Make Change

Here we are - waiting for the verdict. Change has got to come, somehow, some way. Let's talk about some proposed changes.

While there is much support for The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, many also agree that it does not go far enough. An article in The Chicago Sun Times (author: Jesse Jackson) says, "Surely the M4BL is right: sensible police reforms are necessary but not sufficient. Renewed investment in communities and greater community control over the police are essential. The plague of mass incarceration must be ended. The George Floyd Act, however, need not be in conflict with broader reforms... Police reforms will never work unless accompanied by and embedded in rebuilding and empowering communities."

Click here for TheBreatheAct.org

Click here for H.R.7120 - George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020 on congress.gov

Several related articles:

Click here for "George Floyd Justice in Policing Act would set smart national standards for police behavior" at chicago.suntimes.com

Click here for "Movement for Black Lives opposes George Floyd Justice in Policing Act" at PBS.org

We can change. We can learn. We can grow.

Make change.

Love,

T

Embracing Change

Spring. Changes. Nature.

Passover.

Palm Sunday.

Sometimes it takes so much for us to change. Can't we do better? Change can be so beautiful. 

Let's do it. Let's change something - all on our own and just for the sake of improving ourselves. We don't have to wait until we are forced to. What if we found something - one little thing - that inspires us enough to step out of that comfort zone we love so much.

Blessed week...

Love,

T

Tattered...

It's tattered and torn, but still illuminated from within and leaning toward the sun. There was a lot of that around the neighborhood this week.

We were among those fortunate to have not lost power.

Hundreds of thousands of households JUST got back up and running today (Sunday, as I write this).

What's truly amazing is the ability to persevere...

and the new growth precipitated by the rain.

Love,
T

Conversations

This is no time to stay inside a comfort zone.

Time to take a long hard look at ourselves - because we are supposed to take the log out of our own eye before addressing the speck in our friend's.

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

Matthew 7:3-5

The truth is we can do better. 

Conversations that are long overdue are now taking place. Will we say something stupid? (Probably.) Will we give another person the opportunity to judge us? (YES!) Are we experts on a subject before we start to open our mouths? (Not usually.) Would we pounce on someone else's lack of expertise if they got something incorrect? (Just nod your head yes here and wonder when I'm going to shut up because I already made this point.) 

Alright. But we have to be committed enough to walk this path anyway. We have the ability to change our own minds. We have the ability to learn. We can reject our own habitual responses and grow into something new and better.

We are about to change the world.

We are going to be more kind toward each other. We are going to be more understanding. We are going to listen and learn. We are going to take that one extra step. We're going to unearth a new level of truth within. Someone will reach out a hand when we stumble and we'll do the same for another. We are going to be courageous together. We are going to build.

"Justice never comes when you only do what's comfortable and convenient. Change never comes, oppression never ends, equality never prevails. You have to be willing to raise the issues, to challenge the systems that don't educate people about the history honestly."

- Bryan Stevenson, Equal Justice Initiative

"We have been practicing silence about our history for a very long time. In this country we don't talk about slavery, we don't talk about lynching, we don't talk about segregation. We have a hard time talking about race and it has burdened us. We don't think it's odd that we don't talk about this history. We actually think it's odd when somebody tries to talk about it. We react to the effort of trying to talk about it as if THAT's the threat, not our continued silence."

- Bryan Stevenson, Equal Justice Initiative

Blessed week.

Love,
T

More to learn (There's ALWAYS more to learn):

Click here for The Equal Justice Initiative

Click here for NationalGeographic.com's article: 'It was a modern-day lynching': Violent deaths reflect a brutal American legacy

We need to talk about Injustice - Bryan Stevenson

Encouragement

"Go Girl! GO!"

An elder neighbor stood in her front doorway, held up her coffee cup and cheered me on. It was everything.

I didn't feel like running that day. I had to force myself. I was just going through the motions trying to keep up with a routine. With a genuine smile and a wave back, I picked up my pace. Soon enough, I had completed my big loop and was on my way home, thinking about how nice it had been for her to spur me on like that.

"You made it! YAY!" 

Before I knew it, there she was again, welcoming me back to the block. How wonderful!

I know we all know this... but what a lovely reminder it was that the simplest gesture of kindness can change the whole course of someone's day. That little act of encouragement truly made my whole week! Let's just keep it going and spread the Love a bit.

With a little encouragement...

Beautiful things can happen.

Love,
T

Are We There Yet?

Um... no. Where exactly is "there" anyway? Are we really ever done growing?

It seems we always want growth for the better... more money, more success, more time, etc. Except - if we keep doing the same things, why would we expect anything to, all of a sudden, change for the better? WE gotta be willing to change.

"Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely."

- Karen Kaiser Clark

We have to be willing to step out of our comfort zone and take some chance, some risk. Decide a direction to try and then go! It doesn't have to be permanent. It doesn't have to define our lives. It just needs to happen. If things don't seem to improve, change again.

I'm pretty sure that one thing we can be certain of is that things are going to change anyway. Why not be a part of it? Why not take decisive action toward it? Why not take that wheel and turn it ourselves? Let's go! Who's with me?

