Creating in Faith Encouraging Word - Excited

Happy Monday, hope you are having a blessed day where ever you are in the world.  The weeks are flying by so quickly and we are nearly at the end of the month.  So many things have happened over the course of the months that is changing the course of history and life as we know it.

What does change make you feel?  Do you get excited about change or feel stressed.  I know that the changes that have taken place over the months including Covid, the murder of George Floyd and so many other black men women and children at the hands of the police have left people feeling numb, angry, sad, helpless, hopeless, ashamed and so many other emotions we can think of.

As we move forward in a fight to ensure that no one will be discriminated against, that we step up in raising our voices, that we face the issues head on and recognize the injustices of the world and each do our part to stop it from happening.  We all have a voice from the very youngest to the oldest.

In the podcast today I look at the word Excited - what can you think of however small to get excited about in your life around you that you can hold on to and build on.

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You can see more of the art work used for the podcast images, used from my 100 Days of Pastel Series.  Prints and art on merchandise is available HERE

Pastel Paintings part of the 100 Days of Pastels

Inspirational Shorts - Poetry Corner - Ntozake Shange - Mood Indigo

Inspirational Shorts

Welcome to Inspirational Shorts in todays recording we look at the poet/writer Ntozake Shange.  

Ntozake Shange was an American playwright and poet. she addressed issues relating to race and Black power in much of her work. She is best known for her Obie Award-winning play, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf. She also penned novels including Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo (1982), Liliane (1994), and Betsey Brown (1985)   Her father was an Air Force surgeon and her mother a psychiatric social worker. Cultural icons such as Dizzie Gillepsie, Miles Davis, and W.E.B. DuBois were regular guests in the Williams home. more HERE

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She is one of my favorite writers and today we look at her poem Mood Indigo.  I encourage you to look at some of her other work, and you can find additional links to books on Amazon

Mood Indigo - 

it hasnt always been this way

ellington was not a street

robeson no mere memory

du bois walked up my father’s stairs

hummed some tune over me

sleeping in the company of men

who changed the world

 

it wasnt always like this

why ray barretto used to be a side-man

& dizzy’s hair was not always grey

i remember            i was there

i listened in the company of men

politics as necessary as collards

music even in our dreams

 

our house was filled with all kinda folks

our windows were not cement or steel

our doors opened like our daddy’s arms

held us safe & loved

children growing in the company of men

old southern men & young slick ones

sonny til was not a boy

the clovers no rag-tag orphans

our crooners/ we belonged to a whole world

nkrumah was no foreigner

virgil aikens was not the only fighter

 

it hasnt always been this way

ellington was not a street

BY NTOZAKE SHANGE

Check out Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo

Arts and Wellness - Stitched Play

Come and check out the Arts and Wellness video where I look at some stitched projects as well as reflecting on current events.

Let me know how you get on and which is your favorite wall hanging.  Will be finishing them and adding to my Etsy store - (details to come)  Or just contact me for prices if you would like to purchase sooner.

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Affinity - Creating in Faith - Podcast

I talk about the affinity that I have with the land.  Over time working out in the garden I have been able to see my landscape change by planting tendering and nurturing the land that I have around me.  I grew up with house plants and had a big learning curve in transferring the knowledge that I have gained.  It has all come together as I step out of my comfort zone. 

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I mention gardening and I would love you to check out my Creative Gardening platform and YouTube Channel

Creative Gardener