Ya'll remember this one lol....happy halloween!

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Dare...

Dare to make waves.
dare to ask why?
when no one else will. dare yourself to walk into that restaurant alone. dare to introduce yourself. dare to be the oldest woman in the class. dare to be the youngest. dare to be happier than you ever thought possible. dare to be different. be really different! dare to be as flamboyant, as brilliant, as sexy, as funny, as terrific as you really are. dare to push your own envelope. dare to push theirs. dare to be first. dare to suggest it's time for a change, then dare to lead the way. dare to be vulnerable, dare to be real. dare to proclaim This is who I am, and dare anyone to believe otherwise. dare to claim your own power and to stand firmly rooted in your own truth. go ahead, I dare you.
--rachel snyder's 365 words of Well-Being for Women

Cry...

cry out when what you feel is too strong to hold in. cry for help when you need it. cry with your voice, your tears, with your actions. cry because you want to, because it waters your soul and cleans out your dry and dusty places. cry for the loss of old ways. cry for every woman who was too tired to live and too scared to die. cry for the children. cry every time an old-growth forest on earth is destroyed, never to return. cry at what we've become and who we are becoming. cry because you know we can do better. cry out in frustration, in pain, in unbridled and relentless anguish. cry the tears of all women, and know that you're crying your own tears, too.
--rachel snyder

i have nothing left
to give you
but this thinning skin
somewhere
between tattoos and scars
find a place for your words
my ears and my heart are full
overloaded with vunerability
and the ghosts of childhood
ghosts of him
3 times over
sage is not enough
so i weave prayers into crosses
strewn across my doorway
yet i forgot to close the door
and i'm on the wrong side
looking in
looking out
go ahead
write anyway
tell a story
a novel
an epic
a joke
tell it
tell it well
i was never a blank canvas anyway...

Conceive...

give life to something-anything-until it's ready to be born. an idea, a dream, a baby, a book, a sculpture, a business. be pregnant with something-anything-of your own creation. hold it inside and feed it and love it and grow it until you're ready to share it with the world. nourish it with your own breath and the warmth of your own body and the beating of your own heart. conceive alone or with others or with the universe or with angels or with your computer. carry your conception in a safe place for as long as it takes. a month or nine, a year or two or seven. when it feels like you can't carry it another day, wait a day and then release it. let it come out in its own time, in its own way. be prepared to feel the pain. be prepared to feel the joy. be prepared never to feel the same again.
-Rachel Snyder

Claim...

claim your rightful place, the place that has carried your name for all time. claim your right to be honored as the earthly goddess you are. claim your right to be loved for yourself alone, without strings and with a deep richness of soul. when you are questioned, claim the truth. claim your innocence. claim that which is rightfully yours and no one else's. claim your own song. claim your true path and make it yours. claim you didn't know, if you didn't. claim you were momentarily unaware, if you were. claim your seat at the table, your place in the circle, your position at the dance. claim your freedom. claim your power, take it into your hands and up through your feet, and let it mingle with the awesome power of the Earth Herself.
--Rachel Snyder

Choose...

every moment of every day, choose. choose to do the right thing, the tough thing-not the familiar, easy thing. choose the way of the warrior or the way of the coward. make your choice out of love instead of fear. choose from the heart. choose to live fully, not to sleepwalk through your life. choose to respond wih the way you really feel, not the way you're supposed to feel. choose the mineral water over the soda; choose the walk in the park over the ride to the mall. choose simplicity over extravagance. choose conversation over the television. choose to talk things out rather than stew in your anger overnight. choose compassion and generosity. choose to smile instead of frown. make your own choices in your own time and choose to stick with them.
--Rachel Snyder

Finding Smiles Within

--for Creator & She protecting me and mine from the seen and unseen
--for court going well in my favor
--for patience with self and others
--for the experience of hosting one helluva hot night
--for how in sync we are together
--for strength even when i don't think i have an ounce left..its there
--for forgiveness and its freedom it can bring
--for wanting a better me, and doing a better me
--for cool cool nights...always brings a smile to my face
--for Kameron almost intercepting the football and his great tackles...and looking up into the stands making sure we saw...yes baby we did
--for my brotha calling me about his fishing trip..he was so excited
--for the new poems coming from within and from others
--for laughing with a beautiful diva
--for being able to hang out with my bead girl this weekend
--for letting you go...knowing i deserve better...still taking my big girl pills(lol)
--for knowing allll the trouble we would get into if you were closer...but it would be so much fun
--for the eye candy you send me often...thank you (whew)
--for knowing maybe i'm not ready...but willing
--for the new love the angel wears so well
--for new possibilites in an old flame...i am ecstatic for you...stop panicking lol
--for prayers

