FIRST AND FOREMOST…

     Welcome to intent. An encapsulation of my growth. As I embark on this journey of living the life I want to lead, I wanted to document and reflect during the process. I always believed that your idols should be those you share your everyday life with. I’m privileged in that way. I’ve never had a shortage of strong, powerful, inspirational people in my life. For this though, I wanted to start with people who others would be familiar with.

Few names kept populating in my head consistently: First Lady Michelle Obama, Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, and many awards winning, Actress Viola Davis. Three women who are actively changing our communities and shared Earth experience. We’re all creatives. We all cultivate and curate a narrative, whether it be in the form of a podcast, social media post, work persona, or book; and we all have something to say. I wanted to know what these three women had decided to tell the world.

I started with the Duchess herself. She released a podcast in 2022 through her production company Archewell Studios entitled Archetypes. In her words, Archetypes is “a podcast where we investigate, dissect, and subvert the labels that try to hold women back.” She spoke of the duality of diva with Mariah Carey, what it means to be ambitious and labeled as such with Serena Williams, and the ever-hated angry Black woman label with Issa Rae.

I found myself bingeing the episodes with a sense of understanding. Here are all the archetypes and names women never want to be labeled as. I connected with what Meghan Markle and her guests had and were experiencing in their lives. Yet, I wanted to go deeper. (Remember, this is all about growth.) I had to reflect, and I did not like what I found. Sometimes, I find myself subconsciously using these archetypes and negative connotations regarding other women.

I was angry with myself, but then I remembered my promise. As I try to become a better citizen, a better advocate, a better person, I must give myself (and others) grace. I read once, “your first thought is what you were trained to think, your second thought is how you actually feel.” That has stuck with me for years. I am consciously deprogramming my mind from societal constructs.

MY NEXT STUDY…

Ms. Viola Davis. I saw on Netflix that she did an interview with Oprah for the release of her book Finding Me. While, I fully believe that we’ll be diving deeper into her memoir later this year, I wanted to mention what impacted me the most during this interview. Ms. Davis stated that her dreams were bigger than her fears and that courage is the real cure. I am riddled with insecurities when it comes to my purpose in life. I truly felt like that moment was for me. My dreams must outweigh my fears and I need to lead with courage. “All courage is, is fear said with prayers.”