What do you currently believe about yourself and who you are in this moment? Do you feel like you are lacking in some areas when it comes to your personality?
If you answered YES to any of the above questions, don’t feel ashamed, I think we all believed in the lie of not being enough. The plague of not feeling enough has haunted me throughout my life. I would constantly recycle negative self-talk, abusive words from others, and societal standards. However, as I began to uncover this faulty belief system about myself, I realize the root of it all stemmed from low self-esteem, low self-confidence, and other underlining issues.
In 2011, I went on an inner journey of self-exploration and self-discovery to confront dysfunctional beliefs about myself and my life. And what I found was a wounded young lady who needed to know that her past didn’t define her worth. It has been ten years since the journey has helped me evolve into a confident, self-assured woman where the notion of not being enough is no longer a part of my storyline.
The truth is that we all are enough in this world, and when we start believing in this idea, we can live a more fulfilled life. When you accept the idea that you lack something within, you run the risk of living a suppressed life. With a suppress mindset, we eventually generate the chase concept; you will chase people, dreams, goals, money, success, etc. to feel accepted and validated by external forces.
When you begin to know who you are and your worth, you become a threat to those who lavish in their insecurities. You must confront your insecurities every day (because it is a daily thing). And to be clear, it is okay to have insecurities because they make us imperfect and vulnerable. Insecurities become ugly when we lash out or use hurtful words against others.
Below are three ways you can say bye bye to the belief of not enough.
Let Go. Say Au revoir to anybody or anything that make you feel like you are too much.
Dig Deep. Uncover all the crazy beliefs that has hindered your self-worth story.
Heal. Allow yourself a time to heal from the past of unforgiveness (forgive yourself), trauma and anything that has kept you hostage to the lie of not being enough .
As the year 2020 is coming to an end, we are spending time preparing ourselves for Christmas and the New Year. We are taking time to slow down, reflect, and review this unusual year. The year 2020 has served us with unforgettable moments that we desire to bury, but we realize embracing a simple cozy life for 2021 may be the cure.
When I went to the dictionary, the word simple is defined as easily understood or done, presenting no difficulty. I think we can all agree 2020 had enough problems to serve us a lifetime of discomfort. However, when life gives us uncomfortable moments, we know that ease is on the way. And finding ways to live a comfortable, simple life can bring us peace, joy, and gratitude.
Below I am giving five essentials ways to begin to live a better life by embracing the Danish concept of Hygge; less is more and other essential elements to living a comfortable, simple life.
Embrace a Hygge Life: In 2017, I stumble upon the Danish phrase hygge (pronounce hoo-ga) and it change my life especially during the holiday season. I began to research this concept and found a book by Louisa Thomsen Brits called The Book of Hygge . The book help me unlock the idea of creating a slower life filled with contentment.
Practice Gratitude: When you are grateful for what you have you will realize how abundant you are. (book reference: The Magic by Rhonda Byrne)
Set Boundaries: Know what you will & will not accept then make adjustments. Setting boundaries will give you a peace of mind.
Be okay with pivoting: When things don’t go as plan you have to learn how to adjust and go in a different direction. Pivoting teaches you the art of moving forward despite the circumstances.
Simplify to uncomplicate: Get clear on who you want to be, where you want to be and how you want to feel in your life. Then add, subtract and multiply all the necessary elements to uncomplicate your relationships & life.
When you embrace these five concepts, I believe you will start to move towards a cozy simple life!
The year 2020 has taken center stage, and everyone has made their goals, resolutions & vision boards. With the onset of January comes enthusiasm to make our dreams into reality. However, once February steps in, the spark begins to fizzle, and sticking to our vision fades. The dust starts to settle as we find ourselves back to the beginning waiting for a new year to create more goals, resolutions & vision boards.
Does this pattern sound familiar to you? If so, then it’s time to add intention to your year. According to Webster, dictionary intention is defined as an act or instance of determining mentally upon some action or result. This definition can be translated as changing your mindset to create an effect to accomplish your goals. When you are intentional with your new year goals, visions, and more, you can create a year filled with productivity. Many times we go into the new year with the same mindset from the prior year, which generates an insanity cycle. Instead of producing a new year, we produce another monotonous year.
Below I have three simple tips to help you have an intentional 2020!
Transform Your Mind.Before you can have a fabulous new year in this new decade and leap year, you have to be willing to let go of all negative things in your mind. Make a list of your old beliefs that did not serve you then write new beliefs that will help you accomplish your 2020 goals. (Note: Who do you need/have to become to make 2020 a “new” year?)
Declutter without restraint. Letting go is hard, but things flow better when you make room for what you desire. When you declutter all areas of your life, it can help you gain clarity. (Note: Do not resist letting go of people, places, and things that no longer serve your life.)
