The BEST Gift someone I love and respect can Give Me is Their TIME and to be Fully Present when we engage each other on the Phone or in Person.
So many times people want things that cost money… gifts of specific items, purchased experiences or straight up financial gifts.
Now, I will never say that financial gifts are a bad thing, but for me I value time spent in a one on one or agreed upon group situation with loved ones.
Trusted, engaging times, creating wonderful memories is what matters to me the most at this point in my life.
Time and Being Fully Present when we share engage each other is so very valuable to me.
This is a great question, What Are My Biggest Challenges?
I had to take some time to think about this before I responded.
The first challenge I have is, not wanting to talk to too many people nor see them. It has nothing to do with not caring about them and loving them. I just don’t seem to want to talk on the phone or plan to see one another. Since I have been home, I have not seen but 2 people outside of my children. I don’t know if I just got used to not being around people during the pandemic, or when I decided to distance myself from people that last stretch of my stay in Vegas before returning home. I clearly became a recluse during this time and came to really enjoy my alone time and lost any desire to around people. I am also and Empath and life at my job was so stressful that I needed to spend a lot of quiet time to let go of the negative energy I was around.
I did think that when I returned home to Seattle that I would want to get out and see people and possibly check out some local talents shows. That too has not been the case. I go to work and go home and just sit quietly or watch a show or two with my family.
Sometimes, I feel concerned about this fact of not wanting to engage people, more so because there are people that want to see me. I don’t know if I am just making some kind of excuse or if this issue goes deeper into some form of mental issue. I am cool with the fact that I don’t want to engage too many people, it’s the people that want to connect that remind me that I have not either by calling and leaving voicemail, text messages, or even reaching out on social media. And there are those that are getting up there in age, that I really need to push myself to see.
My next biggest challenge is the fact that I have pretty much fallen back from the involvement and support I have shown for the Independent Artist Industry. While in Vegas I pretty much lost interest. I would watch on social media and at times I would do some research and go to find where I can hear music or see what they are doing creatively. I have not come across too much that has captured my attention to the point that I want to go beyond my initial findings. I miss the days when I woke up and went to bed working on a project or plotting and planning my next endeavor.
I believe that some of it does come down to my age and what I desire to experience has shifted and some of it comes down to the industry being so oversaturated with creative people that there is so much weeding through to try and find someone that I want to put effort into. I do hope to get back to reading books for review and to get out and experience some local talents in this new year. I will continue to write my blogs that range form industry thoughts and info to, subjects that are relevant to me at my age of 63. Plus, I love to write reviews about eateries and small businesses that I have encountered.
These 2 challenges are also affected by my issues with driving at night. I believe I have some night vision issues that hinder my desire to drive at night, unless it is somewhere that I am familiar with.
I was listening to a podcast this morning, of hip hop industry creatives speaking on the difference of a Trophy woman and a Treasured woman.
I’ve been thinking about this and the more it makes sense when we describe something as a TROPHY, it is something that we generally want to display. Athletic trophies of achievement or an acknowledgement of some form of achievement like award ceremonies. When we use that term when it comes to a person, it normally means someone who is identified as beautiful, what we would call Eye Candy. It could also be a recognition that one is in a relationship with someone of some form of high standings.
Now when we speak about TREASURE, we are speaking about something that we place a personal value on, a value that is not necessarily monetary but precious to our soul. Treasured things are not necessarily on display for others to see, treasures are more personal and kept for limited people to know about if any. So, if a person is a Treasure to someone, I believe that means that person is extremely valuable to someone’s heart and soul. They don’t necessarily want to share them with the public, although they will. This person is not the one that they care for a bunch of people to know about and exploit. But then is could be totally opposite and you will see them together frequently.
When I saw this and posted this yesterday, I felt it deserved to be put in a New Year’s blog.
How many times do to evaluate how the year we just left played out to what we desire from the new year. I know many of us do this.
As I have taken a year to explore my why, what I embrace about myself and what I know I need to shift. I have come to own my own stuff. I used to spend too much time dissecting other people’s lives and their whys, now that is no longer to put to much time and energy into it.
I don’t have plan for the new year. I do recognize that how I enter everything I do, I within my own power. I want to make sure my purpose and engagement is fulfilled by my why. Even if I just want to do nothing.
What do you want to bring into the new year? Be sure to own the role you play in how things turn out.
