What Else Are Women For?
“The world still wants to ask that a woman primarily be pretty and if she is not, the mob pouts and asks querulously, 'What else are women for?”
― W.E.B. Du Bois
Read MoreDeath and Loss: The Weight of Remembrance
The two-year remembrance of my mother brings the weight of grief back into sharp focus, but this time it feels layered with the pain of others around me. Witnessing my co-worker and close friend endure their own losses has deepened my reflections on death. Their grief reminds me of the universality of sorrow, yet each person’s experience is so uniquely personal. As I support them, I find my own grief taking on new dimensions, teaching me not just about the fragility of life but also the importance of remembrance as a way to honor both the loss and the lessons left behind by those we loved.
Read MoreIn the flow of conversation with a good friend, I assertively talked about my awareness and understanding of the dynamics of aging. In context, the discussion was specific to me as a single unknown black male. The subtext, was specific to me being alone (not lonely) as I age.
Read MoreI have always held in suspense a side of me that I do not want others to see. At times I’ve acknowledged this in my writing— My most popular phrase…
“I'm not afraid of the dark side of human nature and will bend the rules some time.”
Read MoreOver the weekend I attempted to watch a few new television shows, but ended up going back and watching repeats of shows that I enjoy. As I watched this scene from Season 3 of Survivor’s Remorse — The Photoshoot I Am reminded of the promise of L O V E
dot dot dot
Read More1991
When I moved to Atlanta I became quickly enamored with the amount of melanin in the metro area. One of my favorite things to do involved people watching in Underground. One day while taking in the sights, sounds and smells a young woman approached me from the stairs of the Dollar Store. She stopped and chatted’ me up. Most of you know from previous post that I have no idea when a woman is hitting on me.
She gassed me from the start...
Read MoreA common theme this week among friends; Relationship(s), The Chase & Defining Roles ... my personal thoughts were of not missing the responsibility or accountability of being in a relationship but missing intimacy. I remembered this post & I haven't written in a while so it's relative ... two birds, one stone. ~Brian Originally Posted May 16, 2010 @ 9:29 P.M.
I ran all up on a book the other day, ‘cause it was sexy! I mean this book had a “tramp stamp” in the small of it’s back that drove me crazy! As I spit my game, trying to get it’s math I realized that it was very interesting how she broke down intimacy.
“The Seven Levels of Intimacy: The Art of Loving and the Joy of Being Loved” By Matthew Kelly
The book breaks down the process of revealing our authentic selves while our “representative” takes a step to the back.
Before you go back to Twittering, Facebooking or picking your nose, this is not a book review. If you wanna know more my brotha’s and sistah’s, you’ve got to buy your own! I ordered a hardback copy from Amazon for under $10en. 99. The book itself was $Free.99 but with shipping & handling the BIG A got me.
Whether consciously or subconsciously we all have our own personal levels of connection or “In-To-Me-See”
Like: “You like me!, You really like me!” … Butterflies, text messages, emails, parking outside their homes in a friends car so they don’t see you, talking & laughing for hours learning each others personality.
Love: Love is “like” to the ‘umptenth power, moving from a physical reaction to a chemical reaction. {Remember? From Seeing Clearly … Physical vs Chemical: in a physical reaction two substances are mixed or ground together without being transformed, meaning both can be recovered from such a mixture in their original state. A chemical reaction, on the other hand, produces an entirely new substance, one that is very different from either of the reactants and does not easily yield the original substances back again.} Science! This is the move from the growing in your groin (Lust) to dreams of you growing old together tweezing each others nose & ear hairs.
Trust: We all have our own definition of trust, but let’s be clear, at this level it is not that high-school game of who cheated on who. You should feel trust … it’s about protection, feeling secure knowing that someone will protect your heart.
Respect: R.E.S.P.E.C.T. … Find out what it means to me. Another word with broad interpretations, levels and degrees. To me It is about understanding each others value, value as a woman, man, human being who drinks water and breathes air, never wanting to disappoint or have that value depreciate.
Honor: This is the deal closer, a virtual badge signifying your commitment. Ultimate understanding of who we both really are. Accepting & protecting all of the like, love, trust and r.e.s.p.e.c.t. that we have for each other.
There are many others I’m sure that could be added, however, this is my list … you’ve got to tell me yours. What are your levels of connection?
P.S. While you are working on that can someone tell me why we stopped using “Obey” in wedding vows? I think if we add it back in there women won’t be so out of pocket, so beside themselves.
Word,
Mr.”You promised to obey, now go in there and fix me a sandwich” TramueL
