forget that , we're being unapologetic | birthday trip , day 2 (intro) | travel diary
I started to talk myself out of doing a daily entry into this travel diary right after day one.
I don’t know what gives me more anxiety — the prospect of no one reading it; or, those that read it, receiving it poorly. Maybe they’ll question my intentions, and think I’m trying to brag by writing extensively about my “birthday trip.” Maybe they’ll think it’s boring and won’t be humored by me. Maybe they’ll say I’m “doing too much.” Maybe, seeing me do what I want to do (starting this blog), will stir up some questions in them about why they’re not doing what they want to do (or not having discovered what they want to do). In the past, I’ve tried dull myself down, in an effort to not make another person feel less than. Now, I’m realizing that a person feeling less than lies within themselves, not the person that they feel less than. I’ve decided I no longer want to diminish myself to make others feel comfortable. And, how they receive the boldness, that is me, is out of my hands..
really trying to articulate where I’m coming from, as simply as possible. so, I’m working on that.. but uh, I know that [God] knows how to talk to the hearts of people better than anybody else, so I don’t worry about that.. ‘cause whatever He relates to whomever’s listening, that’s what’s supposed to be understood at that time.
- Lauryn Hill
Everybody won’t receive it well
Some won’t receive it at all
As I spend hours and hours on piece after piece, trying to build my personal brand as a content creator, I’m coming to grips with the fact that there will be people that are just not interested. When I say “people”, I’m not referring to the people that don’t know I exist; I understand it takes time and strategy to grow an audience. I’m talking about the people that I have reached, that are completely unresponsive. There will be hangout buddies that’ll roll with me all night long, who don’t report to anybody’s job, but can’t take a moment to visit this website. There will be family, whose endeavors I put my effort and coins in, who won’t sign up for the newsletter (which requires no more effort than a few finger clicks, and no money at all). There will be girlfriends that tell me how they watch YouTubers faithfully, but won’t even click and let mine play as they cook dinner (shoot, even if ya ain’t gon’ actually listen, lemme get that “view” up outcha).
The ones that do, matter most
Like you. You, reading this, I appreciate you.
My cousin, Rashan, told me that she doesn’t even like to read, unless it’s about sex to keep her attention, but surprisingly enjoys reading my work. She lives in Atlanta, and though almost all of my posts are about what’s going on around L.A., she reads every one that she sees. Mind you, she’s a wife that has to tend to her husband and their 5 children, 3 of which are very young, requiring a lot of hands-on attention. And, she works a full-time job.
One of my closest girlfriends from college, Taylor, the one whose kids call me TeeTee (as in aunt), is another heartwarming example. She doesn’t live in Los Angeles, works over 40 hours a week (including her own photography business), has a husband and almost too many kids to count on one hand as well. One of my little TeeTee babies was only born a few months ago! You mean to tell me in the midst of feeding a family of 6 and changing diapers, she can manage to squeeze in a moment to look at my crap?! I’m blown away.
“Oh girl, I haven’t had time” my tail! Just say you aren’t interested, or you’re mad, bae. It’s okay.
If you checked out the post about casual Black-owned soul food restaurants in Los Angeles, you may have noticed there’s a Grey’s Anatomy fan here. I couldn’t pass the opportunity to quote one of my favorite pieces of wisdom from that hit television show. It’s where a mentor encourages his young pupil to not diminish herself, even if her fellow surgical interns feel they’re in her shadow.
Okay, I went off on a tangent during what was supposed to be a quick “intro” to my first real day exploring Morocco, so I’ve put it into a separate post for those that want to get directly into Morocco.
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I quite a bit of you may be here from the newsletter that announced the addition of this “travel diary” section, being that I haven’t been on Instagram. See, isn’t it good you were on it? Tell a friend, tell ya maw, tell somebody.. trying to get my subscribers waaaaay up, before I use the last email campaign in my trial and have to start paying even more for this website.. grrrr! * flips table * (ノ-_-)ノ ~┻━┻
