There are days when I just don’t know what to do:

I don’t know, what to do with the emotions running all over the room.

I don’t know, what to do with want to that don’t want to.

I don’t know, what to do with bills I can’t pay.

I don’t know, what direction to turn.

I don’t know, what to do with my sad.

I don’t know, what to do with my mad.

I don’t know, what to do with my writing.

I don’t know, what to do with me.

What do I do?

I write.

I give myself permission to be sad.

I give voice to my anger.

I start walking in any direction knowing The Universe will point me the right way.

I allow myself to sell.

I remind myself to rejoice and embrace the day.

I happen to my day.

When you don’t know what to do, beloveds, sometimes it’s good, to do something.

Not knowing can be used as an excuse to not try.

Try, YOUR way. Leave out some commas. Throw in, some exclamation points!

When you don’t know what to do, do something.

doing something with you,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: Being forced to learn a super hard position, at my tender age of 50ish, was THE toughest thing I have EVER done. It was:

Humbling.

Demeaning.

Demanding.

Embarrassing.

Just about every ing one could go through. I cried. A lot. I fussed at God. A lot. Told Him it was NOT fair to put me through this. Not, NOW, I said. I had gotten comfortable. I KNEW what I was doing! I was great at it. Now, I had not the first clue. Yikes.

Those times, those incredibly embarrassingly hard times, forced me to confront:

Failure.

Discouragement.

More, failure.

More, discouragement.

Until, I fought my way out. I learned that I was okay, even if I had not the first clue. My identity was no longer in how awesome I was, at my job. God loved me, mess ups and all. Whew!

I no longer had to walk a high wire of trying to earn love/respect through my actions/deeds/efforts.

I could talk for days, on this subject. I shall end, temporarily, with this:

When you don’t know what to do, do something. It will help to get you out of the paralyzing state of ‘I can’t do this!’. You can. You will.

Be encouraged. If you are here, with me, it is proof that you ARE doing all you know, eh?

I wish someone had told me, long time ago, I didn’t have to be strong. That I didn’t have to spend my life, trying to convince the world I was worthy of being here. I was. I am. As, are you, beloveds.

Thank you, for spending a bit of time, with me. You could be doing anything. Amazingly, you made your way here. I am honored. Life is short. Love someone. Start with you.

here,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Note: I have been pondering and praying for all the fantastic bloggers/readers on WordPress.com. I have been stalking many of yall…lol. I have been enjoying the different blogs. If you don’t have one, consider creating one. You would be amazed how much fun they are and how fulfilling they can be. Yes, at first, it can be awfully discouraging to get few, if any, likes or responses. Do like I do and make up a million tags/categories. I have NO idea what that does but that’s how a few have made their way to my blog…*shrug*.

I almost forgot to give you this!:

You are loved.

You are NOT alone.

Keep on being…YOU!

