Real

You think
It’s all so
Simple.
It feels good
And it feels
Right.

But when you
Peel away the
Layers
Things get
Muddled and
Messy.

It’s happened
Before,
It’s not the
First time
Why should
This time be
Different?

Sure I look
Good in my
Make up
But how do
I look
For real?

I’ve shown
Myself before
But no one’s
Ever
Seen me.

I want this
To be my
Moment
I want now
To be my
Time.

Kiss me
Tonight and
Hold me
Tomorrow
Please say that
You’ll be
Mine.

Good Morning

Glimpses of the
Love we made
Snap shots
Of our
Kisses…

If I open my
Eyes while
You’re touching
Me,
I can see your
Gentle heart.

Your hands move slowly
Through me
Your fingers
Tickle my
Skin.

And the way you
Hold me
Leaves me
Left with
Wonder.

What is this
Thing called Love
Why does it
Scare us
So?

Could it be so
Simple --
Has it
Ever been?

To open ones
Eyes and
Simply say
“Good
Morning.”

Rabbit Hole.

If I knew well enough
I’d hide away
for a couple of days;
Run back down
This rabbit hole
And stay there for
Awhile...

I have no business
Out here with
the masses,
No clue what I’m
Supposed to do.

I thought I saw
a glimpse of
Something…
Just a crazy
Reflection –

Some image that
I’ve seen before.
Some hope I held
In my heart.

I can love deeper
Than the ocean
But it’s just as far
To reach you.

So what’s the point
And why do I try
To extend my heart
To you?

How much I wish
I could be different--
The Everything that
You need.

To lift you
To change you
To challenge and
Love you.

That is what I was
Meant to be
But I fear it
goes
Unnoticed…

The Will of a Flower

To watch a flower grow
Takes quiet patience.
You can not force it
Into existence
Though you know
The beauty it will
Bestow.
You can not ask
More of her
Gentle petals
Nor expect her
Leaves to be
Greener.
Whether rose
Or daisy
Or dandelion
She will be what
She was meant to be.
And you will look upon her
with wonder in your eyes
And think how lucky you were
To find her there.
Whether planted by hand
Or grown in the wild
Her will is what
Brought her here.
And a flower doesn’t
Know how precious it is
Because a flower is
Just a flower.

GOT SWAG?

Earth Swag is just one of many companies that are changing our notion of doing business. For some companies, the profits are not just in the form of money but also in the form of social change. Earth Swag was started by a mom who was tired of packing daily lunches in plastic baggies that would in turn, be thrown away only to end up in landfills. At first it was just one woman trying to reduce her carbon footprint by sewing reusable snack bags and sandwich wraps for her two kids. People saw her cute handmade bags and wanted one of their own. From there, the idea for Earth Swag was born.


And these ideas are being born everywhere. Socially conscious people are trying to make an honest living while living an honest life. The idea of “Going Green” is not just a trend but it is a movement. It is a movement that will forever change the way we live. And this movement was started by a handful of people who cared enough about our Earth to do something. Sara O’Connor didn’t just complain about plastic waste. She didn’t preach or scold those who mindlessly wasted plastic products. Instead, she did something about it. She offered us an alternative.

It was an alternative that made too much sense to ignore. I myself was not even aware of the amount of waste we were producing from plastic bags. I thought the plastic bag was ingenious and as a teacher, the product was a part of my daily life. Zip lock bags were great for storing snacks and treats for my students; plastic grocery bags were great for transporting things from home to school. I actually felt good because I was “reusing” plastic bags. But eventually, the bags would wear out and I’d throw them away. It never occurred to me what happened to them after that.

But here are the facts.

• 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are used every year, worldwide.

• About 1 million plastic bags are used every minute.

• A single plastic bag can take up to 1,000 years to degrade.

• The U.S. goes through 100 billion single-use plastic bags. This costs retailers about $4 billion a year.

