If You Would Have Told Me a Year Ago...

Hey world! It's been a while. Four months is entirely too long to not have posted on my blog. I need to do better... I know. A lot of things have happened since February.

​I've been to a few events. Met Shawn Wayans and Tommy Davidson. Went to a couple plays. Saw Gloria Carter (again), Hattie White, Cicely Tyson (YES, THE CICELY TYSON!), and Whoopi Goldberg. "Reconnected" with my mom on Mother's Day... that should be a whole 'nother post, maybe. Been hitting the gym and maintaining veganism 97% of the time. Lost 10lbs, gained 6lbs back. Jesus Juice and this decadent caramel marshmallow pecan brownie from Whole Foods in Tribeca keep my waistline from being Army snatched circa Summer 2004. Need to step my fitness and self control game up. Had an unexpected semi-annual performance review on May 20th. Found out later that day from my contract supervisor that I got a 8.57% raise effective June 1st. Bought a new TV since my old one was on the fritz. Met a few guys via Tinder. One turned out to be the jealous, non-communicative type. One was a whole fuckboy. I lost interest in the other one. Last week I met Elaine Welteroth, and I'm currently reading her book, More Than Enough, which I highly recommend. I'm re-watching Season 1 and 2 of An African City. Still waiting on Nicole Amarteifio to drop Season 3. I've been studying Yoruba and Fulani (Nigeria), and Kota and Tsogo (Gabon) people's customs and culture. And this month, come June 30th, I'll be celebrating 8 years since I moved into my apartment with a beautiful view of the NYC skyline.

So yeah... I've basically just been living life, shedding my endometrial lining every month, and planning the logistics for my 11 day birthday-vacation voyage to Accra, Ghana in August.

And here we are - it's June 17th. Exactly two months from now I'll be celebrating the 2 year anniversary when I decided to stop being indecisive about starting a blog and finally purchase my domain name. Exactly two months from now I'll be celebrating Gabon Independence Day, my paternal African lineage, while I'm getting ready to head to the MMG Foundation Homecoming Dinner & Dance Gala at the Accra International Conference Centre rocking an African gown that I've still yet to shop for. 

If you would have told me last year on August 17th while I was writing the Happy Independence Day blog post that I would be attending a fundraiser for the Marcus Garvey Memorial Centre in Ghana exactly one year later, I would have been like... "tuh, be for real!" 

If you would have told me last year while I was on my birthday vacation in Montego Bay, Jamaica visiting Bob Marley's Mausoleum and enjoying the sights and sounds of Doctor's Cave that this year for my birthday I will be celebrating The Year of Return, I would have been like... "How Sway?" 

If you would have told me a year ago that I would be where I am today, I would have laughed and been like..."deadass though, stop playin'!" In less than two months, I'll be 35. I feel wiser, stronger, freer, more confident, and even more determined. I'm more purpose-driven. I'm more comfortable in my own skin. I'm more ME. They say the older you get, the less you care about what other people think of you. Therefore the older you get, the more you enjoy life. No truer words have been spoken! 

Woody Allen once said, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans." I didn't plan to be where I am today, let alone be headed to Africa in two months. It was on the eve of my 34th birthday - the last day of my Jesus Year - when I declared to myself, as I waded in the water in Montego Bay, that I would just go with the flow of life. I've always been the Type A personality - the one who was strategically organized that set ambitious goals with rigid deadlines and was always hard on myself when I fell short of my intended target. I didn't want to be that person this year. I wanted to let go...

Case in point... last September I applied for an Event Planner position at my job. I met with four senior level executives in my department, and I thought I did extremely well in each interview. Two weeks later I learned I didn't get the position, and they decided to hire someone fresh out of college with one previous job in event planning under her belt. It turns out that the contract event planners get paid significantly less than what I'm paid, they routinely work late hours with no overtime pay, and most seem stressed out on a regular basis. Was I disappointed that I didn't get the job? Of course, but only for as long as it took me to read the "While we were very impressed with your background and experience, we decided to go with another candidate..." email. I have more than 15 years of experience in event management, but God had something better in mind for me, and I'm just going with the flow. 

There have been other instances when I expected something would happen, and it didn't or what I'd planned didn't work out but something better occurred. I've learned time and time again that what God has for you, is for you. Don't get upset and linger in self-doubt and frustration if what you desire doesn't come to fruition. Trust God's plan for your life. He will provide His very best! 

I'm really looking forward to my upcoming trip to the Motherland. This will be my first time there. I honestly feel like I'm embarking on a whole new chapter in my life. It's like soon I will no longer be checking the 25-34 box!

I'm moving on up! Spiritually, I feel like this trip will be life changing, and I'm mentally and emotionally prepared for it. I couldn't have said that five years ago. I couldn't have said that a year ago. I wholeheartedly believe that I was supposed to find out my maternal and paternal genetic ancestry and learn more about where I come from before I traveled home. God knows what you're ready for, and He prepares a way when the time is right.

If you would have told my ancestors 400 years ago when they were captured, bound, and brought to American soil as property and free labor that 400 years from now, your resilient lineage will produce a daughter who will return to your native land, I'd like to think they would simply say... àṣẹ. 

​Peace and blessings, peeps!