It's a love thing

this blog is about an act of love. last night, i was watching
beyond scared straight on a&e and i had an epiphany of sorts. the women in that institution were given a most auspicious and indeed golden opportunity. to tell the "younger versions" of themselves to get their lives together or else.... i watched in awe as the most hardcore inmates wept with their "mini me" in one on one sessions. it made me think; what would i say to myself if i could go back in time? what advice would i give me? what would i warn me about? and most importantly what mistakes would i allow myself to make again?

so then i thought, i wonder if my friends would do it too? not that i need a group to complete a writing assignment. i mean really, i have not one, not two, not three but FOUR blogs, and i write on facebook a little too regularly. and i contribute to my friends blogs. i'm a word nerd, i accept it.... now. but that's exactly my point. i wondered how the people i know now as successful, prolific, beautiful black women started off, or if they too ever had phases of insecurity, doubt, ridiculous opposition, self loathing, pressure from unnecessary sources. how did they deal with it all? hell, did they deal with it all and if so, what did they learn in dealing?

i decided, after writing it all down in my journal, to ask them. it took me all day today to muster up the nerve to put the question out there, but i did. i wrote down 48 names and ended up sending a message to three groups of my friends on facebook. i started with a simple question:

would you like to be a part of something huge?

and this is going to be huge. this is a love act of mammoth proportions. if someone had come to me with this material, when i was young, and sad and alone. when i was ostracized for being different. when my self loathing was so crucial i got dressed in the dark. if someone would've come to me and said, "hey, it's okay, i've been there. it gets better, and so do you. you're gonna make it. you're special and i love you." if i would have had some of THAT. oh boy. and that's my goal. to give some of that. some of that let me reach back into my life, let me touch this scar, this reminder of what i went through and overcame, and help you to look forward. sankofa love project.

let's do it.