“Sometimes, true sophistication Is the ability to just be present and to let the rest just be.” Brianna Wiest

When I let things just be, I can invite more of what I was too distracted to see
Leaving behind the subconscious habit to judge and criticize
Letting the silent stillness of love and creativity to magnetize
Allowing wisdom and peace to be the filters I use to prioritize
I come out of my disguise
No longer letting compulsive thoughts rise
The emotions flow like breeze through the trees
And when I’m really present, I can hear the buzz of the bees
Because nature is always whispering and inviting ease
This is the time to just listen and receive
To gaze and retrieve
Letting self-evaluation and correction seize

Dear Unsealers,

My man MLKJ had words for days,
I could go on and on listing quotes worthy of praise.
But it’s not just the way with words that he plays,
It’s not just his insane innovations in turning a phrase,
It’s thanks to his actions that those quotes seem to blaze.
His word and his deeds, piercing lights through the haze.

The marching and rallying making change to our ways.
The boycotting bewildering and melting the glaze.
Eyes are drawn to light, thus his fight drew the world’s gaze.

Throughout all of our history, through all of us living,
The mightiest heroes are the one who never do give in,
Who rather than that show us the gift within givin’-

Givin’ your life for a cause, for your sisters and brothers,
Makin’ the choice to do right, in spite of having countless others.
Lookin’ fear in the face and granting it grace,
While firmly commanding it to keep to its place.

And that’s the same lesson, Martin taught through this quote,
That’s the truth he lived and that he shared in these lines he wrote.
The call to bring light to the darkest of places,
To break down the walls blocking us from seeing true faces,
Fear builds them so high, so we’re missing the traces,
Of the love which pervades and unites us as one,
The light of the day, of each rising sun,

This love and this light is what matters the most.
Light in fact stars in the quote that I’ll post,
Martin’s light become love, I pray you’ll make it your toast.
Please do your utmost to spread its luminous lesson from coast to coast.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

To: My amazing Dad
From: Your Daughter living with Turner Syndrome

My dear dad, I know it’s been a while, and I don’t thank you enough. Recently, you shared with me a quote from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream: “Although she be but little, she is fierce”. My depression lately due to feeling invisible and different due to my disability is robbing me of happiness and weakening my optimism. Since birth, you have shown me the world’s reaction to my positive spirit and compassion for life. This unfortunately is lacking presently. Let me explain how Shakespeare’s quote has lifted my spirits from a dark depressed mood, to feeling more joyful every day. My feelings were that of an empty soul, and there were days when the tears would not stop flowing.

Recent frustrating times are in addition to the many challenges endured living with a chromosomal abnormality called Turner Syndrome. In fact, it was a miracle my birth even occurred. As you know, only 2% of women make it to birth. I had to overcome other challenges, in addition to short stature, including infertility, social anxiety, and heart issues.

My feelings of invisibility increased lately as some people who I thought were close and trustworthy, turned their back on me and attempted to affect my relationship with you. Just know that no matter what happens, nobody can break our bond. I will remain resilient.

It is definitely a blessing to know that I was raised with a beautiful heart and a very strong soul. You have stressed that the sky is the limit. You have also encouraged me to accomplish anything I desire in my life, and to just continue to be the resilient and independent person I was born to be. To transform from my current state of mind to a more fulfilled existence, the decision was made to educate people about Turner Syndrome. Too many healthcare providers did not seem familiar with this. Happy times resulted meeting other women with Turner Syndrome and developing friendships. These activities were recognized by my family and friends… and even my hometown.

My advocacy work spreading Turner Syndrome awareness was finally recognized by the local news station, which was super exciting. Here is where Shakespeare’s quote impacted by life. I thought positive, and kept a fierce determined attitude that I was going to be interviewed. Five days later, my dream came true. The title of Shining Star was awarded to me for spreading awareness of Turner Syndrome. This was accomplished by participating in local health fairs at various hospitals. Along with advocacy work, the goal at that time was to start a local Turner Syndrome group. My efforts have not been in vain as while on this unstoppable journey, many wonderful people have surfaced along with new friendships.

The highlight of the past year was the distinguished opportunity to meet the mayor of our city along with a photo opportunity. This also resulted in the mayor awarding me a proclamation declaring that the month of February within our city will be recognized as Turner Syndrome month. The month of February may have been chosen, as women with Turner Syndrome have short stature. Not bad for the ‘shortest’ month. Sorry, dad, I couldn’t resist.

I will always be your loving daughter, and although I am small in stature, you told me that I conduct my life with determination, grace, and zest. I have learned to be brave and strong while being bombarded with difficult situations; however, I now believe my attitude no doubt inspires many people, which is wonderful.

Thank you for sharing Shakespeare’s beautiful quote. Every time I read the quote, it will serve as a reminder of my many challenges and the steps that were taken to meet each challenge with an unstoppable outlook. I am very proud to be your daughter, and want to keep showing this beautiful world my true colors.

