Greetings all, I hope you are having a wonder-filled day celebrating and reflecting on the legacy of the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I myself am just back from participating in our MLK day parade and I must say I had a great time. To see all of the people of every race and ethnicity side by side out on the street together in unity celebrating the greatness of this man and possibly unknowingly celebrating the greatness within ourselves was truly a magnificent sight. If only we would hold on to this magnificence every day of our lives and continue to work (on ourselves first) to eradicate poverty, racism, classism, sexism and to work towards equality then we can continue to carry on the legacy of Dr. King. After all that is what he dreamed of and risked his life for.

I sometimes wonder if those of us who have only had to hear about the perils of racism and segregation but have never experienced it personally appreciate that we are living in the reality of Dr. Kings dream. Segregation ended  just prior to me making my entrance into the world so I have never had to experience what it was like to be denied the right to drink out of any water fountain that I selected or sit where I chose in a restaurant or walk on whatever side of the street that I chose to just because I was black.

Growing up in a small predominantly white mining town with a population of less than 4,000 people where everyone knew everyone else and was friendly to everyone else, I didn’t experience the perils of racism until I was an adult. I had no idea that being able to be best friends with and play with children of other races wasn’t always acceptable. I didn’t know that I was living in a reality that was at one point only a dream to those that came before me. I didn’t realize that being able to walk on any side of the street in our small town and swim in the pool with everyone else on hot summer days wasn’t always allowed. I didn’t know that my reality was only a dream to those that came before me. I didn’t know that being able to slow dance with a white boy at my school dance was at one time not accepted. I didn’t know that my reality was his dream. I didn’t know that sitting with my non-black friends in Sunday school and church every Sunday was at one time impossible. I didn’t know that my reality was his dream. I didn’t know that sitting side by side in class at school with my white friends was at some point not allowed. I didn’t know that the reality I lived with was only a dream to some.

Although I realize that we still have a long way to go in this world to eradicate the evils of poverty and racism  I also know that we have come so far! I live in a middle class neighborhood where people of all races live and no one blinks at the fact that their neighbor is Asian-American, Native-American, Latino,White or African-American. although I don’t take this for granted and know that the ism’s still exist, I can say that I am proud to know that the reality I and my children live in was a dream come true for Dr. King and those that fought so tirelessly to end segregation.

Thank you Dr. King and everyone else black, white or otherwise who saw to it that his dream has become our reality!

Happy New Moment and Happy New Year to you all! I’m finally posting my new year greeting (one of them) to you all and I must tell you that the timing is intentional. There was so much “clutter” in the news feeds and timelines at the start of the year and I was sure that you might be a little overwhelmed with it all so I decided to wait it out.

You know, as I observe the current energy surrounding us and what is going on on the social media sites I’m both encouraged and discouraged. Encouraged because there seems to be a lot of growth and awareness among people these days encouraging themselves and evolving in their attitudes and thinking. Discouraged because it seems to be at the expense of others. Anytime your evolution comes at the expense of others I don’t really think you can call it evolution.

I like all of the quotes that are circulating on social media sites as people seem to be letting go of things that no longer serve them in their daily lives which is a good thing but what is disheartening is the harshness and ego that is being expressed. I get that at some point in our lives we must move on from relationships that don’t fit into our lives anymore. They may be romantic relationships, business relationships or friendships that have run their course. All of us at some point have realized that some relationships have become toxic or unproductive and in an effort to become the person that we are meant to become we choose to discontinue these relationships. I applaud anyone who decides that the toxicity that may be present in their lives must be removed and courageously takes the steps to do so; that is a huge step in the right direction. I just hope that the dissolution of these relationships will be done in luv; done in a way that won’t intentionally be hurtful to the other parties in the relationships.

I know that this point of view is probably not popular as some people who have been hurt in relationships want to extend that pain to the person who may have hurt them; ego works like that. But in luving yourself enough to want to evolve and move on from these relationships luv yourself enough to realize that we are all an extension of each other and when we hurt others we are hurting ourselves. It is never easy to leave a relationship and doing so will often cause some pain and tension but operating in luv can ease the pain that may be felt by the dissolving of the relationship.

As you go into the new year and decide to let go of what no longer is serving your evolution just remember that there may be someone in your life that has decided to let go of their relationship with you so be mindful of what that may feel like and extend the luv and understanding that you would want to those that you may be releasing. Evolving from past behaviors that other may still be engaging in doesn’t make us better than them it just means that we are at a different place on our journey. We should never adopt the attitude that we are better than anyone else because they are still engaging in thinking or behavior that you no longer engage in because each of us evolves at a different pace and each of us is right where we are supposed to be on our journey. Luv and encourage the people that you are releasing and trust that those that are releasing you are holding you in luv and encouragement as well.

I hope that you are all setting your goals for the new year and releasing that which no longer serves you; in luv of course. Just in case you haven’t read it here is a post that I wrote last year regarding New Years resolutions and why I don’t make them. Enjoy! http://www.eatmydessertfirst.com/2011/01/problem-with-new-years-resolutions.html