Endure Love

because my heart
is not my weakness
I will not care-less 
and though that cup runneth over with
suffering and distress
heartache and bitterness  
leaving me drunk from a sullied love
I will not stop
even slightly
less longer than
a moment
I will resist caving
in nihilism
but a prisoner of hope
I will persist in loving

Because despite everything and all things that would come to pause our hearts and stop us in our tracks...we must still love.

Because despite and in spite of the heartbreaks and the mood aches, we will again awaken to love. We must answer the call to love. We need be the love we are born of. 

Do not let your heart be weakened by the words or the deeds of another who could not love you to full capacity or overflow in the fervor of your love. Do not let your heart be so troubled or dismayed by the lost ones who came to find rest in you for a short moment. They came to leave you with a lesson or two. You are the originator of your love. Their ghost cannot diminish the love fulfilled in you. Love on. Love up. Love in. Because love does, you too can endure.  

erm...It is Well

Love Yourself to Life

A message to all wonderful women:

All this talk of love yourself, honor yourself, care for yourself, but what does that look like?

It looks like you waking up every morning, looking into your eyes in the mirror and being grateful that you can look into your brown eyes in the mirror and see a face of innocence and wonder, life in the making
without judgement.

It looks like gently, handling, cherishing and accepting your body
because you yourself deserve your tenderness,
your heart deserves attention from you,
your heart deserves kindness from you,
you deserve forgiveness from you;
Above all you deserve a second chance from you, or a third, or fourth...

It looks like you thanking God for your face, your smile, your neck; 
your breasts are not too small, they’re not too big, they are perfect as they are.
It looks like loving the sway of your waist, 
the feel of your thighs, the arch of your feet.
You really are made perfectly, relax into your body.
It looks like loving the curves of your body, 
loving the lines on your body, 
accepting the wrinkles on your body, 
forgiving the flaws on your body;
Cause it’s the one body you’ve got! 

Touch yourself and hold yourself as you would your lover, 
take your time, discover yourself, learn yourself, affirm yourself.
Bring your broken, marred self back to the potter’s house and let Him mold you again.
It looks like looking back at where you were and looking now at where you are and thanking your angels for carrying you thus far and further.

Have confidence in, believe in, continuously; 
your paths, the distance, the course
to your condition, your transitions and your destinations.
All the ways you arrive belong to you and will work to your becoming,
your ultimate self.

Loving yourself to life looks like gratefulness, carefulness, and appreciation for everything; 
It looks like feeding yourself with the foods that nourish your body, 
lend longevity to your heart, 
and drinking the spring water to quench your soul.
It looks like resting your head on a clean bed of soft sheets,
keeping your atmosphere uncluttered and orderly to encourage your inner peace.

Indeed, your love looks like: 
resting in the grace working around your life.
Your love looks like letting love and light beam through you.
Your love looks like enduring resilience and everyday surrender.
You love looks like you learning to trust in your divinity.

And finally it sounds like you repeating these words to yourself daily:
I know myself as love. I am love.
I know myself as loving. I am a lover.
I know myself in love. And I am my lover.

That is your call. That is your purpose. 
To reach love, teach love and be love only.

Sincerely,
erm

erm...It is Well

Rewriting the Narratives

Let us begin the work of getting to the heart of the matter.
I hereby declare this your blog! The dream I wish to see as a reality for such a time as this, is a space where woman peel off the layers to discover themselves. When I say rewriting the narratives, it means throwing out the scripts we memorized from the mouth of tradition and removing the limitations we've worn under the guise of religion.

Rewriting the Narratives means, taking off our mother's dress, our grandmother's head wrap, our sister's shoes...It means taking from our abiding thoughts the teachings we were given as doctrine and removing from our internal dialogue all the myths we have talked into our being. It means breaking through all the gospels we were given as the formula for living. You are the writer of your life. Everyday you arise from your bed and your feet touch the floor, you have the power to co-create with your Father God. 

But before you create haphazardly for one more moment; before you create one more stronghold from a place of weakness or one more ounce of your life with ill intention--you should search your heart. You should take a seat in your soul and observe the comings and goings. You should get to the bottom of your heart, through all your matter. 

Getting to the Heart of the Matter is what I believe to be the path to wholeness and living well. The residue of brokenness, loneliness, rejection, betrayal, abandonment...need I continue. (I know you have a list of your own). When we do not use our response-ability and sift through our matter, renew our hearts, the residue of these things sit on our hearts, festering, occupying viable space, leaving no room for healing. We know everything unsettled in our heart brims to the surface of our life, on the job, in the home, through relationships. No area is exempt. But so what?

The Call to Action--you knew it was coming. I challenge you to join me on the mission. Accept it. Take off the mask. Peel off dead skin. Liberate your story. It has held you hostage long enough. Share boldly and unabashedly. (Or if you wish, share anonymously).

You are wise. As wise women, it is our burden and blessing to impart our hard earned wisdom gained from heartache and sufferance to younger generations. To our daughters and nieces and friends coming along the way, we owe them, the knowing of what it takes for a woman to become whole, stay whole and thrive. So go ahead, share a paragraph or share a page (or share this link). The point is let it go. The story has no power over you. But it can be powerful to the inspiring of another. 

erm...It is Well

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