From your empowered daughter,

Eileen

To the little girl next door,

There weren’t many kids on our block, but I knew you existed on the other side of that old wooden fence. I was a rough and tumble tomboy that played with my brothers and you had your little sister to play with. One day, I saw you peer around the fence while I was sitting on my front porch steps. I smiled and waved. You waved back. We asked each other’s name. I recalled your little doll with tangled blonde hair.

We began playing every day, then every other day until we no longer played. I didn’t know why, we just stopped. And I went back to playing with my brothers.

Years later, I brought you up in a conversation with one of my brothers, wondering why we just stopped playing. He looked at me curiously. “You don’t remember? Her Mom said she couldn’t play with you anymore because you’re not Black.” That blew me away. To this day, I still wonder if I was so traumatized that I erased it from my memory. I wasn’t angry; I was perplexed. Not only was I shunned because of my brown skin; my family was faced with many adversities; an anomaly in a neighborhood with only a few Asian households.

I think that was the moment that formed my want of connectedness and understanding of differences in opinions and beliefs. And It was summed up when I came upon this quote from Rumi:

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” -Rumi

In that instance, I wanted to have a conversation. It had to be something more than not being Black. I wanted to know more. I wanted us to come to an understanding of each other and form a connection. That’s how I move through life now and a significant amount of my writing comes from a place of empathy.

Little girl, if you would indulge me for a moment, I’d like to share a poem that I wrote. In my career, I worked in human resources and conducted exit interviews. In this particular organization, I noticed the same word came up; silos. The repeated concern resulted in individual offices not being open to collaboration, even though the collaboration would be a positive push towards the organization’s overall mission. This led me to create the following poem:

Silos
Towering into the blue sky
Seen from afar on a country road
What do you hold?
Contained in concrete countenance
Are we the same but cannot speak?
What if we opened the doors
And let the grain spill out
What a beautiful mess
Feeding all that stop and wonder
Let’s talk

After I wrote this, I came to the realization that this wasn’t just about a particular organization’s communication problem. It’s bigger than that. This is about what is going on in the world today; deep seated religious beliefs, political dissension…divisiveness.

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing…”

Little girl next door, I’m not mad at you or your Mom.
I just wish we could’ve had a convo, but turns out rejection turned into catapulting me into the world, with a hunger to understand and the need for finding what connects us and not divides us, with meaningful respectful conversation.

Be well, little girl next door. I hope you are safe and doing fine in life.
Maybe someday, we’ll see the same field.

“I’ll meet you there.”

Out of all my Mother would try and tell me, “Treat people the way you wish to be treated,” stuck in my mind the most over time.
Countless times experiencing new people, realizing “What goes around comes around”. I began to see how “We’re all reflections of one another”, intentions for another person are setting yourself up for a boomerang; so it seems in the end.
Thinking of someone else, thinking of yourself, either way, it all comes back around, returning to sender the way we handle different experiences. The most complicated being the times when we’re expected to “be the better person”, even to our enemy. Forced to see past the personal disturbances, before becoming what we hate, after it mariates in our subconsciousness.
My middle school to college friend was diagnosed with Weed Induced Psychosis. It took our friend group by surprise; Each outburst was talked about over Gossip and sips of Iced Coffee.
The closest of her friends knew Schizophrenia was hereditary in her family, but it took over 1500 mg. of THC one night to cause the Psychosis to be noticeable, and eventually diagnosable.
One by one her friends left her because they didn’t want to deal with the outbursts, that came with her struggling to quit weed completely. I understood why, everyone our age smoked at the time, it was hard to escape what triggered her episodes.
Regardless I made sure she had a place to stay, a friend, and someone who knew her before the diagnosis, that would treat her with respect.
Our friendship ended when she tried to ruin my reputation by spreading lies, that formed out of thin air, then proceeded to want to fight after running into each other months later. I had to understand it wasn’t a personal vendetta, only the Psychosis, and I ended our friendship. Even after running into her later in life, I had to express, “We didn’t leave off on good terms, please just stay away from me.”
One day, her friend was my server and told me how she smashed the window, to my first car while I wasn’t home. I always had to understand, she doesn’t have control over her thoughts and actions. She’ll always be my friend, but as we evolve as people, we also grow apart from one another.
Leaving off on the best foot possible is hard, especially with someone who makes you hate them. Treating people the way you want to be treated, is the best way to make the world a better place, simply by setting the example.

If beautiful was printed from a negative it would be the silhouette of a rose
Because roses are sculpted from the hands of immorality
Breathed from the marble no one saw as a flower
Every petal flaunts the gorgeous of galaxies
Positively Divine
The eyes of roses are ocean deep and sky blue
They see life the way we’re supposed to live
Balanced in duality, Life and Death
A marriage with as many anniversaries as time
The two need to become one so fear may bloom into confidence
A rose might be one of the few things to achieve perfection on earth the way its attraction reflects the heavens
The way it’s smile ages like the innocence of a child until its aroma becomes the wine from 35′
The way it freezes death into a Picasso Dali Esque piece of painted poetry
A rose understands the heartbeat of death and the silence of life in humility
That’s why they are used during and after life
Have you ever seen such grace command hell ?
Roses make the marble soft, the concrete cry, and anxiety strong
And that is why I say, “you remind me of a rose, an absolute rose.” (Daisy Buchanan)
You are and can be everything you want to achieve
p.s. it’s never too late to sculpt your rose…

This quote from The Great Gatsby has inspired me since my high school years. As a passionate admirer of flowers, particularly roses, I aspire to embody the metaphor of sculpting my rose from concrete. Life presents various challenges, and I have faced significant mental health hurdles along the way. However, this quote serves as a powerful reminder to embrace the strength that can emerge from pain and success. I am committed to personal growth and believe in my capacity to improve each day. That is what I wish to communicate in this poem and inspire others on their own journey.

