Personal Empowerment

Oftentimes we forget how awesome we are. We are artists, we make the world beautiful!  We are writers, we weave stories that pull at the heart, and boggle the mind. We are musicians, we transport the world to places inside, outside and across space and time!

We are also, very often, 9-5ers with ..."Day Jobs" and it was in this moment, a moment of  preparing for my "day job" that I had a very empowering revelation. Those people...are damn lucky to have me! So...why was I feeling insecure? Why was I questioning my skills? I don't do anything that I haven't done literally hundreds, if not a thousand (by now) times before. I was doing work that I could do with my eyes closed, and a one word prompt! So again...unsure why?

What I realized, was that although I am great at what I do, my place of employment, my position, because it is heavily dependent on external factors, was what was insecure. I obtained my position, like the previous 4 positions before it via a letter and c.v., or simply on someone's word. And, although I was  am good at what I do, I've been hired, and gone on working. However, the organizations I've worked for, nonprofits and educational institutions, are simply spaces that are often financially insecure.

Realization 1
I'm not insecure, institutions are. I am excellent at what I do. I do it well, I'm knowledgeable in my field, and continue to build my skill set.

Another thing I know, because of Realization 1 is that security...comfort is important. I'm the only one looking out for my comfort..its not like anyone is going to come up to me and say, here dear, you do much too much...take a rest! Therefore, I must do it myself. And for me, a day off isn't enough. For me, there is more...the day must start with a delicious snack of strawberries and tea. Then yoga and a steaming hot shower. After that, an hour or so of writing, journaling, planning and reading. Maybe a few phone calls, a pedicure, and a decadent lunch. Chocolate is involved. Some time in nature...a park, a lake, a river, walking, reading, animal or people watching. Capturing some of the beauty in photographs. Creating, writing, teaching. Finding children to chat with- they have wonderful stories and totally understand the concept of lounging, discovery and imagination, and finally journeying home.

Realization 2
I'm going to start living from a place of luxury. Period. 

That is to say, a day off, or my ideal day, shouldn't be special, my ideal day, is how I should live my life. I've already incorporated this ideal into my life in many ways, but this week's realizations only spoke to the urgency with which I need to incorporate more.

I'm so thankful to have had these revelations, as they are the cornerstone of the LoveJonesLifestyle. I look forward to hearing how YOU empower yourselves to live a life in alignment with LJL...

We've been Working!

Greetings LJL family we have been super use but have not forgotten about you Lovelies. 

We have so much exciting news to share, and want you to be a part of our growth! 

We have been busily building programs, platforms and businesses to serve YOU, the LJL reader, lover and lifestyle living world citizen. Right now, we are building a beautiful new collection of plays and independent theatre experiences through Harkins House Productions. We are so excited about our upcoming season, which includes a second run of the previously sold out show The Man Store. 

The Man Store is about a scientist named Dr. Delilah Banks, who becomes the first Black woman and scientist to develop a clone in the image of Black men. Along with her daughter, Portia, Delilah opens a business that sells these newly designed Black male clones to single Black women as options for husbands. The stage play is one part satire, one part drama, and one part comedy, and it offers a unique perspective on Black love and relationships.  The Man Store is scheduled for another run during the weekend of November 22-24, 2013 in Memphis, TN.

We are also working on building fun and exciting platforms for you to express your creativity with writing workshops,  acting workshops, and culture based entertainment. We can't wait to share all of this goodness, art, culture,fun, excitement and richness with you all. 

Right now, we are building a solid foundation and asking for your help with that, by donating to and sharing the indiegogo campaign found here (http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/hhp-donation-drive?mobile=1) with your friends and community who also support positive representations of our culture, good music, new Black theatre and quality entertainment from a fresh perspective. 

We will be sharing more updates soon! In the meantime, keep living the lifestyle! 

P.S. go to Facebook and Like our Harkins House Productions (www.facebook.com/harkinshouse) page to get the updates pics and progress of all of our exciting projects! 

Grown WomanNess...

Happy New Year from LoveJonesLifestyle to all of you who check us out, no matter how sporadic we post! Lol! What can we say? We live. Sometimes, the discussions about what needs to be seen on this blog are so in depth and enthusiastic, but then when it comes to putting ink to the paper or more appropriately, keystrokes to the post, we fall short because life will call us by our first names and send us on a load of errands. We have jobs to work, families to care for, art to create, etc. While twenty-four hours seem like a long time, it's really not when you're attempting to squeeze eighteen hours worth of life management into it. Once we do get settled, Zenzile and I may pull up a post, hit a few sentences, and then lose our fight to remain awake long enough to finish it. But that's what we do. It's our Grown WomanNess.

Both of us have noticed that the interwebs are full of spirited voices of Black women, speaking on a host of issues and topics, however, we've also noticed that many of their commentaries reek of a bit of immaturity, largely due to the fact that we're not in that mental space anymore. Zenzile & I are part of, what I like to call, the Slo Woman group. I have to give credit to Mint Condition for this concept. They have a song on their recently released album, Music @ the Speed of Life, by the same name. I would say that the Slo Woman group is about 35 and over.  Members of this group have graduated to this point where certain issues have lost their critical weight in our lives. We're not having full-fledged discourses about our 'nerdiness' or fashion sense. We snub our noses at about 90% of popular culture as we're not concerned about being apart of trends so much as we're interested in setting them.  We're not even tempted to randomly mention that rash of reality shows that have permeated so much of Black culture.

Instead, we engage in heady and frank discussions about things like art, culture, emotionality, sexuality, and spirituality over good glasses of wine, or in Zenzile's case, Starbucks coffee.  Our approaches to life are highly customized based on the philosophies that we've acquired by way of Fuck-Ups and we're fully capable of readjusting our sails if the winds of change blow us from East to West, North to South.  Now, whatever you do, don't take us for a group of prudes or snobs as we are FAR from that. The Slo Woman group is filled with women who make self-definition sexy. We exist as we are and make no apologies for it.    

So, as we kick off a new year, we owe it to you, our readers, to be more visible here at LoveJonesLifestyle. While the number of our posts may not indicate it, we do have a lot to say and even more to share. Please, do us a favor. If you're on Facebook, find our LoveJonesLifestyle fanpage, like it and join us this year for some stimulating discussion and sign up to this blog so you won't miss any of our posts. Remember, we live and while we expect to post more content in 2013, we're not gonna make any promises that we can't keep by telling you to look for two-five posts a month and then barely get one posted.  See, that's something else that Grown Women do -- set realistic expectations. :-)

Blessings,
Chandra Kamaria