Set Up Vibes The spirit was every where now And everybody was feeling it. Under one light bulb the main action was taking place... The Appleton was the centre piece but the true star bwoy was that burn mi troat culu culu it set the pace fi a roun a double six competition stiff oldies but goodies knock yuh back into nex' Tuesday cool cool. But the John Crow Batty will set yuh down faster than how they will set down Ms Ada. Yes bwoy deh set up yah bad! But don't mek the likkle bwoy dem get a sip! An' don't tink yuh can jus' walk through the people dem place. At the door spread wide Mama Cuite is the sentry who admit or reject at will to deter all di finger-fearing tief dem. Roun' back watch out fi di hungry belly people dem. Though the kitchen section back off they cling like limpets that have no shame because their aim is to grab what they can when the cooks not looking. Then of course the singing jumping and gyrating waking up the dead calling them to the celebration even the cook lef' the pot a second too long. In the midst of it all while we galivanting and prancing we know that to celebrate we have to have the seeing so the dead can journey on...
Tag: Explore new spaces
So Much Beauty
In the early morning light I see so much beauty.
I focus on what's above
Not what is below
and I see a perfect world.
In the quiet of the first blush of dawn I feel life
on the empty streets.
There is no sound
to interrupt the flow of how things were meant to be.
I marvel at the clear sky that hold untold secrets.
Secrets that will never be discovered -
they were never meant to be.
There is so much beauty everywhere!
Alone in the dark just before dawn breaks,
I feel so safe.
There is no one to judge nor truth to make up,
nothing but the beauty of the creator.
As the coconut trees compliment the skies
I alive
to the wonder of how small I can be
and how great I Am.
There is so much beauty everywhere!
Nothing has been added yet,
to distort what you see.
Just the fresh crisp air as your company.
The silence has grace form and yes
beauty.
There is no need to be afraid of what you cannot see.
There is so much beauty everywhere!
The most beautiful scars
with the most beautiful treasures.
The finest presents
that can never
be stolen
that can never be bought
owned
or controlled.
It belongs to no one and everyone.
There is so much beauty everywhere!
In those quiet moments
all wrongs are forgotten
all wounds healed.
All imperfections perfect,
there is no room for lies or deceit.
In those silent moments
you can reclaim your humanity
snatch that reflection and make it real.
There is so much beauty everywhere!
In the stillness of early morning
when the whole world sleeps;
when all you have is the evidence of the Creator,
You can see and breath.
Beauty forgotten. Beauty reclaimed.
- S. Grant 2020
One Stop!
Life is like taking a bus. How, you may ask? Well, when you get on a bus, you have already decided where and when you will get off. Everyone on the bus has already made that determination. In live we have a series of actions and events that take us from one point in life to another. Plus, people always associate life to being on a journey, that will one day come to an end.
Now, at certain points along the journey, there are bus stops. At the bus stop some people may get on and others get off. Those who get off do so because they have reached their destination. While, those who get on are either just at the start of their journey or are continue for whatever reason -maybe they have complete one phase and are about to begin another or they have decided to take another route and try a new place.
As we make our own journey we will see people come and people leave us. Now similar to taking a bus, we need to be prepared to see our own bus sometimes full to bursting with people and sometimes sparse and a bit lonesome and that should be okay. Some persons were not meant to be in our lives forever, their stay with us have an expiration date that is very short. What is important is what we learn from them, while they are with us. It is important to remember that people and not things are placed in our lives to help us grow, and keep it real when we try to be what we are not.
At every bus stop, someone must get off. This simply means that the those who eventually get off our bus on our journey were there for a reason and when they leave, they leave for a reason. What we need to do is not to get stuck on people leaving us, but we need to make the most of the time they are with us and see the lessons they leave behind as a gift for us to use wisely.
The Right Timing.
To be alive──is Power!
― Emily Dickinson
It’s not Paradise, It’s Life…
I recently went to Royalton Blue Waters, for three days and two night on an annual staff trip. I thought I would be writing about my time there: about the Calypso restaurant and the wonderful staff or the Zen a Japanese restaurant, where our meals were prepared before us, while we are entertained in song, sung by the chefs and encouraged to catch a choice piece of mouthwatering bite as it goes flying across the table.
I could have written about any number of things, about Polly the Rastafari craft vendor I met on the first day at the beach, who sold us bags and spoke about Inity and love; maybe next time I will. But on the second night, the group I was with and I met Michael Daley; and it is based on our conversation with him that I am writing this post.
We met and sat beside Mr. Daley and his family of seven at the Zen restaurant. We all sat to to have what had been sold to us as a once in a life time experience. So with great anticipation we sat to enjoy our meals. From time to time we exchanged smiles and laughter as we truly had a very unique dining experience. When the meal was over, most of those present had already left when we decided that maybe it was time to go, so that we could get out of the way of those who had a nine o’clock reservation.
It was as we were about to leave that Mr. Daley decided to engage us in a conversation that lasted almost an hour.
Gemstones From Mike
Mike, it turns out is a very resourceful and success driven man of God. His current venture, he informed us was the purchase of a piece of land in the same areas as the Natural water wonder, the Luminous Lagoon in Falmouth. However, in his sharing of this milestone, there was no conceit no attitude o, ” look at me I have done all of this”. He indicated that his purchase was based on a seven day period of fasting and praying to God for guidance. By the way he was also praying because he had no idea where the money was coming from to purchase the property!