We are Family

A motto I have taken up
is something simple
yet abstract.

The Autism Community,
I consider individuals
that are apart of it
as Brothers and Sisters.

Because
I am on
the Autism Spectrum

I call those on the spectrum
“my brothers and sisters
of situation”.

The motto is applied to them.
“We may not share blood,
but we are family”.

We are all in
a similar situation.
We live in a world
that doesn’t welcome us.

Besides,
a community is
a type of family unit.

We are family by our
neurodivergence that
we all share.

We don’t need
to share blood
to have family bonds.

As my motto says,
“We may not share blood,
but we are family.”

The quote goes “If you love something, let it go. If it comes back to you it’s yours forever. If it doesn’t it never was.” I use this quote in everything I do. Here’s a poem of how I use this quote in my life.

In the quiet hours of dawn’s first light,
I held my dreams close, fierce and tight.
But whispers of the world, soft and clear,
Taught me to release, to let go of fear.

With open hands, I cast them wide,
Knowing some would drift, some would bide.
For love, true love, finds its way home,
In the spaces between, in the skies we roam.

I watched as hopes flew on the breeze,
Some returning, wrapped in ease.
Others fading like mist in the sun,
Reminding me not all journeys are one.

Each lesson learned in the dance of fate,
Embracing the fleeting, I learned to wait.
For what is meant, will always remain,
And what was never mine, shall cause no pain.

So I cherish the moments, both lost and gained,
In the tapestry of life, both joy and strain.
With every letting go, I find my way,
Embracing tomorrow, come what may.

September 29, 2024
“YOU CAN HAVE ANYTHING THAT YOU WANT BUT YOU MUST BE READY, WILLING AND ABLE TO WORK FOR IT!” DONE!!!
Dear Mommy:
I wanted to let you know the impact of your words of wisdom that you gave me more than 40 years ago, before your passing in 1987.
You told me “You can have anything that you want but you must be ready, willing, and able to work for it.” No greater words can be attributed to my success than these words.
You left truly before it all happened so let me tell you what you missed.
You may recall that the week before your death on June 27, 1987, I graduated from high school. I was the Mother of 2 little girls and I was able to walk across the stage and graduate with my high school class. I was ready, willing, and able to do the work to finish high school. Done!
I was devastated by your death because I was now a 17-year-old full-time Mother with no Mother. I was also in an abusive relationship and I felt stuck. Daddy soon moved away and I was left in a relationship with someone who acted as if he was now my parent. He wanted to control me and physically abused me when I did not let him have his way.
Within a year after I lost you, I gave birth to my youngest daughter and, within 6 months of her birth, I ended the relationship with my abuser. I was ready, willing, and able to live and save my daughters. Done!
By September of the same year, I began college studies at our local Community College. I was working full-time during the day and attending school in the evening. I was also a single Mother of three beautiful little girls. I was ready, willing, and able to start the dream that began when I was seven years old. Done!
After so many ups and downs, twists and turns, I was able to graduate with my Bachelor’s Degree. By the way, I was also the Homecoming Queen and the Student Commencement Speaker for my College graduation. My daughters lived with their paternal Grandparents in Alabama to allow me to finish school and I was ready, willing, and able to do the work to obtain my degree. Done!
Following my College graduation, I was engaged and a couple of years later, I was married to a wonderful man. My children came home soon after graduation and were all present at my wedding. My Fiancée found a home for our family and we all started our new journey. I was ready, willing, and able to create the life that I wanted. Done!
A few years later, and I know this will not surprise you, I applied for and was accepted into Law School. I deferred for One (1) year before my new husband had emergency open heart surgery. All was well and I started Law School the following summer. I was accepted into a program that prepared a select few students for the rigors of law school study. I was ready, willing, and able to make good on the dream of becoming an Attorney. It is what I told you I wanted to do when I was 7 years old and it was the dream that you assured me that I could accomplish. Done!
So, less than 20 years after you left me, I graduated from Law School and I was honored again to be selected as the Student Commencement Speaker. You would have been so proud, I was on the stage at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fischer Hall and I delivered an awesome speech that I was told motivated everyone in the audience of several thousand people. I was ready, willing, and able to share my journey because it was a journey. Done!
Mommy, as the years have gone by, I have never forgotten your words and although there have been times when I was frustrated or not willing for a moment to do the work, I have always known that I can have anything that I want but I must be ready, willing and able to work for it. I am still working and getting it DONE!
Thank you, I hope and pray that I have made you proud.

Sincerely,

The Apple of Your Eye,
L’Tanya Monique Watkins