Tag: Reflection

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.

Guard It–Because, It’s All That You Have

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Courtesy of YouVersion/Bible App

We live by it. We die by it. Emotionally charged beings do not know how to interact daily without getting into the heart of matters. We awake with it. We go to sleep with it. By design, we are sensitive, fragile in our approach to love, yet we can be strongest if others depend on us. “Above all else, guard your heart.” My heart is my center. It is my core. It beats for so many roles that it has in my life and on most days, I’m afraid that I’m overworking this incredible muscle. But every single day, I am proven wrong.

When I believe that I am broken beyond repair, I am reminded to love. When I feel that all hope is lost, I am reminded to love. When I allow the events of this world to weigh me down, in an effort to keep going and spread decent messages, I allow myself to continue to love. If you know me, you know that what I do is done passionately and with a direct focus on love. I cannot turn it off. I have been in the healthcare industry for fifteen years because all I have ever wanted to do was help others in some way, shape, or form. I am the glue in my family, keeping us together. With power granted to me by the Almighty, I have sustained many years of treachery, yet I am still standing. And willing…

To Love.

There are several things you may not know about me. I will share them here. I do not have a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, What’s App, Snap Chat, or any other trendy account where constant drivel is shoveled out on a daily basis by a world that is losing its grip on love. I do not watch the news, if there’s something I wish to know so that I can be in the know, I will search a trusted news outlet and read it. My only vice in the arena of news is the Weather Channel.  I do not watch any videos where people are being beaten, burned, mutilated, mistreated, or lured into traps laid out by the evil-doers of this world.

Self-Preservation: it is what keeps me going.

My heart, it has seen a plethora of differences in people, places, and animals, yet it still wants to love. Yearns to love. For this reason, I must guard it. I must protect it from those eager to persuade me in some way with their shady schemes. People can be extremely harmful when it comes to characteristics and certain quirks and I have had my share of imbeciles to know when one is lurking about. It can be easy to fall prey and become a victim, especially during these times.

I do not believe I have ever felt the saying, “We are living in our last days” as much as I do now. My prayer is that humanity gets its act together and quickly. My heart and I are waiting. So, while we wait, I will get better in ways that I should. And while we wait, I will learn more about how I can strengthen others around me who have trouble loving while guarding their hearts. And hopefully, they can help me where it is needed most too. The heart can make or break us.

It is beating. Do you hear it?