It begins
…. how wonderful!
It flourishes
…. how grand!
It tenses
…. what was I thinking?
It widens
…. who are you?
It ends
…. inevitably.
Copyright © 2014 Tamika Brown and TheFynePrynt.com
Photo: The Movie Title Stills Collection
Category: Uncategorized
These Walls
It is behind these walls that the story unfolds, that the words were shared and the lies unfold.
It is behind these walls where she spent her days, wondering when things would be better, wondering when things would change.
It is behind these walls that good was given, bad was taken and mess left in the wake.
It is behind these walls that the dreams dreamt were forever left behind, smoldering and dying.
It is behind these walls that better days seemed to be an illusion, a far off place, destined for those only by fate chosen.
It is behind these walls he considered from which there was no escape, only hopes to hope and useless words to taste.
It is behind these walls of the mind that bait and trap, set us up and force us to believe, that we will never be more than the smallest of these.
Copyright © 2014 Tamika Brown and TheFynePrynt.com
Photo: Susan Epps Oliver
Culture Commentary
Ok. So I was really trying to un-see this tweet from last week but the more I tried to not think about it, the more I thought about it.
I’m hoping with all my heart that this person {late teens, female, non-POC} was just trying to get a rise or response or just acting out of boredom.
I’m hoping.
Since that post I’ve seen many, many other things that have given me pause and made me scratch my head a bit. I know that like religion, we should never ever ever ever bring up race in a discussion. It’s a “bad” word, right up there with the best swear words.
However, I remain troubled. From Madonna hashtagging a picture of her son using the N word, to some of the rather disgusting comments about Richard Sherman after the NFC Championship game because of his behavior, it seems like more than ever we NEED to talk about race.
I don’t pretend to be so naive as to think that this society will ever be kumbyah. Ever. But there are SO many stops on the journey prior to that place: knowledge sharing, conversation, question asking, understanding and respect to name a few.
Racism and other race issues are not simply a problem for POC but for ALL of us. If we never discuss it, then how do we move past it? If we never teach racial or social justice, how will people know to make a different or better choice before purposely harming someone {physically, emotionally, psychologically}.
Because as this young lady reminded; like so many learned behaviors, the act of racism is indeed a choice.
So let’s start by making some better choices. Even if no one knows but us that we made it, every better choice is a better choice.
Copyright © 2014 Tamika Brown and TheFynePrynt.com.
You’re It
I found you.
You found me.
Of course we promised for ever.
I found you.
You found me.
Of course we promised our love.
I found you.
You found me.
Our words hung in the air like birds gliding.
I found you.
You found me.
We made music.
We danced.
I found you.
You found me.
The bliss was unlike any other.
We wondered if it could possibly be.
I found you.
You found me.
But not in the the same space.
But not at the same time.
What’s Past Is Prologue
“What’s past is prologue”, Shakespeare penned these words in “The Tempest” and what an amazingly complex simplicity.
{And before I travel too far down this thought, no, I have not read nor seen the play. But I love these words. So surely that counts almost as much don’t you think? Yes? I knew you would.}
How often when reading a book do you skip the prologue and jump directly to chapter one? For me, until quite recently, it was all the time. Then I picked up a book and did something unusual for me and I read the prologue. When I finished the book I knew I would never have reached the resolution the author designed had I not read that prologue.
So what, right?
Isn’t it so true that in life we are allowed quickie views into the future if only we are present now? If we would take a moment and really consider the things that are happening around us and to us? But we’re so busy getting to the next place or making the next decision that we simply miss those small cues that could make the biggest differences.
And of course not every past action is an indicator of our life story will ultimately unfold. But every lesson we can learn from our before could help us get to a better, more fulfilling after.
“What’s past is prologue” …. How will your story unfold?
