Los Angeles and I have a love/hate relationship. Every time I come back, I am reminded of why I left and why I had been trying to leave since the beginning of high school. I love it because some of my favorite people are here and although I may not act like it, there is stuff to do here. And I may not be as close to folks as I once was, but there are a select few that still have a place in my heart. Luckily, I have seen a most of them since I've been back in town.
Every time I come back and meet up with Trachelle of ...organic by DEFAULT, I have a good conversation. She's one of those people I don't see often but that I love seeing. Simply because she's not with the nonsense–one of the few young people I know in LA that is on their game in spite of the environment, the peers and pressures that come with living in Los Angeles county.
It saddens me that many people from my high school graduating class did not meet their own expectations. Many may not have grown as much as you would expect after being out of high school for over two years. Things happen, I know. I also know that not everyone is going to be successful. (But what is success anyway? Who is it really defined by in Western society?) Circumstances come up that you may not have control over, but that cannot be the excuse for everyone. We have free will to make decisions based on our own judgment.
We cannot dwell on that, though. We must move forward with what we do have. I think, as people, we forget how much power we have over our lives. We have the power to change any day that we choose that we want to change something. It does not have to be for the New Year nor when we turn one year older. Today is the day to change... I mean, what if your birthday does not even come? Then what?
In Beverly Tatum's book "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria: And Other Conversations About Race", she discusses how people think we don't have leaders anymore. Trachelle and I also talked about this. I argue that we do have leaders. I believe I've met some. Whether or not they are living up to their potential is another question. I also place myself in that category. I have ideas on how to improve the world, but I have not been putting them into practice. And with that being said, I must change right now.
Until we better ourselves and make some change in the world, we cannot complain about what other folks are doing. As Ghandi said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world". We cannot rely on others. It's as simple as that.
1 comment:
I love it. I was having this conversation with somebody who was complaining about the enviroment here in Atlanta. I just simply said change begins with self. And even a small change is working for the better of humankind.
fav line: "We must move forward with what we do have. I think, as people, we forget how much power we have over our lives."
New follower by the way = ) I really like your blog. Hope you have the time to check out mine!
-Chymere
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