Tag: appreciation

Lasting Marriages – Miracles in Disguise

Circa: 2012, me and Hubby on the way to New Orleans to port for our 7 day Cruise
Circa: 2012, me and Hubby on the way to New Orleans to port for our 7 day Cruise

“As far as I’m concerned, if a Black man and woman make marriage work in amerika, they’ve accomplished a miracle. Because everything is against them. Just being poor is one of the biggest obstacles. Most of the arguments are about money. It’s hard to be loving and caring when you can’t pay the bills and you don’t know where the next dollar is coming from”

– Assata Shakur

This excerpt from Assata’s autobiography is so on point that I had to share it with you. This I do not limit to Black people but all people. Marriage is something I think we take highly for granted. It is one of the oldest institutions in which requires so much work and yet receives so little praise. I just want to take the time to encourage all of my married people, especially my married Black people, since our divorce rates are higher than any ethnic group. As Assata has mentioned, it is a struggle to focus on the love you have with one another when there are so many other distractions surrounding the basics. Trying to live life, fulfill a career, rear the children, pay bills, it all gets cloudy sometimes. But we cannot allow this to damage the beauty of the coming together of man and woman. I have been married for seven years now and we’ve been together eight total. One of the things we love to do together (aside from travel) is movie night. It started as something sporadic and has now become a tradition. Now movie night is every night! Lol. It gives us the opportunity to enjoy each others company after a long day with life. When we come into the door and we finish our dinner and all the miscellaneous things in preparation for the next day; when the lights dim and the surround sound begins, we try to leave everything else behind us. No smartphone. No internet. No talk about work and bills and blah blah blah, just me and him. It nurtures our relationship in ways that are probably far more impactful than we can realize at this moment. While I still consider myself a newlywed as compared to some of you veterans, I just want to encourage you to find an activity you share with your hubby or wifey that no matter what happens in the world, it does not get in the way of your bond. In the words of Lena Horne “It’s not the load that weighs you down, it’s the way you carry it”. So shift some of that weight, get rid of some even. But find something to do together that makes the whirling world stand still. Be honest and open with each other concerning your flaws and doubts and feelings and allow the love that brought you together to be a kind of therapy within not just your marriage, but in your life. Marriage is work and anyone who tells you different is a liar. It is not easy and sometimes it can be a real struggle. It is for this reason that if you are married and have been for some time, across nationalities, if you are still married, then you are a living miracle. Never underestimate that.

Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award

sister-hood-award1So I would like to take this time to thank SeasonedSista2 for nominating me for my 3rd Blogger Award (I love your blog design btw! I love those kind of color combinations), as always I am always ecstatic and very thankful for those who find my blog worthy to receive an award:

Here Are The Rules:

• Thank the blogger that nominated you.
• Put the award logo on your blog.
• Answer the ten questions sent to you.
• Make up ten new questions for your nominees to answer.
• Nominate seven blogs

My questions are as follows, they are followed up with my answers:

1. What is one of your favorite quotes?

One of my favorite quotes is by George Benard Shaw:

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”

2. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?

I would love to learn to speak fluent German. Chinese also appears pretty intriguing.

3. What was the last movie that made you cry?

large_v1WdKm9qQPBfhoHanBP5XxzIBDUWow, this is a very good question…..especially since I don’t really cry during movies, hmmm….I must say Beautiful Mind with Russell Crowe was pretty moving. The movie is based on the life of John Nash (Crowe) who arrives at Princeton University of the prestigious Carnegie Scholarship for mathematics. Nash is super smart and can crack codes with his mind alone. But after meeting a suspicious supervisor of the United States Department of Defense, his mental genius is challenged against the backdrop of insanity and the movie takes an unexpected twist.

4. If you won the lottery, what is the first things you would do?

african-american-children-painting1When I was about 11 years old, we would go to Hamilton Park on the south side of Chicago every day after school and spend the entire afternoon there until being picked up at night. At that center we got help with homework, participated with extracurricular activities like dance and music bingo etc. It was a lot of fun. Today my husband and I run a research and fellowship center (1/5) in Shreveport LA . If I won the lottery one of the first things I would do is contribute to the development of more youth centered activity centers in the inner city areas so that children have a safe and nurturing place to go after school.

5. Have you ever had a nickname, what is it?

My nick name is EC, and Twin

6. What is your favorite holiday?

I don’t celebrate holidays so I do not have a favorite.

7. Are you an introvert or extrovert?

Lol, Definitely an introvert

8. If you had to evacuate your house immediately, what is the one thing you would grab on the way out?

My bible

9. What is one food that you will not eat?

Anything Pork related

10. Would you rather use Facebook or Twitter?

Hmm, great benefits to both, but while I enjoy Facebook I have to say I’m more of a Twitter baby, it’s a lot more laid back in my opinion (at least mine is lol). Seems to fit better with my personality, short characters, not so much going on, I can get in and out.

I don’t have anyone in mind to nominate at this time so I’m gonna leave it here. Of course by now you all know I’m used to breaking award rules, I’m a rebel, what can I say (I’ll publish a post about that some other time).

In the meantime, I would like to take the time to thank SeasonedSista2 again for the wonderful award nomination! 🙂

 

Mail

mailman

“Here’s the mail that never fails, it makes me wanna wag my tail, when it comes I wanna yell, MAIL!”

