But still, like Air…Always….Like Air

Like Air.

My heart is full, and I feel content.

In the midst of huge storms, cold blasting winds, high mountains of life decisions and a heart confused in many directions, I feel at peace and quite content.

On Monday, the chorus to Kirk Franklin’s, ‘the fight of my life’  randomly played in my head, and like the feeling you get when the plane dips unexpectedly,  I braced myself.

There comes a time when you take so many hits, you almost want to stop punching back, stop putting your arms up to defend yourself; throw in the towel and give up.

But still, like Air….

One of the things I love about myself, is this God given ability to just bounce right back, like an inflated rubber ball, no matter how far I get pushed down, suppressed, weighted, I’ll still find a way to rise up. (Best explained here)

Its one of the reasons I love Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise”

Growing up in a country and culture that is often patriarchal and misogynistic, its very easy to get overwhelmed in the ideologies that try to define, limit or destroy your dreams as a woman. I learned that it’s okay to rebel, not just put your arm up to block, surviving alone. It’s okay to punch back and fight for your life.

The person that embodies this poem to me, is Serena Williams. In addition to just being amazing, I love that she’s unapologetic for her zeal, tenacity and drive. I admire that. I have decided to stop lurking behind the curtain and present my dreams out loud, because my dreams are valid. I have decided win or lose, I’ll at least try.

I enjoy that despite all the criticisms of Serena,she break out and proves naysayers wrong. Especially about her inability to dance, I love that she does it anyway! 

I believe that everyone has a fight they are experiencing, but one way or another, we still manage to get out of bed in the morning, put one foot before the other, and rise again. It’s amazing, the resilience of the human spirit!

Whatever it is that you’re going through, I hope you can find the strength to hope again, to believe that you can overcome this obstacle. I hope you are able to remember how far you have come and use that to propel you forward. Dont give up! Like air, I hope you can rise!

I cant want to share the Beingbola Monologues with you. Each story, each piece comes from a place in my heart that I share with you. Episode One is screening, Feb 18th in the following cities, Windsor, Winnipeg, Calgary and Detroit.

RSVP: Event.beingbola.com

Serena Williams: Still I rise

Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise”

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.