• Plastic bags are the second-most common type of ocean refuse, after cigarette butts.

• Plastic bags remain toxic even after they break down.

• Every square mile of ocean has about 46,000 pieces of plastic floating in it.

(information provided by http://www.reuseit.com)


Those are facts that I simply did not know. It wasn’t that I didn’t care. I just didn’t know. Now that I do know, I can’t help but to see the truth all around me. You can not imagine the waste that I see in one day in my school’s cafeteria. All because people just don’t realize how it all adds up.

When we are faced with facts that astound us, we are given a choice. We can ignore the facts and go on living the way we always have or we can commit to make a change. Earth Swag is offering a product that can make a significant change with very little effort and cost. For a reasonable price, you can buy reusable lunch bags, tote bags and water bottles that can be used a thousand more times than one plastic bag or plastic bottle. Economically and environmentally it just makes more sense. Additionally, these products can be used in so many more ways than originally intended. I have used my Earth Swag for much more than snacks. These bags are great for travel and for carrying all kinds of different items and the designs are fashionable and trendy. I always get compliments on my “Swag.” And Earth Swag is now expanding to offer new exciting products including t-shirts, hats and lunch kits. Earth Swag is not just selling us another product…it is selling us an idea and an alternative to the way things are. It is introducing a better way that will lead to a better world for ourselves and our children.

For more information on Earth Swag, visit earthswag.com or find them on facebook.

“Be a part of the change you want to see in the world.” ~Ghandi

Shuntae

Thank you for teaching us more than we could have ever taught you!

I may not have the words to say
Or the eyes to see
My brain may not know
What you know.

I may not have the arms to reach
Or the feet to walk a mile
My body can not do
The things you do.

But what I can do
Is smile and
I can laugh
I can feel all
That you feel.

Do not pity the
Life I’ve lost
For look at the
Life I’ve lived.

I spoke with my heart and
I saw with my soul…
I knew all that
I needed to know.

Think of me
When you see
Waves dancing…
Think how I laid
By the shore.

Think of me now
That I am free
And how I’m
Dancing with them.

Think of the times
You helped me see
The times you
Helped me speak

And know that
in that smile of mine
I thank you.

You needed me
As I needed you
Isn’t that the way
It goes?

So close your eyes
And dance on the shore
And feel in your heart
My smile.

Still I Rise.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately, as I often do, about this process we call “life,” and how we make our way through it. Where do we get the eyes to see our path and the touch to feel our way? Where do we get the courage to shine and the weakness to shrink? How do we come to define ourselves, whether good or bad, and who do we let decide our own identity?

Several years ago, I experienced the worst reality I could have ever imagined. My life turned completely upside down and I felt as though I was alone on a raft in the middle of an endless ocean with no sight of the shore. Everything in my life collapsed…I failed myself personally, I failed at my marriage and I failed professionally. All I wanted to do was to retreat. I was ready to wave my white flag.

And I almost did. But something primal set in—my inner will came out and the fighter I knew I was born to be came to the surface and said “hold on just a minute!”

In that moment, I could have chosen anything. I had so many options available. I could have defined myself by my own feelings…a failure, an idiot, a lost soul, a tortured artist, a troubled little girl. And I could have blamed so many others for my misfortunes, for undoubtedly, there are many lives that have affected me and helped shape who I am today.

But what I chose instead was to take personal responsibility for my own life. To realize that I am the only one who has the right or privilege to define myself. As Virginia Woolf so eloquently said, everyone is “allowed some say in the matter of her own prescription. Thereby she defines her humanity.”

This crazy world has tried so hard to push me down and there are days when it has succeeded. But still I rise. And I know that I think too much and feel too much and care too much and that makes me vulnerable to so many experiences. But I’d rather be vulnerable and feel…than to be protected and not.

This journey is not over. I have so many more things to work on. I am not even half of what I am meant to be. But still I rise.

Still I Rise.

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.