So its 2014!!!

It feels like its been forever since I blogged ... oh wait it's 2014 and the last time I blogged was 2013 so it has been forever since I blogged. Happy New Year!! I feel like the boy who cried wolf when it comes to keeping my promises about blogging, so given my poor inability to keep my promises regarding blogging I am not going to give you guys the old speech of “I promise I am going to blog more this year” however, I am going to TRY to write more. So, lets address the big elephant in the room, yes I am talking about New Years Resolution! if I said I did not have one I’d be lying. I am no different from anyone else out there so, like all the ordinary people who took it upon themselves to set new goals for 2014 so did I. Given that it is 2014, this is my 2014 manifesto:

1. Do what you love, and do it often

2. Be Honest with yourself

3. Let yourself be Vulnerable

4. See as much as you can of what’s right in front of you

5. Treat yourself like you want other people to treat you

6. Say "Exactly" What you mean

7. Trust your Instincts and Stop Doubting yourself

8. Don't be afraid to say "NO" or "YES" – Try something new

9. Stay away from negativity

10.  Be less serious and PLAY more

11.  Take Care of the Vehicle you’ve been given - Health- gym - yoga twice or once a week – convert completely to veganism

12.  READ MORE FOR FUN

13.  Aparigraha - Reduce possessions (donate one possession 1/m)

14.  Let go of what you can't control

I am pretty sure I’ve broken at least half of the resolution and its not even February; number 10 is probably the hardest for me to get away from because to be honest I don’t know how to be fun, or have fun. My definition of fun is reading a book, being left alone to my thoughts, or working out. But number 11, 12, 1, and 13 are the four that I am finding easy to maintain. Since the beginning of the year I’ve been going to yoga class every Saturday, gym three or 4 times a week. Eating healthy could be improved on, but with school and staying late night is hard. Number 12 is probably one that I am finding easy to keep, and really enjoying; this month alone I’ve read three books, Brave New World, The Kreutzer Sonata, and currently I am reading Black Skin White Masks.

Reading the Black Skin, White, Masks, makes me feel a little sad but, also it has awaken me to something that has been right in my face but, I’ve been ignoring, or knew it before but, just wasn’t sure if it true or not. In the first Chapter Frantz Fanon writes; “there is nothing more sensational than a black man speaking correctly, for he is appropriating the white world (Fanon, 19).” When I read this quote it really stood out for me, and brought out a memory. A while back ago I remember calling a hair salon about an appointment and when I got there, the woman confessed to me that when she heard me on the phone she thought she was speaking to a white girl, and when I walked in she was a little confuses as to who I was because the person she talked to on the phone was “white.” Also, a while back I met this person, and when we later became friends they confide in me and told me how they were completely surprise when they heard me talk, and my reaction was of course what do you mean by that. They replied by saying, you have a white girl accent. Both incidents and other similar events meant nothing to me, till now. There appears to be an assumption or misconception that if you are black you are supposed to speak in a certain way, and if you are white same applies to you. For a black girl to speak not with an accent or “ghetto,” or not say “Yo” etc… she is not truly black and the same applies to a white person. Isn’t this crazy, when did language become so racialized, why can’t I speak proper English and not be labeled as “white.” How does speaking proper English makes me less of a black person? I don’t want go in depth about this topic because I have a lot to say about it. The first chapters is essentially about this idea of language and how language has become a thing that can make a black person white; the French Antillean who wants to be white can become white by adopting the French language because according to Fanon; “to speak a language is to appropriate its world and culture (Fanon, 21)” etc... 

This is the point where I stop because I could write a lot about this topic. I’ll leave you all with words of wisdom from the great Russia writer Fyodor Dostoevsky; “The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for,” I hope you embrace 2014 by this quote as I shall try because there is more to life than we realize. More than often we forget that there is more to live than just going to work and or school. It is about finding something we enjoy, and love doing.