--image "Beyond Midnight" by selladohr

i don't always want to wear this crown
or be what it is i have deemed myself to be
reigning over self often causes mutiny
standing ground with my own back
hazy clouds deny reflection
my gaze is foggy through the pane
squeezed lids provide tunnel vision
but a better focus

pressed palms against life to leave imprints
careful not to increase cracks left by thrown stones
still i push the envelope
leaving drops of blood to seal the deal
enemies have acquired the sweet taste
they thirst often
i keep extra in the fridge for needed transfusions

i am not a martyr
nor a victim
cancelled roles bid for reruns
nostalgia tv
turn the channel

somedays i don't want to wear this crown
so i let it slip onto fingertips
diamonds cutting flesh
flesh cutting diamonds
skin has toughened

press face closer to the pane
feeling dampness of kisses needed
blow out life
secret messages revealed
left behind eternity ago
for days like these...

Change...

if there's something about your life you don't like, change it. make a big change or a small one. change into someone entirely new. change the color of your hair. strip yourself of old, tired patterns and change into a woman who's creating her own beliefs about herself and her world. change the channel (you know what i mean). change the way you've arranged those pictures on the shelf. change the route you take to work. change your morning routine and come downstairs before you get dressed. change newspapers. change radio stations. be brave enough to change your views on choice, on immigration, on capital punishment, on gun control.start making changes from the inside out, and when those around you cry "change back!"....refuse to change your tune!
--from Rachel Snyder's 365 Words of Well Being

Carry....

Carry yourself with queenly grace. carry the memory of an unforgettable moment. carry a bag of food to someone who needs it. carry a child as much as you can, as close as you can. carry a sign in a picket line to show you support the women whose jobs are on that line. carry on a conversation only as long as you want; then end it. offer to carry a sack for a woman who's carrying her unborn child. carry a song in your heart. stop carrying forty-seven suitcases of emotional baggage. carry things to their natural conclusion. allow someone else-another woman perhaps-to carry you over an emotional threshold. carry a bouquet of flowers into the kitchen on tuesday. or on every tuesday. carry the light of your own soul and let it shine, shine, shine.

Care...

care for yourself as much as you care for others. if you care enough to do something about another's pain and suffering, care enough to do something about your own. care whether she's had a rotten day, and care enough to tell her so. care enough to speak up when someone fouls your planet. care about the old, the young, the sick, and insist that your elected officials care, too. care lovingly for your belongings so they will last longer. care lovingly for your friendships so they will last a lifetime. care whether there are still wild, sacred places you can visit in silence. care whether the movie includes thirty-four murders and seven rapes, and demand that hollywood care, too. care that babies are having babies and that babies are killing babies. whenever you want to say I don't care, ask yourself If not me, then who?

Blossom...

When it's time, when you can't wait another moment, unfold your petals and display your grandeur. do it when you're twenty-eight or when you're fifty-three or when you're eighty-four. open up to the world with a glow and an attitude that says Yes, now I am really here. pick up a paintbrush, a hammer, a baseball. go to law school, learn to drive, take swimming lessons, run for office. send out announcements. throw yourself a party. because now your time has come and the world had better make room for you like never before. just like a magnificent flower, you'll go from tightly closed and protected to full and fragrant and open and unforgettable. whether you're an early bloomer or a late bloomer, one thing is sure: you will feel as though you've waited forever, only to burst forth "overnight" when you least expect it.

--from Rachel Snyder's 365 Words of Well-Being for Women

Grateful Thursdays...

--for Creator & She...i am listening
--for believing still in magic
--for coming together as souljahs(its what a souljah is, right!) and making it happen
--for the man outside the venue with his words and his tears, thank you for making it worth while...it only takes one
--for realizing you are still very young, and have a lot to learn...but that is what life is all about
--for love
--for patience with self
--for 6 months away from my 40th..already planning the 2nd part of my life...wow 40
--for a chance to host on a very hot night...i pray i do well...and leave shelle at home lol
--for one helluva poet asking me and another to go on the road with them next year...like duh!!
--for life and all its curve balls...i got my mitt on...keep 'em coming!
--for you asking to borrow my pen, i never know what to say to you 'cause i don't know how you feel about me...forgive my silence
--for my younger brother keeping me laughing...damn i love him
--for my oldest working her ass off at the new job...so proud...we are getting better...she is calming down a bit...God is good allllll the time
--for the cuddles i still get from my son, but no to the kisses in public *sigh
--for coming out of the darkness a lil bit more today...still reaching for the moon
--for you coming out when i know you don't want to lol..love you
--for loving who i was, am, and will be...and that i get to recreate myself daily
--for choices

even in silence
i am screaming
for my sanity

Never Too Late....