• SUNDAY WITH CASSANDRA. IT ME!
• MOVIE SATURDAY WITH CASSANDRA🌎🎬👩🏿‍🦼🍿🌎
• (no title)
• Today…
• 🎬 MAYBE THEY WEREN’T “TOO BLACK.” MAYBE I WAS STILL HOLDING THE RULER. 🪑🔑Beloveds,I told you I caught myself watching Black romance movies and thinking:Too loud.Too boisterous.Too Black.😳And the Holy Spirit convicted me.Then I watched Deliver Us from Eva.WHEW.👀Because suddenly I wasn’t only watching Eva.I was looking at the ruler I sometimes used to measure everybody.Let’s start with Eva.She’s intelligent, professional, beautiful, protective, loving, bossy, controlling, loyal and complicated.All of it.🔑She doesn’t have to become either the Angry Black Woman Who Needs Taming or the Strong Black Woman Whose Every Choice Must Be Defended.Eva needs correction AND Eva deserves dignity.She helped raise her sisters after their parents died. Protection became part of her identity.But eventually protection sometimes became control.⛓️ If I don’t manage everybody, everything will fall apart.🔑 I can love grown people without controlling grown people.Her sisters need a key too.You cannot keep handing somebody the clipboard to your life and then get mad because she keeps writing on it.🤣Eva has to stop managing.Her sisters have to start owning.Everybody gets a chair.🪑And YES—THE MEN TOO.🤣🪑🪑🪑🪑Ray begins by deceiving Eva.That matters.But eventually “the problem” becomes a person to him.Eva.And Ray changes.🔑 Sometimes genuinely knowing somebody destroys the caricature we created from a distance.But Ray deserves his own humanity too.He’s working, dreaming, saving, flawed, funny, romantic, masculine and tender.He doesn’t need to become a CEO before he’s worthy of love.There’s that ten-times-better ruler again.👀Then Mike.Mike has a legitimate frustration with Eva’s interference.His solution?SIR. SIT DOWN.🪑🤣Because here’s another key:🔑 A legitimate grievance does not automatically make every remedy legitimate.Pain deserves acknowledgment.Choices still require accountability.Then Tim made me ask:What does a Black man have to look like before we consider him “man enough”?Dominant?Always in charge?Never soft?Never uncertain?Why?Tim doesn’t need more masculinity.He needs his voice.🔑A loud Black woman shouldn’t have to shrink.A quieter Black man shouldn’t have to perform dominance.Both get chairs.And Darrell?🤣Some people are intellectual heavyweights.And some people are…Darrell.🤣❤️HE GETS A CHAIR TOO.Intelligence isn’t the admission price for dignity.Sophistication isn’t the admission price for love.Black people are allowed to be ordinary.Goofy.Messy.Wrong.Funny.Tender.Brilliant.Ridiculous.Rich.Poor.Loud.Quiet.Human.And suddenly the Holy Spirit’s conviction went deeper.Maybe I had become nervous when Black characters weren’t representing us “well enough.”What will THEY think?Why are they so loud?Why aren’t they more polished?More educated?More professional?More respectable?More…acceptable?😳And suddenly I’m not watching a movie.I’m conducting a performance review of Blackness.⛓️That’s exhausting.Because Black characters should not have to carry the reputation of an entire people on their backs.And sometimes, without realizing it—we help load the backpack.That was part of what the Holy Spirit showed me.Not merely:Cassandra, look at them.But:Cassandra, look at your ruler.👀Who handed it to you?Why are you still carrying it?And I knew part of the answer.Ten times better.There was love and survival inside what Black folk taught me.They were preparing me for an unfair world.But:“You may have to be ten times better to receive the opportunity”can quietly become:“Black people SHOULD be ten times better.”NO.❤️‍🩹I reject that.Black excellence is beautiful.Black dignity is unconditional.Eva gets correction and dignity.Ray gets tenderness and accountability.Mike gets frustration and responsibility.Tim gets quietness and voice.Darrell gets goofiness and dignity.The sisters get love and agency.Nobody has to become less Black.Nobody has to become ten times more human.EVERYBODY GETS A CHAIR.🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑And maybe that’s what the Holy Spirit was really asking me:Cassandra, why are you still holding the ruler?😳My answer?I’m learning to put it down.🔑And maybe you have one too.Race.Education.Disability.Age.Money.Accent.Religion.Politics.Body size.Mental illness.Addiction.Sexuality.Somebody whose life simply doesn’t look like yours.Don’t perform an answer for me.Be honest with you. For, HIM.🙏🏿What ruler are you carrying?Who handed it to you?Who have you measured with it?Have you measured yourself with it too?And if the Holy Spirit is showing it to you, maybe He isn’t giving you the ruler so you can beat yourself with it.Maybe He’s saying:Child. You don’t need that anymore.Put it down.🔑❤️‍🩹Pull up your chair.🪑Let somebody else pull up theirs.And let people be fully human in front of you.Including—you.👩🏿‍🦼💃🏿❤️‍🔥🌎Asking for A Friend,Cassandra#YourLifeMattersToMeNote: One step. One step. One step. You are loved. You are NOT alone. Keep on being…YOU!Unapologetically His.Unapologetically yours.