Yea yea, I’m quoting Blues Clues. I know were supposed to all be grown and boring and stiff, but I still love getting packages in the mail. It’s a building anticipation of something good. A private party thrown by some invisible person who selected you specifically because you’re just special like that. You tear into the package with the beating heart of a child. Doesn’t really matter what it is, it’s just that it’s there and it’s yours and that’s all that matters in the world. One important attribute we should never lose as we age is appreciation of the little things. Children are so content sometimes with the simplest of things. They are so keen in to the moment itself that nothing else matters in the world. Yesterday has gone and tomorrow may never come. All we ever have is this moment and the taking advantage of what it offers. Life is serious enough; each day already packed with its own set of circumstances. That said, I would love to sit and be mean with all you grown people who don’t really know what it means to curl your mouths up into that positive looking gesture, however I just got books in the mail I am dying to devour; we can complain about your problems later.

Before and After Blog Awards

I’m learning more and more about the blogosphere. One thing I recently learned more about is Blog Awards. My opinion about them is split into two categories: Before I knew what Blog Awards were and After I knew what blog awards were.

Before:

Blog-Awards-Ireland
Ah, those lovely things hanging on the sides of everyone’s blog. If I didn’t know any better, I’d sworn I’ve walked into the home of a very prestigious individual. You know the feeling, when you walk into the office of someone with hundreds of plaques on the wall; seems like they have a PhD in everything except your life. You scroll through a blogger with like 10,000 followers and 10 plaques to back it up. More than this, they are surely experts in their field. I am guaranteed that the “Whatever You Wanna Call It” Blog has been given the “Blog of the Year” award because of its capacity to understand whatever. I am rest assured that this person has worked long and hard to put out a product that has garnered him this award. Indeed, blog awards are a sight to see. It made the person’s blog look so official and so important because they had won. They had been recognized. They had been selected among the best of the best by the WordPress higher ups. Yea, blog awards are pretty neat.

 
After:

love-your-blog-award
But then I found out that Blog awards are not given out by the chairman of who knows what, but that they are actually given out by bloggers to other bloggers. That’s cool too. But understanding that they are made up awards by members of the blogging community does degrade my level of awe a bit. It’s like walking into that room with all the plaques on the wall and being told that they are made up certificates by the person’s best friend. It doesn’t make it look any less cool, but it does degrade the initial assumption of expertise. It’s almost like I initially thought they were accredited, and then I find out they were printed off a Word Document. I still think they’re awesome. Just not as awesome as when I thought they were given from the outside. So for those of you thinking of me, I would still accept it (plug).

I have an idea: What if a blogger created a Blog award that was actually based on something a tad bit deeper than recognition? An award created specifically for the bloggers who meet the qualifications and recognized Publically by WordPress or some other fancy guy in a suit. Something Bloggers can both hang to the sides of their blogs as well as on their walls at home. Something only those qualified bloggers can get so that it’s a real competition? Something unique that can become the global standard for Blog Awards; that thing bloggers actually work hard to get and strive to achieve? Now that would be awesome.

 

This Blog and Poetry

Yecheilyah-72dpi-1500x2000-e-book
Copyright © Yecheilyah Ysrayl 2015.

 

As I prepare to release my 3rd collection of poetry next year (2015), I have to take the time to thank everyone who has supported this blog specifically for its poetry. Interestingly enough, in the attempt not to prematurely release pieces from the upcoming album, I have written a lot of new poems specifically to be featured on this blog; and as such will now be included in the book. It may seem that I’m “letting the cat out the bag”, but in all truth some of the poems that will make it to the book was first published here to this blog, and now they will also make it in the book. It would appear that blogging has in many ways helped to inspire me to write more and to compile a list of select poems I think will really speak to you, the people. I get to see which ones you really seem to like and those you don’t in an effort to make sure that this next piece is indeed a masterpiece. Blogging and Poetry…who knew?

Winners! Free $10 Barnes & Noble eGift Card

contest_winner

This was such a difficult decision that I decided to wait until the end of November to announce this month’s Freebie Giveaway. As I have stated, I am picking two winners of a free $10 Barnes & Noble eGiftcard: one supporter from the PBS Facebook Page and one supporter from followers of the actual PBS Blog. It really boiled down to 3 main supporters. Their constant interaction continued to make this a very close call. In the end, I stuck with those who’ve been persistent in this support for this month. I need the following people to verify their e-mail address to ahouseofpoetry@gmail.com for your FREE Barnes & Noble e-gift card. Congratulations to:

Constance aka TehilaYah
This is a sista who supports everything that I do. Wherever I am online she is right there following. The sista is following me on sound cloud and I don’t even have anything posted lol. That’s just how dedicated she is and I love her dearly. She’s usually the first one interacting with our FB page, the first to like a post, and she also supports the actual book series Pearls Before Swine (for those who didn’t already know this is also the title to my book series), keeping in contact, her inquiries into the progress of Part 2 keeps me on my toes. Congrats Sis!

The Chatty Rachel at:
What I like most about blogging is that I get to meet a lot of new people and I get to network on a variety of different levels. I have followers who are professional chefs thanks to Recipe Sunday, subscribers who are learning different languages, professional bloggers, editors, etc. One Blogger in particular I would like to highlight is The Chatty Rachel at: https://rachelbeingchatty.wordpress.com/author/thechattyrachel/

 
Rachel is a big supporter in the LIKE department with a funny blog of her own that has gained over 2,000 followers (Her About Page https://rachelbeingchatty.wordpress.com/about/ ). Everything I post to my blog she likes. Her support proves that any amount of support is appreciated. Whether you subscribe to the blog, like the FB page or interact with the blog itself, every body part that does it’s job provides enough energy to keep the body moving and to keep it strong. By liking the content on this website, you help me to further understand whether or not the content is not just constant, but helpful in some way. It is because of the constant likes and comments that I know that this work is not in vain.

Giveaway-Winner

Congratulations Rachel and Tehilayah!