Conscious Syllables

Some say that the first step toward solving a problem is to admit that the problem exists. So here it goes: I have this problem. The second step for me is to label exactly what it is, and that's been the hard part. I don't know if it's a sense of emptiness or boredom, whether I'm missing something or I have too much of it, or if it's something that needs to be changed or just managed. What I do know is that I haven't really felt...fulfilled. At the core of me, I am craving something more, beyond the monotony and beyond the mental clutter of social media. With the world at my fingertips, I somehow insist on subjecting myself daily to the limited scope of my email messages, text messages, and FB newsfeed. Subconsciously looking for something new, but ending up with a bunch of the same old things. My mind is bombarded with people's random thoughts over and over again in different forms. I can almost feel my mind becoming less creative just typing about it....

[Courtesy of google images] Bombs? Who would have thought? I actually have been trying not to think about the horrific events of the Boston Marathon, but my attempts were thwarted. Obviously. It's all that anyone who lives here can talk about. And rightfully so. Senseless violence takes the breath out of you and leaves you gasping for answers. Answers that have not started to come in until yesterday when pictures of the suspects were released. Before I went to bed last night, there was news of gunshots on the MIT campus. I shook my head at humanity and went to sleep.   I woke up to emergency text alerts from my school saying it was shut down and to stay indoors because one of the suspects are on the run. With the city on lock and nowhere to go, I've been watching television with my roommates as the news develops. All week, I've been watching and watching and finally felt that I needed to respond, in some way, to what I've been seeing. So I've been brought bac...

[courtesy of google images] I attended a workshop back in the Fall where the presenters focused on vicarious traumatization experiences of African Americans via media protrayals. It was an interesting presentation, but what stuck with me most was  a tangential conversation that came up during the audience discussion. I forgot how it started, but there came a point when one of the presenters shared a story of how her son came to her with questions about why everyone at school was talking about Martin Luther King, Jr as if he is the only successful black person. The presenter concluded her disclosure saying that Black History Month just doesn't make sense in the context of today. The idea of talking about the first Black person to do this or do that limits the truth that many more than just one Black person has been successful. Therefore, she does not engage in Black History Month celebrations or acknowledgements. While I can agree with the notion that discussing the histo...

Happy New Year! Just like with any start, I am positively overwhelmed by the many possibilities that the sense of newness brings. In doing my best with keeping with the Kwanzaa tradition, I wrote in a my journal with the aim to  reflect on the three questions: Who am I? Am I really who I  say I am? Am I all that I ought to be? Interestingly enough, I got a call while writing from someone sharing an observation she'd made of me. As I listened, I initially felt inclined to defend and justify, but something told me to just listen. Listen and take in what was being said, for even if I don't agree with everyting, there may be something worth considering. At the core of her criticism was a reminder to be mindful of how my behavior may be influenced by those who surrounds me. Fair enough, right? Sometimes when people say something to us, we forget that they are only sharing one perspective of many. It is up to us to determi...