Take Action. Dreams, goals and visions only become reality when you take action. Small actions eventually will measure bigger actions towards your goals. (Note: Fear, procrastination and making excuses are distractions to keep you from being intentional. Face the fears and replace them will faith and confidence in what you want to accomplish.)
Last month on January 16th, I released my first ever short story series entitled, The Antidote. I am happy to announce that part two is available. If you did not get a chance to download part one go to this link: https://tinyurl.com/yb72u7om
Slowing down……such a foreign concept to me for several years until I settled down in the south. As a single mom slowing down is a challenge everyday because there is always something to do on the checklist. However, in the last two years I have been challenged to slow down and really embrace the present moment. The present moment is crystallized by focusing on the now. The “now” moments are the moments we can never gain back. If this is true, then why do we rush through one event to the next?
Lately, I have been intrigued with going a lot slower in my everyday life. It has made a big difference in my mindset. Although, the holidays are here I am truly embracing slow motion. In my pursuit of this new lifestyle I have came across the word hygge (hoo-gah) practiced by the Danish culture. This lifestyle is a Danish concept that has been popping up everywhere I go. I can’t remember exactly where I heard it but I have been researching a little deeper about this concept. For a long time there was no formal definition for this word however, more Americans have become aware of this concept.
The holidays is great time to practice this Danish concept especially since Thanksgiving and Christmas is right around the corner. I don’t believe in putting concepts in a box so you have the power to rearrange it the way it fits your life. For example, hygge to me is drinking hot cocoa, tea or wine during the winter months, watching a movie, reading a book and spending some quality time with my daughter.
No matter what concept, tradition or non-tradition you practice slowing down and enjoying the moment should be apart of your daily regiment.
Here is a book I am currently reading check it out in Stylicia’s Reads.
I can attest to the colloquialism of life that it is a journey not a destination. Life is filled with unexpected detours, stop signs, roadblocks, turning lanes and much more. However, in the midst of it all, life is an adventure. In order to live the adventure you mustn’t resist the lessons it has to offer.
I have spent almost a decade trying to adjust to a new life since I left the military in 2008. The journey has been filled with ups and downs but it has equipped me to gain sea legs to weather the storm. I have come to the realization that life is filled with Alice and The Wonderland moments. Every time I tried to resist the ebb and flow of life I would wipe out like a person learning how to surf for the first time.
When you are open to the journey of life it will reveal serendipitous moments. These moments will lead you to your destiny. Your destiny may lead you to great adventures and opportunities. Life is not made for the person who love comfort zones instead it challenges you to get out your comfort zone. Comfort zones are security blankets that keep you stagnant.
Stagnancy leads to a life filled with no adventure, boredom, fear and lack. Lack creates a feeling of dissatisfaction which leads to discontentment. As you muddle through your journey be flexible in the ways that life will unfold.
Today is the official last day of summer and for most of us it is just another day. However, I believe this is the best time to spend it in reflection. Reflecting is a great therapeutic tool to slow down and gather your thoughts. In this process you can reflect on the last nine months of this year. You might decide to reflect on goals that were achieved, relationships that ended, new things that have entered your life and where you want to be at by the end of 2017.
Reflection is a good way to look at the past, embrace the present and prepare for the future. As you prepare for the autumnal equinox take this day to sit back, sip your favorite beverage and revel in the beauty of Fall.
How do you plan to spend your last day of summer? (Leave your comments below)
When you have a gift to create I believe you should always use all your creative tools to inspire the world and use them to change a world of despair into a world of hope, And so for August The Inspirational Corner features a man that uses all of his God given gifts to inspire the world through his artistry, we introduce none other than Floyd Boykin Jr.—-> The Renaissance Man.
(Picture by: Abbie)
“We all have a mission and when we let others cast doubt upon that vision, it is no longer a vision….it becomes an unofficial assignment to assimilate and create what’s popular.”
~Floyd Boykin Jr.~
Me: I remember three years ago when I was searching through YouTube and I came across one of your spoken word videos and from then on a great friendship and working relationship developed. I am so glad to have the opportunity to interview you, so you can share your artistry with my readership community. First of all, what would you say was your particular form of artistry?
Floyd:My form of artistry consists of poetry, hip hop, soul, jazz and experimentation. I consider myself as a poet, as well as a spoken word artist. But I am also a musician (I play the bass guitar, a little flute and a little piano), I produce videos and publish books, magazines and greeting cards. So in essence, I am a student of expression. I’ve been called a “Renaissance Man”. Humility means the world to me as an artist.
Me: Humility is definitely important in developing your artistry. Since you are very humble about your artistry how do you utilize it to inspire the world around you?