--for Creator & She...keeping me going and slightly sane
--for our internet back up, man don't realize how much you miss technology when w/o it
--for my kids...damn they are wonderful
--for great poetry
--for neo last thursday, crowd was incredible
--for the younging who said he wanted to make love to my words...call me in 10 yrs lol..too cute
--the power of words
--for the opportunity to host
--for the smile on my face watching you two dance ol' school thursday night...family
--for trying to calm the haters and naysayers....let them be happy dammit!
--for embarrassing moments being hilarious...slip of the tongue LOL
--for you finally being honest, now we can move on
--for hanging on to self as hard as i can
--for knowing i need to stop looking to find it
--for the coolness in the air...YES!
--for the women in my life who teach me so much, whether they know it or not
--for the calmness in me
--for the brief time you were in my life...i smile everytime i think of you
--for the beauty in simplicity

Believe...

Believe in the power of believing. say I believe and believe it. believe in fairy tales for what they can teach you about real life. believe in happy endings, and believe that they don't always happen. believe in something, anything, that gives you the courage and strength to continue on when it would be so easy to give up. believe it whan a friend says your're beautiful. believe it when you hear the words, you deserve to be happy. when someone tells you something, believe the parts that feel right, that resonate in your belly, and discard the rest. believe that you have choices and that you can choose wisely. believe your own instincts above anyone else's. believe that you can do more with your life than you're doing, and then do it. above all, believe in yourself. when something seems truly unbelievabe, it may be worth believing.
can you believe that?
--from 365 Words of Well-Being for Women

Be

remember that life is in the being, not the doing. be every bit of everything that you are. be tough, be soft, be dramatic, be subdued. be a little bit of this and a little bit of that. be the one who always shows up on time or be the one who lives according to her own inner clock. be the one who never forgets a detail or be the one who never remembers. be happy when you feel like it and be sad when you're down. be who you are--not who they told you you should be. be able to cry in front of someone you hardly know, if it's time to cry, be willing to be real. be talkative if you are; be quiet if you're not. be ready to drop your masks and your protective armour and be genuine. be in the moment, be in the light. and just when they think they know exactly who you are, be prepared to be something altogether different.

--from 365 Words of Well-Being for Women by Rachel Syder

Always Thankful...

--for my girls...my babies...mine
--for Creator & She and the whispers of Grace
--for feeling in a rut, because it means the creativity/change is coming real soon
--for new women friends
--for fantastic eye/mind opening conversation with again, fabulous women
--for hanging out with you for a moment, eventhough no one showed up...we still had a few laughs big brotha
--for you wanting to do a road trip again...just the thought makes me giddy even if i won't be able to make it
--for you answering the phone "hey joy of my life"
--for you wanting to hear my voice, after finding out you lost a close friend...life is soooo short...we got to enjoy one another while we are present
--for my oldest's new beau...he is a cutie, and treats my baby like she deserves...he is a keeper
--for new word board games...drinking coffee and playing for hours
--for a brand new fence
--for safe trips home
--for wanting to be and do better
--for just remembering...and smiling
--for the power of words...use wisely and with love

Life in Death

do not cry for me
remember my life and be happy
smile when you think of me
laugh at the mere mention of my name
do not bring me flowers
bring mangoes and pomegranates instead
eat them until the juices run freely
let the seeds lay where they fall
then dance upon them
so to bring their freedom next spring
read poetry to my spirit
and to the spirits that have gathered
tell them my story
our story
don't stay too long
for my passing time is brief
wait until springtime to return
take refuge under the strong branches that have grown
adorn your hair with blooms of passion
taste the fruit of my life
and dance baby
dance...

(work in progress)

AWAKEN...

Wake up! refuse to sleepwalk through your life any longer. wake up! open your eyes and dare to see the world in a new and different way. wake up! awaken your passion for life and awaken it in those around you. awaken yourself spiritually. find somehting larger than yourself to believe in. find a way to lift yourself above the mundane. wake up! smell the coffee! take a long, hard look at all you've been missing, and decide not to miss any more. awaken your senses, your intuition, your desires. awaken the parts of yourself that have been sleeping: the lover, the trickster, the artist, the maiden, the crone. wake up, and don't go back to sleep. life is a dream, and to live it, you must be awake.