Tulips in the Snow

When you see tulips

in the snow, you know mother

nature is in charge.

Beautiful and unusual.  Fat fluffy snowflakes swirled over Philadelphia. It was Saturday, April 9th. Who would have thought we would see tulips in the snow?

Maya Angelou - April 4, 1928 - May 28, 2014

Maya Angelou:

A phenomenal woman

Who taught us to love.

“Gratitude for Maurice White”

Maurice White

1941-2016 

Ever Wonderful.

Our Bright and Shining Star.  Keep

Your Head to the Sky.

I cried real tears when I heard the news. It felt like I lost a close friend. Music Master Extraordinaire, Founder and Spiritual Leader of Earth Wind and Fire, the likes of which we have never seen before or since – the one and only – Maurice White, passed away peacefully in his sleep on February 3, 2016 in his Los Angeles Home. He was 74.  Indeed – Maurice White was the heartbeat behind the music that defined a generation. Earth Wind & Fire’s profound impact continues to reverberate and their influence will endure for generations to come. Farewell Maurice White.  Rest in Peace. May God Bless Your Soul. Truly, without you, the world will never be the same again.

Asante Sana. Peace, Love & Blessings Always.

"Inspiration"

"Inspiration"

"Ancestral Crossing" by Pheralyn Dove

Fresh thoughts, like right rain,

illuminate my sphere of

possibilities.

"No Worries"

"Holly Berries at Valley Green" Pheralyn Dove Photo

"I have no worries.

I connect to Divine Love.

My Faith is in God."

These are my thoughts for today:  
Leave it on the Altar. 
Turn it all over to God. We don't have to try and do this alone. 
There is a Higher Power willing and able to come to our rescue. 
Peace, Love, & Blessings Always.

“Mindset”

My brother Alonzo took this photo of me during a recent trip to Hampton, Virginia.

Change your thoughts and you

Change your Life. It’s really just

as simple as that.

We are what we eat, but just as importantly, we are what we think. Thoughts are things. Our thoughts determine our destiny from moment to moment, from day to day, from year to year, for our entire lifetime. Elevate your thinking and watch your dreams come true. Don’t be afraid to shake off those negative vibes. Tear down those mental mountains of doubt, shame, failure and despair. Replace those ugly useless thoughts and emotions with an authentic sense of gratitude and a “can do” spirit. Mindset is everything. Be aware. Live on purpose. Love your life.

Asante sana. Peace, Love & Blessings Always.

Happy Birthday! (To Me)

Hannan Saleh captured this photo of me during one of my day trips to NYC &
included it in her Essence.com "Street Style" Column.

Powerful, Wondrous:

We ourselves and the world in

which we inhabit.

(Blink. And Blink Again.)

Much to my mother’s surprise, when I uttered my first words at 18 months, I did so in proper English and complete sentences. My earliest memory reaches back to when I was two years old. I blinked and I was 7, totally aware of myself and my surroundings, securely ensconced in a completely Black world, in the Strawberry Mansion working class neighborhood of North Philadelphia. I blinked again and I was 10, reeling from the culture shock brought on from moving to the integrated middle class neighborhood of Mount Airy. The 1970s catapulted me through high school and college. I blinked again and I was in my 20’s:  a wife, a mother, a career woman on the journalism track.

(Blink. And Blink Again.)

I blinked again and I was in my 30’s, my 40’s, my 50’s and now 60.  

As my journey continued, I blinked, and here I was - a divorced single mother perpetually trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up. As I raised my daughter and watched her grow into her own as a woman, I kept myself busy, working in radio, newspapers, theatre. I became a reporter, a press agent, a publicist, an educator, a nonprofit executive director. I became a cultural aesthete, a poet, a playwright, a spoken word artist, a social worker, a grant writer, a homeowner, an entrepreneur, a world traveler.  I became a published author, got into health foods, photography, positive thinking, Zen meditation and distance running (finishing a marathon  - yes, 26.2 miles - to celebrate my 50^th earth day). Being a Black woman in America, you can only just imagine some of the indignities, some of the changes I have been through. Yet somewhere along the line, I embraced gratitude as a way of life.

(Blink. And Blink Again.)

Wow. What an adventure. Some of you have traveled along on this odyssey with me for 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and even all 60 of these years. What a blessing! I wouldn’t change a thing. Thank you, Lord, for allowing me to know what it feels like to live on this planet with my health and strength for 6 decades. Asante Sana. Thank you very much! Peace, Love & Blessings Always.