Floyd: I use my talents to inspire, or at least help motivate individuals to think outside of the box and stay grinding in the land of creativity. Through my music and my written work, I promote self love, respect for self and others. I do this by encouraging others to put forth their best effort to help create better beings of love. I also enjoy highlighting other artists in my music, as in Spoken Vizions Magazine, to let other see that there are people out there with similar situations as the readers who are pursuing their dreams regardless of their situation, health, finances or other obstacles. To inspire hope, ignites dreams, give birth to visions and therefore creates a reality of love.
Me: As you help others ignite their dreams what have been some valuable lessons you have learned in the development of your artistry?
Floyd:My most valuable lessons is to never compromise your art to please others; I am who I am as an artist because I do what I feel. I do what I believe in and I create what’s from the heart. Those are the reasons that people even know who I am. I follow the light that I believe God has placed in front of me. We all have a mission and when we let others cast doubt upon that vision, it is no longer a vision….it becomes an unofficial assignment to assimilate and create what’s popular. Another lesson that I learned was from Abiodun Oyewole of the Last Poets. He told me once many years ago after a performance at Club Divinity, to “never let technology keep you from doing what’s in your heart.” Since then, I’ve been moving forward and doing what I see in my head. If I don’t know how to do something, usually I will get a book and teach myself. I don’t particularly like waiting around for “people” to become available to me. I would rather just enhance my skills and add to my artistic worth. A great lesson is that music and art suppose to inspire and take you higher.
Me: We all have a path in life to take, a consistent journey. What would be the one word you would use to describe your journey as an artist?
Floyd: That’s a good question. I think I would go with the word that many called me earlier in my career and it later became my stage name (I no longer use it but it is still relevant)—> IMPACT. People use to say that my work always had a powerful IMPACT on the minds of the people. It was a healer to some. So I adapted the name IMPACT, changed it to IMPAKT and it became my name for many years. I always capitalized every letter because when you see words that are capitalized people feel like it was meant to have more power.
Me: Authentic is a word I have used to describe my journey. What does this word mean to you?
Floyd:Being authentic to me means to be a genuine representation of oneself. My work reflects who I am. It is not filtered, watered down or copied from someone else. I believe that I am unique in my craft, yet inspired by many incredible artists. An artist that fits this bill would be Me’shell Ndegeocello. I am truly inspired by her work, and you can hear the inspiration in my music yet when you hear my work you still hear Floyd Boykin Jr. I think there is a difference between being inspired and straight up copying someone else’s style.
Me: The Inspirational Corner tagline is: “Live Bold, Live Loud & Live Authentically” in what ways has this concept been implied in your artistry?
Floyd:I live boldly and unapologetically in my work. I talk about things respectfully but in your face through my music and my writings. In term of the phrase LIVE LOUD, I stand firmly behind my work and try my best to let my work be heard and seen. Once you get a hold of it, it speaks loudly to your soul and your heart. Live authentically, I believe in being myself. To know my work is to know my mind, therefore my heart and it’s authentic.
Me: Sometimes people who strive to live their dream can get discouraged what would be your words of inspiration to someone who endeavors to live their dream?
Floyd:My words of inspiration would be to never let someone tell you that you cannot do something or achieve something . Most of the time it’s coming from people who weren’t bold enough to try or someone who tried and failed for one reason or another. Just because someone else didn’t achieve their goals, doesn’t mean that it’s your fate as well. Just get up, get your nerves up, be encouraged and do it. Learn what you need to know to make it happen, put your shoes on and run track in it; run with it and don’t look back! There is a quote by the late Steve Jobs that I love and it says “When some see them as crazy ones, we see genius because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
To me this means others will never see the genius in who you are if you give up on yourself, so don’t give up!
You can find more information on Floyd Boykin Jr. at:
The Inspirational Corner always will do our best to bring you unique people, ideas and thoughts to bring inspiration to your life. In doing this we are working on providing you with interviews, articles and much more to keep you inspired. In order to keep the focus on being your authentic self I have created “Authentic Spotlight Interviews”. The following interviews will be on a monthly basis included with my bimonthly blog post.
Our first Authentic Spotlight Feature is none other than singer, songwriter and recording artist—Rachel Walker.
Let the “The Ra[E]volution” begin….
(Photo by: Ellen Stagg)
“Being authentic means knowing who you are and knowing that you have something of value to bring to the table”. ~Rachel Walker
Me: First of all, I would like to say it is such a pleasure to have you as our first Authentic Spotlight Interviewee. I would like to first inquiry about your artistry. What is your form of artistry?
Rachel: I am a singer, songwriter, recording artist, performer, and producer.
Me: I always find music to be inspiring for me. How do you use your artistry to inspire humanity?
Rachel: I write songs about love and life. The goal is to express myself through music, sound and words with honesty and creativity. I use my artistry to give people music that they can enjoy with a message and sound that inspires joy, happiness, movement/dancing, emotion, reflection, affirmation and love.
