I’m doing something dumb.
For me.
Just ‘cuz.
Why?
Because, I have ALWAYS wanted to.
Why?
Just cuz.
Beats me.
I love sports. And, I mean I love me some sports. Mom gave me HER love of sports. We would hoot and holler over this team or that. I don’t know, beloveds, if this is the main reason why I love sports. I just do.
Anywho, not only do I love watching sports, I love TALKING about them. Endlessly. Exasperatedly. Incessantly. I could talk about sports ALL day. ALL DAY!
In particular, I love me some NFL….*hugs self*. I scour my favorite channels to hear different folks take on this team or that. Here lately, there has not been enough to satisfy my thirst.
Fresh hell!
So, I decided to start me a Sports Podcast…*shrug*.
Why?
Just cuz.
I’m still trying to learn how to make videos and Power Points and this here and that there so this will be a fun and possibly disastrous happenings.
So what?!
Life is short.
I made an audio file I have absoluely NO idea how to transfer, upload, edit or whatever.
HAHAAHAHAAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
Before, beloveds, I would never have started. I would have used my lack of knowledge as a reason and excuse NOT to start.
Ha!
I am beginning.
Now.
Here.
Disastrously.
Ridiculously.
Ah, God. I’m trying. Help a sista out, Wouldja please?
asking for a friend(me),
Cassandra
#YourLifeMattersToMe
Note: God is good. Instead of chastising me for being so down the last few days, He lifted me up. He set my feet upon a rock. He whispered for me to try. Just try, Cassandra, He asked me. I will.
Get going, beloveds. Life is short. I know I have blown up your inbox with pieces today. Why? Life is short. Just a bit ago a tornado ripped up my world. The day before the tornado, I thought I had plenty of time to do two pieces at a time. After the tornado…whew…my heart keeps saying life is short and encourage as many folk as you can as you just never know what the day may bring.
This is my last weekend before I start work again. I am fixing to get back to my normal two pieces per day and try to get some rest before reality and life slaps me upside the head with work.
I don’t know what me will be returning to work, beloveds. I’m not ready. I can’t afford NOT to start on Tuesday. My funds are dry. Yet, I KNOW I shall be alright. How do I know? Because, He promised me. Ah, God. I appreciate You. For YOU. Not because You can. Just cuz You Are. Ah, beloveds, I appreciate you. Not because you listen to me ramble. But, because you are:
Precious.
Priceless.
Amazing.
Outstanding.
Caring.
Insightful.
Delightful.
Keep being you. Take care of your tender heart. STOP giving you such a hard time. Try something dumb and new. Just because YOU enjoy it. Don’t worry if it will make money. God WILL make the way for you. You don’t have to chase clicks and likes. God likes you. Nuff said. Be encouraged. Remember, I love me some you.
Don’t wait until you know how. You may never start. Take a step. Just one. Which will lead to other steps. Where shall your steps lead you? Beats me. God knows but He ain’t tellin’…
One step.
One step.
One step.
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.
Why Can't I Be Loud?! 