May 28, 2014 is bittersweet for me as a scribe and as a dreamer. For years I have yearned to meet the woman who helped me understand that words on paper can heal. I have wanted for so long to sit at her feet, shake her hand and tell her thank you for being courageous to write. My opportunity to meet her did not come; my dream to meet her is something I must identify on my list as "incomplete."
It hurts to have missed the chance to accomplish my dream. As a writer and a coach I encourage people to follow their dreams and I didn't have the resources to follow the biggest one of my own. Right now I can't even imagine anything else on my vision board as much as I wanted to meet her. I could cite things such as getting my PhD, going to a Tyler Perry play, traveling back to Haiti and having another baby but nothing compares to the energy I put into wanting to be as good a scribe as she was. Nothing compares to finding my voice after pain and being able to share my stories with Maya Angelou.
I didn't fail. Dreamers out there when you have a dream and it is snatched from you for whatever reason, don't beat yourself up. Sit back and reevaluate your dream. Mourn the loss of it and allow yourself to feel the pain and cry. Find the root of motivation behind the original dream and seek after that thing. Be intentional, find your tenacity and don't let go until you reach the heights. You have to remember that sometimes you will fall short, sometimes you will need help, sometimes you may not make it. Even though that is the case, don't you forget that you exist to accomplish something, find the problem you were meant to solve. Something is out there for you, something God wants you do to and don't you give up on it, or yourself. No matter what.
Do not quit.
If you know me, and my heart for Maya Angelou, you know I am deeply saddened right now. Words of encouragement from my support system have given me hope and I promise I won't quit. I have to remind myself that having that dream, that big goal to meet Maya Angelou was important to me. It was motivation to write so that I would have something to show for what she taught me. I may not have met her, but I still have a responsibility to carry the torch she left as a scribe and an activist.
Our world is crumbling around us and healing words are needed. Scribes need to stand up and not be afraid to write. Speak up Scribe and tell your stories. We need hope, we need encouragement and we need inspiration. Scribes, let God use you to be a voice. Maya Angelou, Dorothy Height, Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King, Jr, Malcolm X, Betty Shabazz, Medgar Evars, Joan Trumpauer and all of our elders need us to pick up our torches.
Power to the people. I'm going to read my baby a Maya Angelou Poem and go to bed.
Girl, Pray for Me.
PLJ
Beautiful! You learned well, daughter!
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