Many of us put so much emphasis on what other people are doing to us. I want to encourage to accept that you control what others bring to our lives.
It’s time to look at the patterns that we have created for ourselves. Now, identify if that is who you want to be, or is it time to shift to something else or even eliminating that part of who we have become.
A big lesson I learned, or more so understand is the saying, “you cannot expect you from other people.”
How Many Chapters Are There In The Book Of Proverbs?
thirty-one chapters
The purpose of wisdom literature in the Bible is to teach rather than to relate a narrative. Proverbs contains thirty-one chapters, each comprised of twenty to thirty-five wise sayings that are each two poetic lines long.
Romans 5 and 8stood out to me. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
I heard this in a sermon today, “Make Peace With God.” It made me stop and process what I believed that this meant, how it relates to my life. A moment of self reflection.
I believe it does have to do with asking God for forgiveness of our transgressions, but I also believe that it speaks to having a sincere relationship to God and the teachings of the Bible..
As a Christian, I believe that there is a need for a solid sincere connection and commitment to my relationship with my Father God. I strongly believe in a higher power. I believe in what the Bible teaches about self worth and the best way to maneuver life with others.
So, there is a constant connection through honest dialogue with God, the more I am transparent the more at Peace he and I will be.
Why do Southerners eat Black Eyed Peas on New Year’s Day?
The story of the Southern tradition of eating black-eyed peas as the first meal on New Year’s Day is generally believed to date back to the winter of 1864 – 1865.
When Union General William T. Sherman led his invading troops on their destructive march through Georgia, the fields of black-eyed peas were largely left untouched because they were deemed fit only for animals.
The Union foragers took everything, plundered the land, and left what they could not take, burning or in shambles.
But two things did remain, the lowly peas and good Ol’ Southern salted pork.
As a result, the humble yet nourishing black-eyed peas saved surviving Southerners – mainly women, children, elderly and the disabled veterans of the Confederate army – from mass starvation and were thereafter regarded as a symbol of good luck. The peas are said to represent good fortune. Certainly the starving Southern families and soldiers were fortunate to have those meager supplies.
According to the tradition and folklore, the peas are served with several other dishes that symbolically represent good fortune, health, wealth, and prosperity in the coming year.
Some folks still traditionally cook the black-eyed peas with a silver dime in the pot as a symbol of good fortune.
Greens represent wealth and paper money. Any greens will do, but in the South the most popular are collards, mustard greens, turnip greens, and cabbage.
Cornbread – a regular staple among Southerners in the absence of wheat – symbolizes gold and is very good for soaking up the juice from the greens on the plate.
You should always have some cornbread on hand in your kitchen anyway. Good for dinner and in the morning with syrup.
Pork symbolizes bountiful prosperity, and then progressing into the year ahead. Ham and hog jowls are typical with the New Year meal, though sometimes bacon will be used, too. Pigs root forward, so it’s the symbolic moving forward for the New Year.
Tomatoes are often eaten with this meal as well. They represent health and wealth.
So reflect on those stories when you sit down at your family table and enjoy this humble, uniquely Southern meal every New Year’s Day. Be thankful for what this year did give you in spite of the bad, and hope and pray for better days that are coming ahead for you.
This was what your Southern Kinfolk did and reflected upon every year.
We wanted to share these traditions with our friends not from the South.
Own your decisions and understand the outcomes. Things will not change until we decide to do things differently.
Learn the lesson and stop letting the cycle repeat itself.
We set the tone on how people treat us. Years ago my god-sister told me when dealing with a bad marriage, she said “when you’re tired of it, you will stop it.” And I did, even though it didn’t happen right away.
I put myself in a position where I wanted to prove my skills to show what value I brought to the Arts and Entertainment Industry … I did work for free and 5 years later I was still doing work for free and paying for tools for others where I never made money as a business person. I finally abruptly stop in October of 2022 and said no more.
It’s easy to get caught up in seeing other people’s worth, while their value of you is based off of what you can do for them without reciprocity.
Know your worth and set boundaries early in connecting.
Growing, Beginnings…The start is always dark and unknown in many ways. With hard work, determination and commitment the journey can blossom into a finished outcome.
Own your life and create the best version of yourself. Always continue to learn, grow and stimulate your mind along your journey.
