Contemplative thoughts...

All artists know the struggle of fulfilling our daily responsibilities with the same fervor as our art work. There is a silent struggle that goes on within me that fights toward my dreams and desires. One that is no longer able to be contained by silence and passivity. Reading Jeremiah 29 assures me of two things, (1) to accept my current position in life and pray for the success of people and things around me and (2) to trust in God's perfect timing. The itch within me to see my dreams come to pass is a good motivator. At the same time I have to be careful not to let anxious behavior come from those desires.
For example, over the weekend I rented a car. A cute, black VW Bug.

I haven't had a car in over two years (I decided to invest in my first house instead) and it could have been very tempting to tell myself that I needed one after having such a cute one for a few days. But when I had it in my possession, the overwhelming desire to have it for myself was surprisingly absent. Many times it sat in my driveway without moving for most of the day. Though it was nice knowing it was there I realized that everything I need I already have access to. Other than taking a last minute road trip, I am able to do the majority of things I need and want to do. That made me realize that I need to be more thankful for my current position in life not constantly yearning for things or conveniences I don't have at the moment. My life is good...I want to enjoy it, not spend every waking hour thinking of things I don't have that I feel would put me in a better position. Also, it made me think about the sovereignty of God's timing and how he knows when is the best time for me to have something.

As I live through today and process my thoughts I will remember the lessons a little "bug" taught me...

Jazz stuff...

There is something organic about a human voice paired with a jazz note; a scat with the thump of an upright bass, a tap with a beating drum. There is also something very natural about looking over a river while Brandford Marsalis gears up to astound the locals at Detroit's International Jazz Fest. Well, at least in my world it's normal...

Below, Brandford and the guys are warming up on the main stage...a trio of talented tappers..."flute man" as I call him and a chess player who I hope didn't mind that I was taking his picture...of course I'll never know because he didn't speak English...

For years I thought about what my writings should be about. I have kept a journal since I was a teenager and those writings consisted of whatever was going on in my life at the time. Now that my life has branched off into many areas, my writings have followed. I have come to a place where I want to be more focused in what I write about; creating a theme to the thoughts I put out into cyberspace. I'm not trying to stifle my creativity by containing my thoughts but create boundaries so I can be free to develop in certain areas. Through other areas of discipline in my life I understand how structure enables growth. Haphazardness creates inconsistencies which in turn encourages confusion. I found that though my writings were meaningful to me, the lack of an overall theme presented an incomplete body of work. I am looking for all of my work to be definitive not random. With that said I thought to myself, sitting on my new front steps, of what matters most to me and what is going on min my life; that is what I will write about without fear. Simply my life. Now, I know that sounds narcissistic but the passion and substance will come only when I write from a place that is meaningful. Trying to create something that I think will be well received by the public is futile. Like a very wise man said..."When you become an artist you don't create for everyone. Not everyone is going to love what you are doing. The most important thing is to stay true to your passion and there is always an audience out there who is going to support it." Well said.

I begin with what is going on in my life at this present time. I am an artist in the process of developing a mentoring program called Salon 477.

I am a single gal navigating life with God...and a very feisty cat named Scottie.


I purchased my first home a little over a year ago and have been fixing it up. The latest project was repairing the front steps and landscaping the lawn.




I have done some modeling over the past 4 years and now I am looking into getting a bit more serious about it. I'm not talking supermodel, cat walking, Vogue magazine type things...just stepping my game up to create another source of income.
Lastly, my day job is at a local community center where I am Volunteer Coordinator which allows me to meet a lot of really great people.

In a nutshell, that's what my life entails at the moment. It changes daily and takes on new shapes moment by moment. But in this moment, I am satisfied with knowing that my work and words are coming from a place of genuine transparency. It won't always be easy, the temptation to create a "social network facade" and live behind the curtain of your profile will be always present. However I find freedom in sharing who I really am...as I become.