What I Learned Sundays – Normalize Mourning

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I saw the title of an article that mentioned how Black Panther: Wakanda Forever speaks to normalizing Black mourning. I looked to find it after watching the film, as not to encounter spoilers, but all was for naught. More importantly, I chose to make my own path to mourn, especially after this week. I historically try to be the supportive person, and not address my needs when mourning…but I opened myself up to that rawness today.

I don’t know where to start…in March of this year, my dear friend Bob reached out to me. I had shared Prince experiences and more with he and his bride, Lisa, and last saw him at Red Phone Booth in Atlanta, 2 nights before I moved to California. We chatted about family, Mother’s Day had just passed, and his sons birthdays. We talked of seeing each other upon visits. Then a pandemic happened.

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What I Learned Sundays in the Year 2011 Year In Review – Alchemy

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2011, Atlanta, Blue Hurt, Blue Lines, California, Death, family, Georgia, Kat Goduco, LA Dodgers, Los Angeles, Love, Memphis, MW, Myla, New York, Pain, Prince, Sacramento, Tennessee, The Alchemist, What I Learned Sundays, Year In Review

“…he remembered when he had been here…”
Being grounded, and focused on singular goals, one tends to find complacency in familiarity, accepting the same thing as part of their daily routine. Before I continue, I provincially was going to title this post something provincial like California, the California Version, etc. but then realized that in totality, that would devalue the meaning of this entire years’ adventure.

In many ways, this year was a self discovery travelling the circuitous path from something that I had before me as the clock struck 12:01, cigar in tow, texting the world. I had no idea what was in store, the happiness, the heart break, the gains, the loss, the love, the understanding, the maturity, the betrayal, the failure, the success. In 2011, I was able to destroy the template that was placed in front of me, and rebuild something new, take a veritable step out onto a limb, though, not as much as some, but much more than most.

2011 was full of new beginnings, new faces, and a journey to a place I had known. The alchemy of taking the previous version of myself, melting it down, and creating something new and different. Being a planner, I tried to return to my bearings, as I began the first steps of the year.

Once upon a time there was a boy who lived. He saw his story, and then his story was interrupted by a young girl. He knew he loved her when he met her, love at first sight. Funny thing, in a different time, with different sensibilities, different respects, their story did not match the path that he wanted. Young when children knew everything, yet veritably nothing, living and life would have been “missed” at that time.