Oct 21, 2020 | Becoming, Do The Hard Thing, Grow |
I planted silk flowers
in my garden
in my quest for beauty.
They don’t fool
anyone
for long.
They look
garish and cheap
even when the
sun shines.
When I make a show
and water
their plastic roots with
my polkadot watering can
they are still dead.
It’s not real beauty.
Counterfeit beauty
is an illusion
with nothing to offer.
Real beauty doesn’t
have a shortcut.
Real beauty
has depth and grit.
Real beauty
plants seeds,
spawns life,
shares sustenance,
spreads joy.
I will do the work.
I will bloom
for real.
#PermissionGranted
How will you cultivate real beauty within?

Oct 1, 2020 | Becoming, Encouragement, Faith, Trust |
The pieces don’t fit.
I want to finish
this puzzle so that
it makes sense.
It’s a mess and there are
pieces missing
so I am not sure
why I keep going.
I am losing hope
that I will ever see
the complete picture.
I am missing pieces.
I am not where I
thought I would be
or maybe who
I thought I would be.
Nothing feels complete and
I don’t have hope that
this puzzle, this life
can be redeemed.
I sift through pieces,
I look for hope,
I get out a magnifying glass
to aid my search.
Tears of frustration
make it difficult to see as
I try to match things up.
I sense someone beside me.
He shifts the magnifying glass
so that I can see
the strong
thread holding the
pieces together
where there’s a piece missing.
Hope fills in the gap.
He shows me
that beauty exists
where I see only chaos.
He sees what I cannot.
He shows me that hope
touches each piece
of the puzzle –
even though I can’t
see a picture coming
together at all.
He asks me to trust
that my story
will have
beauty and glory –
hope has made a way.
#PermissionGranted

Sep 14, 2020 | Becoming, Grow |
Dappled light highlights
the shapes made by the
peeling bark on the
crepe myrtle trees.
I go for a closer look.
I am enamored
by the light,
by the tree.
Its cracking,
its peeling.
I’m in awe of
the metamorphosis
of such a large specimen.
This is how it grows.
Crepe myrtles
shed last year’s bark
every summer.
I inspect myself.
Am I peeling off
the constraints
of where I was?
Is my heart
busting out of
last year
and making room
for new growth?
I can see how the
crepe myrtle has
transformed.
Is there evidence
that I’ve transformed?
Are there
cracks
that indicate I
am a growing girl?
#PermissionGranted

Jul 23, 2020 | Be you, Becoming |
Leap
Shuffle
Saunter
Crawl
towards
your
purpose
passion and
possibilities.
We were created to
Grow
Change
Shift
Learn.
Be who you are,
right where you are
but don’t stay there.
#PermissionGranted

Jun 12, 2020 | Becoming, Community, Do The Hard Thing |
but just trust me on this one.
I am just a little shadow
but please note from the picture
that I also have a stage.
on our own individual stages
but please pace yourself.
Your stage may be leading
your kids to understand bias.
Your stage may be leading a
book club to discuss a book on antiracism.
Or perhaps you dive in and unlearn
and share what you are learning anew.
Don’t forget what you feel.
Don’t forget you have a stage.
Jun 4, 2020 | Becoming, Community, Do The Hard Thing |
Dear fellow white humans we have permission to:
mourn
learn
grow
feel
unlearn
research
read
listen
share
reflect
hope
discuss
stand
speak
listen
serve
support.
