This is a little video from my new favorite website the 99%… (Thanks Josh.)
It expresses how we are ALL creative and we ALL have ideas, dreams and goals – BUT as you begin to work through the kinks and DOUBT yourself… you are just sabotaging your projects or dreams before you even gave it a chance to come to fruition.
Now PLEASE keep in mind that – YES – the ‘Lizard Brain’ plays a large role in this, but so does your immediate environment. It is so important to surround yourself with like minded people in order to fertilize these thoughts so they would even have a chance to germinate and blossom…
So the next time you tell someone that you are going to be a rock star… a best selling author… an Indian Chief…or whatever – and they shower you with doubt and an endless list of difficulties or challenges that lie ahead of you…. Here’s what you do:
“…the reason for the change is……..the “O.V.” is my neighborhood (The Oxford Village Projects) The place, my closest friends and I grew up. . It has so much meaning with my childhood and adult life. Growing up poor was tough but, the experience I had in the “…O.V.” was so special. This name has been my band name from the start and will be to the end. I honor all of the friends and families who fell on hard times and left with extended family.”
- Danny Lynch
Here are a few pictures from the show on Friday, May 28, 2011.
(+ Yes – Apparently it was extremely hot on that stage…)
…But there are deer… + beer drinking pigs…+ lots and lots of mosquitoes and other small flying insects that like to bite.
We left on a Wednesday + returned on a Wednesday and let me tell you – that was the best FREE trip that I have ever been on :) My husband Demetrius and I embarked on a voyage to the island of St. Croix for (7) days for our Second Honeymoon – as the grand prize for winning on the Newlywed Game Show back in January…
Please understand that nothing in this life is free … everything comes with a cost + trust and believe that the universe will look for its payment…
It was a beautiful trip and the island was breath-taking…so I am not going to bore you with that :)
1. American Airlines raped us in baggage fees from the start. $88.00 (one way) – Are you serious??
2. The flight left around 6:00 in the morning…so I was Tired (yes – with a capital T). Unfortunately the lady sitting next to me was not and talked to me the entire flight from Philly to Miami… She was cool though (very sweet)… and I really hope that her grandson’s wedding in St. Lucia was awesome :)
3. It was incredibly HOT and HUMID – Like no joke… Even the local people were saying how unusual the weather has been…
4. …which leads me to the next thing… It rained EVERY single day that God sent and on Saturday, we experienced something that we have only ever seen glimpses of on the Weather Channel…
5. It seems that every time we go somewhere Deme loses something… This time his bracelet was claimed by the ocean…
6. Ok – So on the way BACK American Airlines raped us AGAIN. Even worse this time – because now we bought souvenirs and one of our bags were over the weight limit… tack on another $60.00… (and I didn’t even get a free pack of peanuts…) NOT fair.
7. We decided to drive ourselves to airport and just pay for the long-term parking… We really didn’t want to inconvenience anyone with the weird flight times that we had… We landed in Philly around 11:30 or so and hopped on the shuttle that took us directly to our car.
The damn thing didn’t start. The battery was completely dead. Apparently the loud thunderstorms triggered the car alarm to go off and it burned out the entire battery…
WOW.
In any event, we had SAFE travels as I know that we are always ‘Lying in the Hands of God‘… ( I love that song…) Of course we had a few bumps in the road, but if we didn’t – I really wouldn’t have much to write ;-)
We were sitting next to the large window – that framed our ‘perfect’ ocean front view… A storm was brewing and we were patiently waiting for its arrival. (we watched as it slowly rolled over the mountains beyond)
Quickly.
The winds became more violent and palm trees started to look like something I saw in passing on the Weather Channel… (um. not good.)
…SO. he went to go and get my glass of water and he noticed that there was water coming in under the front door. He tried to open the door, but there was resistance from the pool of water that had already collected in our walkway. He said there were waterfalls over the retaining walls in front of our door. (Our room was conveniently located at the bottom of a mountain along the ocean…Directly in front of a paved roadway… ALL of the water was sheeting down the hill and into a cluster of (3) rooms…)
At that moment we were in survival mode.
We ran and collected EVERYTHING off of the floor and forced it into our suitcases.
+ By this time there is about an inch of water underneath our beds.
I went into the bathroom to collect a few last things and there was about 2″ of water by the toilet.
…Then Deme said the power went out in the main bedroom space.
WTH.
No power – in a horrible storm – in a flooded hotel room – on an island in the Caribbean – Are you serious?
By around 8:30pm we were both sitting on the beds with all of our luggage packed – in the dark, with a candle. The rain finally started to subside and front desk was able to send a shuttle down the hill to pick us up and transfer us to a new room…
IT RAINED SO HARD + FOR SO LONG (I cannot stress that enough. I was scared.)
Before the rain stopped, we were already in our new (upgraded) room. I swear it had to be the rock star suite. Even though that most unusual storm was no fault of the hotel’s they made it right and upgraded us to a room that did not even compare to the last one… (which I already thought was pretty awesome)
Perhaps God just threw another life lesson at me about ‘Weathering the Storm”? Or – was it more of a lesson about designing the landscape / hardscape with proper grades and drainage paths + installing the proper flashing at the exterior wall / slab conditions?
I just wanted to take a second to express how THANKFUL I am for the opportunity to promote and sell my book at the Black History Showcase this past weekend at the PA Convention Center.
Most likely, if you are reading this, you may have stopped at my table and learned a little bit about architecture and my book. A lot of you paused for a moment and I am HONORED that you were willing to speak to me about your life experiences, challenges or observations.
God works in mysterious ways and I am BLESSED that I was given this gift of opportunity to meet so many wonderful people and share my thoughts with you.
Everett – Thank you for putting together such a wonderful event!
Deborah Gary (Colorbook Gallery) – THANK YOU for believing in me. I appreciate all of the kind words that you given me and for ‘hooking me up’ with this event. I will be seeing you VERY soon.
Deme – Thank you for being my PR dude. No one knows me better than you.
Jonathan @ Visual Resources – Thank you for getting my banners to me – right in time :)
Velcro – Thank you for always sticking by my side. Without you my spinning display would still be sitting in pieces at the Soup Factory. I appreciate all that you do.
