Inspiring You to Embrace Your Life's Purpose & Possibilities
Don’t let any of the negativity, confusion, pettiness or hate that happen to be filling your TV or social media screens, the radio airwaves, or perhaps some of your personal interactions, rattle you.
You just keep being you.
Operate from a place of self-confidence and peace and embrace the centered joy that comes from bringing your best self to every situation and sidestepping all else.
It works!
I’m honored this week to be a featured guest on Earrings Off!, a podcast focused on the journeys of women and men of color and how we are navigating this world with hope, authenticity, daring and candor.
Thank you to Earrings Off hosts Lou Ali and Teresa Vaughan for featuring me in Episode 35! I share how my love of writing developed as a young child and has been nurtured throughout my life by family, friends, mentors and readers.
Listen and be inspired to chart your own course from dreamer to doer, whether you’re a writer or passionate about some other endeavor.
Whatever your gift or talent is, you’re meant to share it with those in the world around you, so that in their joy of experiencing you, you too are rewarded.
– Stacy Hawkins Adams Tweet
Listen Here or search for Earrings Off! on your favorite podcast platform – Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher.
How about we ride this thing called life until the wheels fall off?
Take risks and find your joy.
Trust yourself.
Be kind to others, even when it’s not reciprocated.
Say no to the good so you can prepare for the great.
When times are tough, hold onto hope.
When times are flush, enjoy with grace and generosity.
Lean into loving and growing yourself, and whenever you fall or fail, nurse your wounds and get back up again.
-Stacy Hawkins Adams
Keep striving to Cherish those who cherish you, yet
Love all unconditionally.
Encourage others and yourself, yet
Set boundaries and practice self-care.
Forgive and forge ahead.
Laugh and lighten up
Dance or walk in the rain.
Take chances and embrace joy
Appreciate each day and
Learn the lessons each season offers.
Let go when necessary and
Make peace with it all.
Just don’t dim your shine.
We are human and imperfect, but as long as we have breath, we’re meant to stay the course.
–Stacy Hawkins Adams
I snapped this photo on a drive Wednesday evening (from the passenger seat) and was awed by the beauty of this night sky and vivid moon.
It was a subtle yet powerful reminder that even in times of darkness, beauty can abide.
If we’ll pay attention to the simple and the signifinicant kindnesses we’ve experienced (yes, even in 2020), we’ll acknowledge the truth that the light still wins.
I awoke this morning reflecting again on the headlines surrounding the recent passing of renowned and beloved actor Chadwick Boseman and the powerful (and much needed) gifts he has given us, even in his passing, in this year that will be one for the history books.Here are my Wednesday Wisdom takeaways:
* Just because you don’t show it on social media or share it beyond your circle doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. There’s a certain blessing in enjoying some gifts off the world’s stage.
* It’s worth it to keep fighting for your dream even when it’s hard. You’ll treasure reaching your goals while gifting the world with your purpose along the way.
* We get to decide what it means to live with integrity and die with honor. These words sound so lofty, but take true courage, humility, grit and authenticity to achieve. Deciding to live in this way is the only power we possess in a world that’s out of our control. What will your choice be?
* Cherish everyone and everything that matter to you, everyday; because as you fill others’ wells with love, it can’t help but reverberate back to you.
My gift from nature this past weekend was “meeting” a turtle on my morning walking route. The encounter was a reminder that whatever our destination or goal, slow and steady can still win the race.
After I passed the creature I began to worry that the cars zooming down this neighborhood road might crush it.
But when I looped back around to check, I saw that the turtle had somehow scurried out of harm’s way and found safety alongside a curb – providing another nugget of wisdom: that even as we persist, it’s vitally important to practice self-care.
I’m sure that turtle will get wherever he or she was headed, and the important thing will be doing so as whole and strong as possible.
May you go, be and do the same.
Are you tired yet? I admit that I am.
Tired of turning on the news each day to hear more bad news. Tired of carefully plotting trips to the grocery store or pick-up times for carryout meals so that I strategically encounter as few fellow humans as possible. Tired of wondering when this season of semi-isolation and racial unrest and economic uncertainty will ease.
Yet, what if…just what if this season has come to make us weary? To shake us up? To help us long for and actually create a new normal – a better world borne from the ashes of all that wasn’t working?
What if this darkness is the precursor to a brighter light and a better way – one that we can’t even imagine because it’s so powerfully positive? What if we do our part, in this present moment, individually and collectively, scared or brave, to make this so?
I humbly offer up my part, through the calling I’ve embraced since my elementary school days – my writing. For I know, that I know, that I know that there is beauty and hope and transformation available in and through the written and spoken word.
As you ponder your next steps and how you can somehow make this pandemic-laden season better for yourself and others, I invite you to bathe yourself in words that help you heal, cling to hope, find some measure of happiness and strengthen your heart.
I invite you to consume the words offered up here – in a few videos I recently recorded, in a recent blog post and in my on-sale book offerings (worthy reads or re-reads this summer). I also encourage you to explore and enjoy the many other options available from my fellow scribes. Challenge yourself to read at least two books this summer by authors who are new to you and whose work may not only entertain you, but also expand you in some way.
May what I share in this space be the start (or continuation) of your efforts to practice self-care and protect your spirit. You’ll need to do more and more of that during these uncertain times, and you should do so with gratitude and without guilt.
Read On, Watch & Listen and Be Encouraged
I am all about practicing self-care and being as gentle as we can with ourselves during this pandemic; but make no mistake – it’s just as important to honor our life’s calling day to day, so that when we’re on the other side of this darkness, we’ll appreciate both how we’ve grown and the tangible wins from having done our part to build a bridge for others.
Not sure what your purpose or calling may be? Sit with yourself and ask what truly brings you contentment or leaves you full.
Intentionally nurturing your kids or others? Leading from behind or having a seat at the table? Making people laugh?
Praying for and with someone? Baking to fill stomachs or to show others that they’re loved? Supporting someone’s dream in an administrative (wind beneath the wings) role?
Being a good listener or hand-holder? Standing up for the voiceless? Creating safe spaces for others to be themselves? Giving hope to those who have lost their way?
The list could go on and on, and your manner of execution could be simple or sophisticated. What matters is that you “do you” – which becomes an act of love to yourself that also graces the world, with powerful ripple effects that may extend far beyond your sphere, even unto future generations.
–Stacy Hawkins Adams
We might enter this world alone, but we don’t live in it, and certainly can’t love in it, on an island.
To get to your island,
you may have to walk through my forest or cross her river or climb his hill.
So keeping my forest fire-free, and her river waters clean, and his hill easy to navigate helps you safely reach your island – and enjoy the journey there all the more. 🤷🏽♀️
We are connected, and we must remember that.
-Stacy Hawkins Adams
Still Unfolding with Stacy Hawkins Adams 