Apart from his very inspiring story of coming from Spanish Town – FYI, I am also a Spanishtonian (those born and raised in Spanish Town). He indicated the need to make God the head and not the tail of everything he did. He encouraged us to put God first in everything, seek His counsel and not anyone. Though advice from close friends and family maybe invaluable, they can also lead us away pursuing the things we ought to pursue or do. He also reminded us of something we know but sometimes forget,that is, to not settle for what we have if there is more we can achieve. We know when we have settled and we know why. Sometimes when we need it the most along comes a message to remind us that we are not where we need to be. We may have more growth to make and more things to do. For us also, we may find ourselves doing the same things and expecting a different result. Mike reminded us of the need to try new things and get out of our routine. There he was about to become a hotelier, something he has never been but a path he has committed to, as he embarks on this new journey.
Then, there was the last but certainly not least piece of gem , no matter what you do and what you achieve God always needs to get the glory. Sometimes we are so happy, so excited, so consumed by our own sense of importance that we forget about God’s part in what we achieved. However, we need to remember that our stories of success and what we have been able to do are all lies if God is not a part of the telling.
Old Things.
Old things can be made new so think twice before you throw them away
While we may want to throw everything out with the new year coming in, let us not be too hasty.
There is this belief that we have that everything is suppose to magically change with the start of a new year. If we had a negative mindset we instantly develop a new more positive one. If we ate poorly the year before we just make the resolution and it will be a healthy year ahead.
All our problems will disappear and puff, we begin with a clean slate.
So we hastily try to get rid of everything , the good and the bad, they all must go!
Hmm, I have realized from experience that more thought, planning, action and discipline is required than we give.
While we need to get rid of the things that have held us back from reaching where we need to be, we need to make sure that we do not make the mistake of getting rid of something we may need later down the road.
Sometimes it take a while and some effort to recognize the beauty in what we have and to appreciate it fully.
In the act of being mindful, let us all be cautious and think carefully about what we are about to let go of.
Is there more value in keeping something, than letting it go?
So You Don’t Become What You Speak Against.
Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.
― C.G. Jung
I don’t like when people are selfish but I have acted selfishly. I can’t tolerate hypocrites, but I cringe when I realize that I have said something hypocritical. Being self-aware, what does this mean?
Before I decided to look more on this, I did not know there was a self-awareness theory – there seems to be one for every thing under the sun. Well, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, a very basic definition involves, knowing and understanding yourself very well. However, in Social Psychology, self-awareness is when: “people can think, act and experience and when they can think about what they are thinking, doing and experiencing” (Encyclopedia.com). For Shelly Duval and Robert Wicklunds their theory of self-awareness focuses on how the self can lead to self-evaluation , using as their measuring stick, “standards of correctness that specify how the self ought to think, feel and behave” (Encyclopedia.com). Therefore, being self-aware is seen as crucial for ones sense of self-control. So, being self-aware is a ticket to controlling those things about yourself that you wish you could carve out and throw away forever.
But there is a crisis here, you can become too self-aware, according to the experts. It can make your impression of yourself become distorted – well you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. But here is what I am interested in highlighting, we need to try and be aware of and be honest about our intentions when we do and say something. Instead of focusing on what others are doing and trying to come to a conclusion on people’s motives, we need to wisely use the time to assess ourselves. Yes the world is terrible, because there are some terrible people living here, but do we contribute to this terror without realizing it? Are we aware when we judge and condemn others while doing the same things, or do we really care?
Do we know how to navigate the public self-awareness that we have? When we change our behavior to suit others who are we really fooling, them or ourselves? When we become worried about things about ourselves we cannot change, all because we fear the impression we will leave others with, all because of a “preference” that we do not meet, we will suffer the most, them or us? When we change so much that it really makes sense to go with a whole new name, who becomes the victim? The ones we try to please? I don’t think so.
Sometimes in order not to become the things we speak against, we have to look within and erase the trace matters that exist ready to take control of the me we need to be.
What A Way To live!
If you take yourself seriously you will be offended the rest of your life
Deepak Chopra
Imagine if you lived a life that was totally free from worry about what others think and say about you? What if we did not what for things or people to make us happy? What if we try to find our own joy?
I say easier said than done!
When someone looks your way or seem to, you begin to wonder what they see when they look at you and then a full blown script has been written and performed in your brain because you just don’t know how to take being criticized. I can say that because sadly I have been doing a lot of this lately.
You are at the mercy of every stranger you meet on the street, if they say something nice you’re flattered for the rest of your life and if they say something nasty, you’re offended for the rest of your life.
Deepak Chopra
Sadly again we become so fixated on getting approval from others that we deny that we are doing it when we do it! Many – not all- cannot relax in any situation because our sense of well being is too dependent on how people react to us. We depend on the approval of others like how a drug addict depends on drugs to get a high. If the reaction is good we are on cloud nine but if it’s bad we are hang out limbo, waiting to see if we can redeem ourselves in the eyes of those who just rejected us.
So let us make a conscious effort not to take things so seriously, after all we are all playing with the hand that we were dealt. Many people dish out exactly what they see of themselves. So often it’s less about us and more about them. None of us are perfect, so really there is no perfect answer to any question or solution to a problem. Just do you, live your best life because there is nothing else you can do. Just put one foot forward and go about your day.
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