I work. Hard. I take much pride in working hard. I give my all. To, my job. To, others. To, The Universe. To, Life. To, God. Now, to/for ME.

Sadly, I used to put me last, if at all. For work and all else, I didn’t care how much or how many times I was inconvenienced or came upon a road block. I did my level best to conquer all.

For me, though, for my dreams, I hate to say this but just as soon as a stiff breezed rolled in, I rolled out. I showed out. I lamented. I carried on about not being seen, heard, loved or valued. Then, I took my toys, and left. Left to continue to fight for everyone and everything, but me.

It was easier, you see. I could blame, them, not me, for my dreams not coming true. I could rail against the unfairness, of life. I could chew out God, for not getting things done or taking too long or this, that, the other thing. I could tell The Universe to kick rocks and pick on someone else.

One day, though, I was praying and talking to God about..*shrug*. I don’t remember. Anywho, I was jabbering on about nothingness, when God whispered “Tell The Universe what you want”. Such an ODD request, I thought. Especially, coming from God.

Yet, I did as asked. Scariest thing I have EVER done. I don’t know why, but asking The Universe, it opens up one’s inmost thoughts, hopes and dreams. Those terrifying dreams. Those dreams, so huge, we can barely think on them. They are just too darned big to imagine or believe WE could possibly bring them, into existence.

Yes, THOSE, God whispered for me to ask The Universe for. So, I tiptoed, to the edge of my deepest dreams/fears, swallowed hard, closed my eyes, jumped and landed…

Upon God’s Word. Ah. Aha! Without going all preachy, Jeremiah 29:11 says – For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Meaning, God means good things, for our lives. We are the ones who spend our lives diminishing our value. We try and find value in people, places and things.

Anywho, I asked The Universe to help me make MY dreams, come true. An adventure, is being had, by all. Goodness and gravy, though, the way has been hard. I have been forced to fight. For, me.

Every day. EVERY day, Life shows up, shows out and asks me how badly I want my dreams to come true. Now, every day, EVERY day, I demand life give me my dreams and bounty!

GIVE THEM HERE!!

And, often, every day, disappointment has shown up, showed out, and popped me and my dreams upside the head. And, now, every day, EVERY day, I tell disappointment, I shall see it, tomorrow!

Beloveds, I may not reach the unreachable star. I promise you this: NOBODY will have had more fun, trying, than me!

Ah.

Aha!

Life is short. Live.

living/fighting for me,

Cassandra

#YourLifeMattersToMe

Fight for you. Fight for your dreams. You are worth it.

• 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.