Category: Work

One Year Later, I Must Move On

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I am sharing this final newsletter from A Cornered Gurl via Medium.

I love this space, and it will always have my heart, but I have to let some things go.

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

I don’t want to be that editor who shuts down their publication without sending a proper goodbye and explanation… So, here we are.

And here is not where I want to be, but here is where I have to be.

Some of you may know, that I was promoted at work this past March, and with that promotion, came assignments and responsibilities that eat up my time, and sometimes my sanity.

As much as I would love to continue to don a superhero cape and keep the midnight oil burning for A Cornered Gurl, ultimately, I cannot.

I can no longer work full-time, take care of a senior dog, coordinate event planning details for our company Engagement Team, and breathe without feeling like I will pass out.

It is a lot! Recognizing this and knowing the depth of what it takes to accurately review, edit, schedule, publish, and interact with various writers is a surefire epiphany.

One year later, I am at an impasse, but I know my path — I am of sound mind and body, and I say to all of you, it is time.

You Have Given Me Love, So I Give Love To You

I love this space and it will always have my heart, but I have to let some things go. Checking my list of duties and commitments, I have to select things that will break my heart to see them reach their end, but will eventually benefit me in the long run.

Thank you for trusting me with your words. Thank you for trusting me with your heart. Thank you for allowing me to welcome you into this safe space one more time.

I want you to know I have given this so much thought and consideration — devoted days, weeks, and many hours to this decision. It is not a pretty thing to witness oneself fight their own shadow about their dreams.

I am not acting in haste. It is a practice of mine to only draw a conclusion regarding major life changes when I have sat with the idea of those changes for a long time.

I am at peace with this. My mind is at ease.

You Work Will Have A Forever Home

If you have granted me the opportunity to publish your work, it will remain here forever unless you choose to remove it and publish it to your profile or send it to another publication you believe suits the content.

As I did once before, I will leave ACG up for future readers to peruse the words shared here and the interactions, too.

Should you choose to let them stay here, this is their forever home. And I welcome their planted presence as I did upon publishing them.

Will I Still Be Around On Medium

I am toying with the idea of also jumping ship regarding Medium as a whole. I have not yet come to a conclusion on this subject.

I do know I do not have the time to publish my own work nearly as much as I used to.

I also do not have the time to read the work of other writers as much as I used to or would like to.

Medium is ingrained in my heart, but it does not make me emotional anymore at the thought of calling it quits here.

I have devoted nearly ten years to this platform. I have been here for the many changes that occurred in the past, and I do not know if I have it in me to continue on for the many changes to come.

The jury is still deliberating on that.

Please Keep In Touch

If you want to, and your bones tell you to pursue this task, you can keep in touch with me, should you notice I have gone quiet on Medium.

I will keep ACG’s Instagram page, but make some changes so that it reflects more of who I am as a person and not an editor. You may keep up with me there.

I will always have my website, which includes my blog and other points of contact there. It is also dubbed A Cornered Gurl.

This Is, “See You Around, Not Goodbye”

I would say, “Goodbye and God Bless,” but this is not goodbye. This is simply, “See You Around.” It just will not be here in A Cornered Gurl.

At the publishing of this letter, submissions will be closed.

Please know you are and will forever be thought of, admired, respected, and uplifted.

I wish you well. It has been my pleasure.

*Sidenote: I am NOT leaving WordPress. This is my home. This is for Medium only. ❤️💜💙

Peace and blessings.

Originally shared as the final newsletter in A Cornered Gurl via Medium.

Just Jernee

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Jernee Timid standing “About Face” at the Vet’s office.
A sleepy girl–all wiped out from a day of doing nothing.
Jernee standing in the center of our living room silently begging me to go outside on the balcony.
She decided to give the elevator a good sniff-through. I think it passed her test.
Standing guard in the lobby while I waited for the elevator for us.

All photos were lovingly snapped by Jernee Timid’s owner who loves her and is grateful for her existence every single day.

For those of you who don’t know, that’s me. LOL!

Juneteenth

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Freedom Day?

Image courtesy of The Washington Post

Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take control of the state and ensure all enslaved people be freed, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

 — Jae C. Hong/AP

Celebrations of the holiday started out regionally in Texas, but as Black Americans spread out across the United States, they brought their traditions with them, including remembrances for one of the final vestiges of chattel slavery.

— Alana Wise/NPR

This is a federal holiday. Many of us would love to be off from our jobs to celebrate and reflect upon it, but depending on the industry in which you work (if you work), this isn’t so. 

I work in the medical field: specifically, radiology scheduling. We do not get Martin Luther King, Jr. Day off, so of course, Juneteenth will not be any different. *Insert unsurprised look here*

Although, much to my chagrin, I am off from work for a different reason. 

I am not feeling well; taking a chance on creating a new dish that included adobo and coconut and a host of other spices (and it was incredibly delicious), then following that up with a huge bowl of ice cream, my body has taken a stance all on its own to have me laid up, attempting to recuperate from a MAJOR digestive response to my eating habits last night.

I have grown used to not being off when my peers are — to batting away at incoming calls left and right in order to schedule patients for their much-needed procedures. Before this position, I was used to checking patients in or screening them for COVID-19 symptoms and ensuring their medical insurance coverage was up-to-date and accurate.

And before that, I had been explaining medical insurance coverage to patients and informing them of their estimated out-of-pocket due for certain gastroenterological and eye procedures. I am used to working when others are not for federally recognized holidays.

And if my digestive system was up to it, I would be logged on at this moment, taking calls.

But for those of you who are off; for those of you who can celebrate this day and reflect upon it in ways that are beneficial to you and your community, I hope you will.

Widespread recognition of the holiday was slow moving. For years, it was a relatively obscure holiday celebrated among Black people with little acknowledgment or understanding from outside cultures and communities.

— Alana Wise/NPR

While I am recuperating and learning my lesson from concocting things my body cannot tolerate, I will further educate myself on this glorious day by reading about specific events, festivals, and moments of reflection that took place this weekend and will take place today.

Grow in peace. Grow in love. Even though this is Freedom Day, many of us are still not free.

Peace and blessings.

But . . .

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The accuracy of this, though? We want everything in a person; all the credentials, the pristine resume, the umpteen years of experience, and the close-to-if-not-perfect interview (s) before someone’s hired.

Why would it be different for churches? Most of them are doing exactly what secular society is doing.

Thank God, my peace and strength do NOT lie in man.

The above Instagram snippet is brought to you by: Pastor Isaac Frére.