, we no longer have to act like things are alright because they really are. Preaching is no longer our only objective, because practice is also an integral part of who we are and what we do.  

Thanks Maestro for giving us a part of you, and for showing us, what we can do.

I’ll holla…

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Transitions

Ever been at a point in your life where you said… “Stop this train, I wanna get off ?” Then you thought about it and realized, “That means life for me in this realm is over. I really ain’t ready for that, so I’m gonna stay on this thing and ride it till the wheels fall off… at least for now.” 

What about the time when you’re feeling on top of the world. Things are moving so well on your behalf, that you’re saying, “Man, I should probably slow down cause, If it gets any better than this, I might explode.”

Then there’s the scenario where all you want to say is.”Whatever.”  Why? Because you’re trying to make a decision, and it seems that no matter what choice you make things are not really going to get any better.

Well, these are all what I call transitional scenarios. They are those times in your life when  something happens, and the only sensible thing to do is to go with the flow and hope that what’s really going on will become clear after all is said and done. Now that sounds good mind you, but ain’t so easy to do, cause stuff is coming at you all the time. You can’t even finish one thing before something else pops up, and before you can go with the flow you’re experiencing one of the above three scenarios…Ridin that fast train, feeling so good that you’re scared of what might happen next, or giving up on trying cause it seems that things ain’t ever gonna get any better.

I’ve been there, and done all that ya’ll.  As a matter of fact, I’ve experienced all three scenarios in the past three days. It’s happened because my wife Nicole and I have made one of, if not the largest transition of our entire lives. We’ve moved to the city of Irvine in Orange County, California. What’s the big deal you say? White folks is my response. I’ve gone to school with em, worked with em, argued with em, partied with em, fought with em, marched with em, but I ain’t never ever bought a house in their neighborhood. We’re here now though, and as I look back, I’m grateful that my life has been a preparation for a time such as this.

I’m no longer desiring to stop this train I’m on, I’m not nervous about the many unexpected benefits that have come our way, nor am I comfortable with letting whatever happens happen. What I am excited about is dealing with what is happening. 

I’m in an environment that I’ve heard not such good things about, from a racial perspective, and I’m still reeling from the recent attacks on black folks. Conversely, the deal we struck in buying this house might seem too good to be true, but the fact of the matter is that the way we view things now is a result of how we’ve viewed our past situations. By the Grace of God we’ve managed to get through them all, so right now I’m going to view this particular scenario as being exactly as it should be.

Change is gonna come, and you already know that I’m going to keep you posted on how we’re dealing with what’s going on here in Irvine. Till then I’m suggesting that we not stress about what might happen, but spiritually prepare ourselves, on a daily basis, for whatever can happen, cause that ain’t ever gonna stop. But know this, history does repeat itself; and because we made it through the last situation….we’ll get through this one as well.

I’ll holla…

To comment or respond please click on the word comments at the bottom of this page, or email me at grace.calvin187@gmail.com