How To Start Your Day .. In A Slump
1. Go to bed ridiculously early the night before
2. While having a midnight sip of water, spill it in your bed
3. Go back to sleep trying to avoid the wet spot
4. Turn the alarm off AND “accidentally” throw the phone on the floor
5. Oversleep
6. Lose all fashion sense and become unable to create an outfit for the day
7. Once an outfit is selected, ironed and on your body …. find an unhide-able stain
8. Regroup, go forth, can’t find keys – can’t find glasses – can’t find swipe card – you know, the usual
9. Off you go, out to conquer the world!!!
And oh, it’s Monday for your child too sooooo you might want to wake him up and get him ready because he has places to be too 😉
In That Order
{although it’s just imagery, content not suitable for those who are “uptight”}
A knock on the door
A look in his eye
A smile on my face
A touch on my neck
A chill on my skin
A kiss on his lips
A caress on his back
collision
breath
sound
exquisite
passion
pleasure
collapse
goodbyes
There Is No More Room For Broken Things
What is it about our nature that causes us to hold on to things long after they have outlived their usefulness? We become almost obsessed with keeping things around even when they are if no benefit. It’s almost as though we fear becoming “less” when we let go of things.
And you know I’m not making that up – I mean there are unscripted/”reality” shows all about our inability to simply clean up and get rid of things. And I am NOT making light of those who are truly incapacitated by separation, I’m talking about the rest of us.
We fill our closets with gadgets that don’t work, our garages with furniture that can’t be used, our minds with thoughts that don’t lift us higher and yes, with people who don’t push us forward. And most commonly with people/things that hold us back.
And the way that life happens it’s as if the more we attempt to be completely convicted by our decision to get rid of stuff/people they become like X-Men! And not just any of the X-Men, nooo, like Mystique – really one the baddest of them all! They take on a quality of superhuman proportion many times more determined to STAY than we are to LET GO.
Are we afraid of failure or loneliness? Do we think people will view us strangely if clean out our closets/FB lists/contact lists/minds? Are we afraid of finding out what we’re really made of?
Of course I don’t have the answer {because that’s not what I do here} but I do know that I have no more room for broken things.
Note To Self
“Note to self {NTS}” I find that I use that notion a lot. Typically when I am drifting out of focus and making something about me that really isn’t.
For instance sitting in a meeting discussing {again} the logistics of some project or idea. The speaker may something about “thinking outside the box” – which as everybody knows is the universal trigger to mentally check out because you’ve been collectively getting out of this box for many months now. But I digress.
So that happens and I make a NTS about buying new shoe boxes. But the notes are rarely anything encouraging, inspiring or uplifting – just more crap to do.
So I was thinking why not a beautiful NTS {lord knows i might be waiting forever on somebody else to write it but i’ll save that lil bit for another time}. Anyway, what would I write to myself as a beautiful love letter, an inspired Note To Self?
Here goes:
Dear Tamika, your ability to allow people the space to be themselves truly astounds. You provide comfort simply by being present. Your thoughts make me wander and wonder. You make me want to take my time to get to know you better, stretching our moments into hours, our hours into days, our days into a lifetime.
xoxo
PS those candied pecans and red velvet cookies you make are everything! i would be ok getting fat with you
So that’s mine. What’s your inspired Note To Self?
This skin requires Courage, Hope, Love.
Isn’t it always so amazing the things we experience each day, each moment? Today would have been the 123rd birthday of acclaimed author Zora Neale Hurston and of all her wonderful words, I was struck most by this quote from How It Feels To Be Colored Me:
“Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It’s beyond me.”
With all the talk of our “post-racial” society the tragedy is truly that too many things are happening to individuals daily based on nothing more than the color of their skin – both “positive” and negative. It is certainly true that not EVERY thing is racial but it is also true that the things that are racial should not be overlooked.
For instance their is jubilant news that SNL has hired it’s first African American female comedienne in 7 years. That’s great but in a post racial society should/would it be news? Is the ascension into one’s passions and attaining one’s dreams so rare for People of Color (POC) and specifically Women of Color (WOC)? Is it generally seen as a supernatural event for POC/WOC to reach this level?
I don’t have the answers and I’ll leave it here for now but in the meantime I salute every person who has the Courage, Hope and Love to truly live in their own skin!
Learn More. Love More.
The Fyne Prynt 