Me: Since you have a great love for what you do as an artist what are some valuable lessons you learned during the process of developing your artistry?
Rachel:I have learned so much but I would have to say that the most valuable lesson I have learned is that it okay to let go: let go of control both vocally and creatively, let go of insecurities, let go the fear of judgment, let go of trying to please everyone and let go of boundaries. So much of development starts with not being so restricted and your willingness to step outside of what is comfortable and familiar. It is so important to trust yourself and it is okay to make mistakes.
Me: I believe you just said a mouth full. This is such a profound statement. Since you have learned so much what word would you use to describe your journey as an artist?
Rachel: I would say that the best word to describe my journey is “evolving”. I started my journey with very little knowledge but a whole lot of desire and heart.Now I feel extremely knowledgeable but I’m still I’m still learning and growing with my artistry. You can never really know enough.
Me: My blog is centered on being your authentic self, what does being authentic mean to you?
Rachel: Being authentic means being honest and not being afraid to speak your truth even if it’s not popular. Being authentic means knowing who you are and knowing that you have something of value to bring to the table.
Me: Since you talk about speaking your truth, The Inspirational Corner tagline is: “Live Bold, Live Loud & Live Authentically” in what ways has this concept been implied in your artistry form or became your truth in life?
Rachel:This tagline resonates so much with me. When I put out my first album “Walk With Me” in 2009, I didn’t know a lot about the business nor did I know a lot of people in the business. All I knew is that I had songs inspired by my life experiences that I wanted to put out into the world and the album gave me a specific goal to reach. It was a bold decision in itself simply because it was my first time sharing my music publicly
I continue to “Live Bold, Live Loud & Live Authentically” as I put the final touches on my sophomore project, “The Ra[E]volution”, due for release in Fall of 2013. This album is the soundtrack to many of my experiences over the last 2 years. Musically and lyrically, “The Ra[E]volution”, captures the evolution of my sound and creativity in a way that you have never heard from me before. As I said previously, letting go is the hardest thing to do in a world where people strive for acceptance and popularity. On this record, I am not holding anything back. I am fearless. More importantly, the purpose of this record is to identify with the listener, and to encourage the listener to also let go, embrace change, to be fearless and enjoy how that feels.
I am so incredibly proud of this project and my team and look forward to sharing it with the world very soon.
Me:Rachel, I believe as an artist you have so much to give because you are passionate about what you do. What would be your words of inspiration to inspire someone who endeavors to live their dream?
Rachel:I would have to say, love what you do with your whole heart; live it and breathe it. It is surely your genuine love for what you do, that will ultimately carry you through the challenges you will face along the way. I can’t tell you how much disappointment I have experienced in pursuit of my dreams, but it was my love for music that kept me going. I learned along the way to expect disappointments but never let anyone or anything steal my love for music and leave me stagnant. I would also add that you may not feel the support from people in your circle or even family members but that’s ok. People are going to convince you that your dreams are too far fetched. The key thing is for you to NEVER tell yourself that. If no one else encourages you, encourage yourself. Now go get ‘em!
You can find more information about Rachel Walker at:
Sometimes the hustle and bustle of life can be overwhelming due to the demands of life, people and work. However, every now and then you have to be adamant about making quality time with yourself a priority. This week I can truly say I felt overwhelmed and needed some very well deserved me time. I pride myself in trying to live a balanced life but sometimes my life scale is unbalanced and I have to recalibrate it. Today I decided that this weekend would be time for myself only receiving calls from my family and no technology distracts. In a world full of distractions we have to be willing to find our own secret heaven or paradise. So today I decided to buy a magazine, read it and sit in Starbucks sipping my latte. It was such an invigorating moment to know I allowed time to stand still just to nurture my mental being. It felt good to put some things on hold just to take care of myself mentally and emotionally. So I decided once a month maybe every third Saturday would be my day to mentally, emotionally and spiritually rest. Here are some tips on pushing you to create your own personal day off!
Tips To A Day Off….. TIP #1: Make yourself a priority and schedule your personal time off on your calendar. Pencil yourself in…
TIP #2: Communicate with your spouse, children, boyfriend and loved ones about your day off. So they will understand this is your time and you will not want it to be interrupted.
TIP #3: Do something simple. You may not have the finances to go to the Spa or take a weekend trip but look at the simple things you can do to change your scenery and get away mentally. (Ideas: walk in the park, walking on the beach, reading your favorite magazine or book)
TIP #4: Spend this day to reflect, meditate and not be bothered with any distractions.
TIP #5: Smile and Be Grateful. Having gratitude for another day to appreciate the beauty around is important. A day for you to cherish yourself is also important.
Until Next Time…..Live Bold. Live loud. Live Authentically.
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