Epilogue: The Post-Credits Scene

"Despite everything, no one can dictate who you are to other people." - Prince

Wait, I thought you concluded your blog last week. I did. But I did have one portrait left from my photoshoot with Zachary, so I decided to tack on this "stinger", a post-credit scene, you see with most Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. Okay, what's up. Am I going to share any insights or lessons I gained from going through this journey? Am I going to announce my plans for another blog series or some other creative endeavor? Do I have some joke I wanted to get off my chest? Am I going to attach a scene of enjoying shawarma with my best friends like the stinger in The Avengers? 

As far as writing goes, I'm going to take a much needed break. The self-imposed commitment to write every week was very cathartic but I poured everything I had into this project. I'm spent and need to take some time to recharge and feel inspired again. I need to find my creative source now that I'm on antidepressants. Maybe I'll drop in with one-off blog here and there, maybe I'll figure out some other series to write about. What I do know is that I found a level of self-expression on this space that I didn't have in my everyday life. So I'll be back at some point. 

In the meantime, I'm committed to reading my best friend's memoir and writing the afterward. I intend to read more. I intend to sketch. I intend to go out on more hikes and beach walks. But most of all, I intend to choose love. It's as natural and fundamental to my existence as breathing. I will choose love even when it doesn't choose me back. Because it's the only reason I found to stay.


"Above all, I just want you to know how significant you are in case no other human in this cruel world tells you so. You do not have to be a symphony or a masterpiece to do good in this world. There is so much love to give and receive if only you allow your heart to be open. Stretch it out as wide as the horizon. Fill your soul with all the world's beauty as the tragic things in your eyes begin to crash down around you like ash.

Let nothing stop you. Not one damn thing.

So, I guess all that is left, that which was left in the beginning, is to love every single thing that surrounds you as if death was soon to come for us all." - Christopher Poindexter

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chapter 26: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... Beauty and Suffering

Image
"The leaves have refused to change. They say that they are tired of things never remaining the same, of dying to be reborn, of winter's dry withered hand. They are praying for an eternal spring. Even I expected that the beautiful autumn must have been ecstasy for the leaves. But they admit that there is nothing more painful than changing from green to yellow to red to brown. They insist that their beauty is a prolonged suffering. They say they will never change again... I have told them that everything has its season." - Saul Williams, S/he SPRING It was August of 2003 (yes I'm telling a story that happened in the summer but just follow along this strained analogy). Nearly 6 weeks after surgery on both knees for patellar mal-tracking and tendonitis. By now I no longer needed to use crutches but I still required the use of a cane because any prolonged standing caused immediate swelling and inflammation in my knees. I wouldn't be able to resume physical therapy unti...
Read more

Prologue: Side Character Energy: A Reluctant Protagonist

Image
  "I stepped into the shadows, telling myself not to be afraid. Yet I knew I would either find something worth living for or I would stay dead". - Zachary Kouko For much of my adult life I have been a supporting character in my own story. Working for and under accomplished, powerful women. Working in non-profit, first in multi-cultural education and now in domestic violence. The wingman to female friends who lit up every room they walked into with their beauty, style, grace, and larger than life personalities. I felt comfortable in their shadows, this was their show and it didn't have to be about me.  That's not to say that I've been silent. Often times I was hiding front and center. I was a Managing Director and MC for professional development workshops. I emerged as a Site Administrator at my current job and often serve as a mouthpiece for my boss. I use my platform and intersectional privilege to amplify marginalized voices, whether it's anti-racism, women...
Read more

Chapter 18: Silk Sonic, Tasting Menus, and Leave the Yondr Open

Image
"In his face there came to be a brooding peace that is seen most often in the faces of the very sorrowful or the very wise. But still he wandered through the streets of the town, always silent and alone." - Carson McCullers "Self-actualized people also tend to be independent and resourceful: they are less likely to rely upon external authorities to direct their lives." - Martela & Pessi, 2018 This past week was the first vacation I've taken since I began working in Domestic Violence and my first vacation since April 2018, when I went to New Orleans for WrestleMania 34 with my best friend Lexi at the time. This was long overdue, having long since past the point of burn out from work and the PTSD of being a frontline worker during a pandemic. There was always a reason to delay my break. Colleagues who took their vacations and the struggles to find coverage for those missing shifts. Several colleagues who left the organization to pursue other opportunities, whe...
Read more