Lessons are apart of everyone’s story…the beauty is in the learning the lesson and finding something positive in the experience.
I really love this post that I created when I first came up with the concept of this post.
Yes, I went to Vegas with passion and purpose with a plan and a goal. I thought that it would become a reality but a year in or less, I realized that I was on my own. Although, I do believe that those I knew did understand my passion but I closed my eyes that they were not passionate about my passion too.
I found myself slowly, they quickly stopping my dream to create a platform for independent artists to be able to showcase their talents in The Entertainment Capital of The World. I fell into supporting Vegas Entertainers. I used my skills to support great Vegas Entertainment Entities, but it went on for years without any support from them to help me grow as a business.
I was no longer dreaming, plotting and planning Lady Flava News projects. I lost interest in doing my radio shows and I completely lost interest in being apart of anyone’s team or to work on other peoples projects. October 2022 I had very hard conversations with the people I was supporting, they didn’t seem to understand my disappointed in them and the relationships dissolved. And strangely, I am okay with that.
So after 6 years of living in Vegas, I decided and took the steps to leave and return home to Seattle. From my first day of arriving to Vegas with not knowing where I was going to stay…to the day before I drove away, a lot of things ended up in the trash. I’m still working through forgiveness of the gaslighting behind this process.
This is why I say I died, Lady Flava died in Vegas. My spirit was so hurt. I had to recognize that I allowed myself to be emotionally and abused. Between personal, industry connections and my job killed my drive and passion for I branded myself and business…the things that drove my energy to create and work on projects.
LadyFlava of LadyFlavaNews died in Las Vegas.
I have been sitting on the blog for several months. I accept that people don’t understand what harmful things that took place in Vegas, but I don’t need them to understand because it is my story, my experience. Maybe one day I will allow myself to tell my truth, but right now if I was to tell it, some will be able to tell whom were involved.
Now that I delayed this post until the last day of 2023, I decided it was time to put this post out and to let it go. I am promising myself that after tonight, I will mention Vegas on a lite note, versus an intense and painful sharing.
I believe that I was meant to delay this sharing to December 31, 2023. I am so ready to let go of reliving the sadness. I own my part in the madness and sadness. I am shifting my thoughts around what took place and the why, or what I believe the why is or was. I already feel very distant from what was my life in Vegas and the people that I crossed paths with.
I do have people that I will always stay in touch with and hold them always in my heart.
I came to Vegas excited and left a very different person. But I don’t feel it is a bad thing. I came to understand myself so much better than ever in my life. I’ve come to sincerely love myself and trust my process of how I am handling my time. I am not letting anyone make me feel badly for my lack of seeing or communicating with others. It has nothing to do with them, it’s about me and my lack of interest to interact with others right now.
I have no real clue what my Rebirth will look like. I have really gotten into writing my blogs and sharing what I want, when I want. I have hundreds of drafts with blog concepts, I revisit them and many I complete where others I delete or let sit.
I really want to develop my blogs better. I do want to get out and experience things I can write reviews on.
I do hope to connect with those creating original art that will enjoy and embrace.
I will commit to updating my “Happenings In The Pacific Northwest Page. And come out to experience some of these events.
I did renew my Press Pass and will find ways to utilize it as I build my brand as a reviewer and writer.
Beyond that, I have not plans. I will see where God leads me. I know that my work is to show support to independent creative soulz and small business owners.
2022-2023 I have been exploring more and more how I identify what decluttering looks like for my life.
-I see getting rid of things I clearly do not use
-Eliminate things that do not make me happy-people-places and again things
-Discontinue engaging relationships that bring no value to my life and I bring no value to theirs
-Identify my behaviors that are not beneficial for me to live a healthy happy life
-Stop the distraction of being on social media so frequently
To remove things you do not need from a place, in order to make it more pleasant and more useful.To make changes to your life to create a healthy happy lifestyle. Elimination is an act of self love in many ways.
It’s doesn’t have to be a new year’s resolution, but something to really consider exploring as we enter into a new year. Decluttering Your Life.
I have been exploring and researching the minimalistic lifestyle of the Japanese, and I have to say that so much of it makes sense. From belongings, to organization and value of time, space and family.
I started following Marie Kondo, who is a professional declutter and organization expert. I appreciate how she has helped a variety of people to declutter their homes and lives.
Lady Flava News 