“Every time you suppress some part of yourself or allow others to play you small, you are in essence ignoring the owner’s manual your Creator gave you and destroying your design.”             – Oprah Winfrey

Last night, I accidentally reset my phone to its factory settings. At first, I started pushing lots of buttons trying to prevent the phone from erasing the past few months of my life! I was frantic! Then, I stopped and just smiled. I said, “wow Universe, you are a trip!” The previous day, I had realized that my phone was reaching its capacity for storage space. So, I had planned to back it up on my computer, but failed to do so. I guess the phone said, “no need, I’ll clear myself out!”

I was holding on to phone numbers of people who I no longer speak to, text messages, pictures, social media riffraff– all things that I just didn’t need anymore. Moving this stuff from my phone to my computer would not have done any good. It needed to be erased.

For a moment I was sad because I had lost contacts, beautiful and poetic text messages, pictures of my family, notes, documents. I had to stop and think, reflect. I realized that what I was losing wasn’t nearly as important as the new things that I am creating! The people who I need to talk to will call. The Universe told me so. The messages that I need to remember are already in my heart and indelibly printed in my mind.

♥ ♥ So my DAY 2 gift to you, is a challenge because what is life without a challenge? ♥

RESET YOUR LIFE TO ITS FACTORY SETTINGS. Stop holding on to “stuff.” Sometimes it is wise to treat your stuff like a house that caught fire- it’s gone, you can’t turn back the hands of time. It happened just as it should have. Where’s your faith?

The Kujichagulia principle says African Americans, like all people, need shared cultural values, symbols, rituals, and practices in order to give their families and children meaning and value, identity and community.

To find these rituals, if you so wish to repeat those of your ancestors, you have to dig into the stacks, and find your history. Your history says that you are GOD. Find out what Khem is, and study hieroglyphs, such as the ankh. These things are more than symbols to wear as pieces of jewelry, they represent a lifestyle, practices that are very beneficial to the spirit. Very few people embrace what these symbols mean, but you can. Find your GOD.

As I enter into another year, I won’t hold on to the junk mail. The baggage has to go! Each person that I encounter, each experience, is fresh. I don’t want to anchor myself in the past, nor anticipate the future to the point that I am constantly worried about things (such as social constructs). So, I would like to thank the Most High, for resetting my phone to its factory settings because I was not bold enough to do it myself. I would’ve picked through and tried to save, but what was lost, needed to be gone.

So I woke up this morning, and the first person who sends me a text message is Jala Rani. I recently got to spend some time with this beautiful sister, and it is something about her that is magnificent. The way she moves, her warmth, her touch is that of a kindred spirit. To sit and talk to her felt like I was talking to myself. She’s very young and vibrant, but in that moment, she felt like an ancestor- with wisdom, respect, and charm. She was judgment free! She spoke to me about the pain she’s experienced in life, nature, diet, thrifting- we jumped around, but it was all beautiful!

The message that she sent to me this morning was about Kujichagulia, otherwise known as SELF-DETERMINATION. She asked some very important questions, and they…

____________________________________________________   inspired me to write…

I lift you up, just the way you are    There is nothing about you that I would change    Not a flaw, not a thing    The Universe sent you to me, in this format    I place no judgment    I thank your mother for delivering you to the world    I thank your father for planting the seed     I thank everyone who has encountered you    for they have watered you and made you fit for this moment   what you are today,    is my kinG, my Queen    when YOU turned and smiled at me,    I saw what is called,    HEAVEN     I saw honesty     You are everything     That you are supposed to be     So don’t worry about their standards     Don’t worry about what they say     Don’t worry about anything outside of you because you are the HIGHest     and each day, I pray, that you get higher and higher     I see you stand alone, fearlessly,     not seeking validation.      I see you loving yourself     I see you sleeping alone, coveting your own bed    I see you, unafraid and unmoved by their interpretations of the truth     I see GOD in you     i see you push reset    uplifting yourself,    just the way god made you     hold on to those memories that bring forth light    we collect a lot throughout our journeys,      but today,        hold on to you.      Hug yourself,      think of nothing but what gOD gave you,

and that gift is You.

“Now, I know, that you don’t know me at all

But if you know yourself
Well, then you know me very well”             -Indie Arie

When I speak of Alláh-u-Abhá, I am referencing the oneness of GOD and the spiritual Unity of humankind. You must be able to see the GOD inside of YOU. Take your focus off of everyone else, and see ONLY YOU. Turn the mirror around and let it face YOU. What you see, must be GOD. Alláh-u-Abhá, translates to, “God is Most Glorious.” It’s an Arabic greeting that is repeated 95 times a day. So instead of checking your Facebook, or your Instagram 15 times a day, try chanting, Alláh-u-Abhá. You are great! I just thought I should tell you that.

LASTLY, I don’t encourage people to necessarily throw things away, especially people, we are NOT disposable. However, if you care about someone or something, throw away those painful feelings that make you hate them. Most importantly, throw away the painful feelings that make you hate yourself.  If when you think of anyone or anything, and you become enraged, it is time to examine yourself. Typically, people don’t just do things to intentionally hurt, and when they do, you’ll know that for sure. But people do things, when they feel threatened, when they feel like they aren’t being taken serious. If someone hurt you, try to understand why. Don’t be so selfish as to think, it was all about you. Remember that things happen for a reason. Buttttttttttttttt…

let your shit, your baggage burn in the fire. Earlier this year, I got to attend a ceremony with a group of teachers who wrote things on slips of paper- negative things that they were holding on to in regards to their careers and what goes on in the classroom. They threw these slips of paper in the fire. I know that change isn’t as simple as throwing a slip of paper into the fire, but the symbolism was to say, let it go. Remember the love. You know you want it! Stop being angry and stop acting like you are a victim, as if you’ve done nothing wrong. Balance your life out with the TRUTH.

So in the end, I say, find your GOD and if that God is you, may peace be with you.

“Let us, in shaping our own Destiny set before us the qualities of human JUSTICE, LOVE, CHARITY, MERCY AND EQUITY. Upon such foundation let us build a race.  I feel that the God who is Divine, the Almighty Creator of the world, shall forever bless this race of ours, and who to tell that we shall not teach men the way to life, liberty and true human happiness? ”                       -Marcus Garvey

I love you. Thank you for reading.

Queen OSiRis of the Kingdom of Kush 5:00 p.m. 12/27/14