Zachary tried climbing up to the slide this way - it worked out well for him. ;)

Maybe it's not always easy accepting responsibility for the consequences of our actions, and so we coast along, comfortably blaming others or circumstance for our dis-satisfaction instead of changing ourselves. But, did you ever see this affliction in other people? If you can see it in others, then it must exist in yourself (otherwise you wouldn't recognize it). How about that? When we find ourselves criticizing others, or finding solutions to their problems, it's probably time to take a look at ourselves and take our own advice. #imgonnadoit

Once upon a time, a chick singer from Buffalo, NY took a chance and moved to the big city. I remember saying at the time, "this is either the best decision I've ever made, or the stupidest thing I've ever done!" LOL. I'm going to go with "best decision" as I look back on it now. ;)

Got my disco on this weekend :)

Spring cleaning time! Clear out whatever it is that you're still holding on to and move on! #bringonthenew. I'm going to shake things up a bit. It's time.

#NewGrowth

Blessed week!

Love,
T

Moral Fiber

Life Lesson this week:

Moral fiber can't always be found in the traditional places.

Note to Self:

But it CAN be found. Look for it in everyday people, places and things. Look for it within yourself.

In the drama of our lives, we often cast a "hero" where one doesn't actually belong. People we expect to be role models often let us down. It can be very disappointing when a role we historically cast one certain way, is revealed to be only a myth of our own making. We create expectations for athletes, celebrities, police officers, judges, politicians, parents, loved ones, etc. - then they don't behave the way we imagine they should. If we're going to be honest about it, we disappoint ourselves sometimes too.

Sometimes things are so scary...

we don't even want to look.

#DigDeep and then #DigDeeper.

Keep on loving. Ease up on the blaming of others for our own perceived shortcomings. Carry on and expand the love... watch it grow. #FocusOnTheLove

As darkness literally descends on us this week (via solar eclipse), let us emerge and shine brilliantly from all the lessons learned. We go through. We uncover truths. We live. We learn. We grow.

Namaste,
T

The Blame Game

Early in the week I heard a news broadcast in which one of the featured guests said something that really caught my attention:

"You're not just responsible for what you say. 

You are responsible for what people hear."

- Gen. Michael Hayden

We have ALL played the blame game. We do it all the time. Examples of it are EVERYWHERE. What if there was absolutely no one else to blame for anything? What if we had to take complete responsibility for everything we experience and every feeling we have?

Alright then... I'll make a conscious effort to notice when I lean toward pointing a finger at anyone else for the way I feel. I'll ask myself what I can do within myself to work toward a better outlook.

Namaste,
T

The Gray Area

"Throughout history, 
it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; 

the indifference of those who should have known better; 

the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; 

that has made it possible for evil to triumph." - Haile Selassie

I believe there exists in all of us a deep-seated spark that motivates us to act - or not act. It is uniquely our own. It is part of our journey through life that we confront the forces within that speak to us, and that we learn to listen and understand our own motivations in order to improve ourselves - and the world.

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, 

a quickening that is translated through you into action, 

and because there is only one you in all of time, this expression is unique. 

And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. 

The world will not have it..." - Martha Graham 

(This quote appears in the booklet of my album)

We all have our own unique passions, fears, desires, and experiences that drive us to do what we do. What specifically motivates us into action can be deeply personal. We are responsible for our own actions and our motives are for us to examine. We push our own selves to new levels as we hold ourselves accountable and to higher standards of truth, integrity and honor.

Whether we realize it consciously or not, we know the truths in our own heart as God does. Do we accuse others of hate with hate in our own hearts? If we "hate" another for "hating" - we still hate. Do we taint our own causes by contaminating them with our own personal objectives? Do they become vehicles for our personal anger or need for approval, or do they become agendas for some reason less honorable than genuine commitment, purpose and love? It is only for us to answer.

"You can see the speck in your friend's eye. 

But you don’t notice the log in your own eye. 

How can you say, 'My friend, let me take the speck out of your eye,' 

when you don’t see the log in your own eye? 

You show-offs! First, get the log out of your own eye. 

Then you can see how to take the speck out of your friend’s eye." – Luke 6:41-42

I believe there exists inside each of us - a gray area. A place we have not yet clearly seen. A truth we have not yet completely uncovered. As we all flounder along trying to do the best we can, I hope and pray that we will each be informed enough to actively excavate a little more of ourselves so that we can move ourselves forward, progress in some way that is uniquely our own - toward a better self and a better world by extension.

The death of Freddie Gray and the events in Baltimore last week have inspired some amazing tests and testaments of courage, strength, faith, action, leadership and community. I've been moved to great sorrow and tears by tragic injustice and burning anger - and also to great pride as exquisite leadership and inspiring forces stepped up to the plate with unparalleled passion and conviction to overpower hate with love, prayer, and God.

"Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man or a nation." - Oscar Wilde

"What you are must always displease you, 

if you would attain to that which you are not." - Saint Augustine

As the days, weeks, and even years relentlessly march on and we continue to face underlying issues surrounding these events and more... may we respect and honor ourselves and each other by shining some light on our own understanding and move ourselves to act, in our own unique ways, to better ourselves, our global family and the world we live in.

With deepest love and respect,

Namaste.

T