Monday Motivation - Wings

{Photos By: Othello Carter/The Neutral Ground Studio}

I warn you guys now, this post may be a little all over the place. Last week was such a busy and somewhat hectic week at work, with my personal live, and with the energies of new and old friends. Today is the first day I've had to be still and in the moment with my own thoughts, with no expectations, with no wantings {for anything or anyone} and just to be. Well, at least for some of the day as I will have to attend to some business matters later on, but right now, in this moment, I'm allowing myself to just be.

But then I laugh aloud because I'm writing this blog post which is kind of work, but then again not really because blogging is my way to journal sometimes. Not in its completeness however, some thoughts I have to keep close to my heart and within my soul which danced the first time I saw this video. A friend had saved it for me a couple of weekends ago and my world was rocked and parts of me renewed by these awesome sound bites given by new-to-me artist Khehla Chepape. His recycled art is amazing and is now on my must see/do love list. I'm already dreaming of two things; one Chepape and his art will be at Art Basel in Miami in December and I go and/or two, some time next year I will get to visit Johannesburg or some other part of the world, London, Paris to view his art. As I'm typing I'm thinking I love my US cities Atlanta, Nashville, New York and LA and would love to view his art at museums I already know and love. Yep, I'm all over the place {smile}.

So back to those sound bites from what I'm calling a must see video highlighting Chepape. Oh my gosh, where to begin? I'm going to start with wings. Chepape shared that although he does not have big wings, he is taking another artist under his wings and mentoring him. That was a beautiful reminder for me to be a mentor. I've been asked and given opportunities to mentor, however I've never felt that my wings were big enough. I feel I'm still in the learning and aspiring process. I'm mostly learning from all of my wrongs, lol. However if nothing else, I can teach from my mistakes and hopefully save someone time, frustration and some of the heart and hard aches I've experienced. A little off track and side note is my thought behind the title of this blog post, Wings. It's kind of like that commercial that says Red Bull gives you wings. That's how I feel about my motivation this morning and often times. When I see people flying and trying and constantly going for what they want no matter the odds, that's my red bull, that's what gives me wings. And even if they don't seem to have faced any odds, it's tough often time just to be who we are so I'm still given the encouragement to fly. My mind is flooded by all of the people who inspire me and give me wings. I will find a way to thank you soon. I know I've shared it from time to time, but I truly hope when I share that my dear friends know how amazing they truly are and how they move and impact me.

I'm still thanking my friend for sharing this amazing video with me. I have a feeling it is going to be with me for sometime, encouraging me, motivating me. At the beginning of the video it spoke of an exhibition that did not go well for Chepape to which he decided to curate his own. I love that. And I love that he shared that he did not wait to be discovered, that he had already discovered himself. That spoke volumes to me because that is where I am on my journey. I am not waiting for anyone to discover me. While I've always been aware of my talents and gifts, the old idea was to "be discovered" but life should wait for no one. So although I may wish to work with others, if desired collaborations do not happen, hey, they just don't happen. I tell myself and share in hashtags often to keep on moving, keep on moving, don't stop no. 🙂 And I'm learning that there is greater freedom in making your own way.

I'm not sure what touched me the most, as many of Chepape's words were so eloquent and profound. I would like to know more about Chepape's mother and father or know more about his mind set when it comes to women. The art exhibition that I am most interesting in seeing is his The Heroines of South Africa to which Chapape shared that most of the history of leadership speaks of the man, to which Chepape questions, where does that position the woman. The exhibition explores women leadership of South African heroines that goes back through out mankind's history. And speaking of leadership, I'm sure I held my hand to my heart when the artist spoke of his daughter, sharing that he would like her to believe that she does not need any authority from any man for her to be a leader or to be whatever she wants. Those words spoke volumes and bring to mind so many thoughts that would best be saved for another post or live conversation.

In my day to day movement about this tiny earth place and crazy thing called life and as I strive to make my dreams come true, I do think about what I want to leave behind. I definitely believe that we should make any place we leave better than it was before we arrived, be it a visit to another city, someone's home, someone's heart, it's just such an honor to be here, which makes me desire to honor the places I am privy to with love, kindness and somehow making it better. I'm willing to bet we've already left behind great impressions that have encouraged and inspired others just by being who we are. This has me thinking of so many of my wonderful family and friends again and people I've never even met who just by being themselves have inspired and encouraged me greatly.

Another hand to heart moment while watching the video was Chepape sharing that working with kids affords him to work on a holy crown that is untainted. An untainted holy crown. All I can do is just end this post after those words. ♡