My 42nd birthday reflections

I went to Puerto Rico to celebrate my 42nd birthday & buying a 96-unit apartment complex by dancing salsa for 4 nights!!  I always take time to reflect and decided to share some of where I’m struggling right now with the state of the U.S.  Honestly, it’s been a little hard to be so loving lately when evil & hate seems to be everywhere.

You may be able to relate.  I encourage you to lean in – now is not the time we can afford to grow weary.  Make sure you surround yourself with people who strive to love more – it’s the only way to keep your sanity in the current state of the world.

Also, when I talk about the church, I should have clarified – I am referring to people who call themselves Christians & support this administration and white nationalists.  

And excuse my potty mouth, but I am trying not to crash out as I talk about: 
• Current events
• Christians who support this administration (apologies, that’s what I meant when I said “the church”
• Racism, genocide, war, and p#dofiles, especially when people use Jesus’ name to try to justify it.... & so much more

Watch me light up talking about:
• Dancing salsa in Puerto Rico 
• Dreaming about helping with the affordable housing crisis in Puerto Rico

What are YOUR thoughts on how love can overcome hate?  Please share below – we can all learn from each other right now

#JoinTheGlobalLoveMovement
#JesusHelpUs
#LoveYourNeighbor
#TakeCareOfTheWidowAndOrphan
#freePalestine
#LockThemAllUp

Transcript

Birthday Reflection And Accountability

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Birthdays are really important to me because I use it as a time of reflection. I like to have a hard look at myself and hold myself accountable to the things that I didn't do well in the last year of my life and ask myself how I can better improve those things. I also spend time celebrating the things that I did do well and the things that I did run after and that I did conquer and kick ass on. Like buying a goddamn 96 unit, y'all. I am normally never proud of myself because I'm very hard on hard on myself, but I still rent, y'all. So I genuinely love people. I want to see people win. I want to see people thrive. I love the world.

Empathy Burnout And Finding Healing

SPEAKER_00 0:50

I'm in Puerto Rico. So as I've been reflecting on the past year, I have honestly been struggling to love people because there seems to be so much hate in the world right now. And I am an empath, and so it weighs on me. Which side note is also why this trip has been so like lovely and healing. Because as an empath, you have to find ways to let go of that stuff, and that's what dance does for me. That is why I wanted to come here. Just total side note, but like I have had the most fun dancing here. And as a complete like egotistical thing, the biggest compliment is that all the Puerto Ricans I've danced with and Dominicans say that I dance like a boricwa, and like yeah, that's a

Anger About Rights And Regression

SPEAKER_00 2:00

compliment. But, anyways, back back to this. So I have been struggling with loving people as much. I I've honestly found myself to be very angry more often, and I'm not an angry person, but it seems like we have so much regression, like we've gone back at least a fucking century. I'm so ashamed to be an American right now, so ashamed. I have just witnessed so much, especially because I live in Jacksonville, Florida, which is still so racist, y'all. Um it is painful right now to see so many uh rights being uh stripped from people. It's sad to even think that it's progress because we were just inching our way forward inching. But what kills me is that this administration has given people the permission to be unkind, the permission to say egregious, painful things. I have had to correct so many people where I live in Jacksonville on saying on some bullshit. I I have plenty of stories, plenty of stories. It's a scary time that we're living in because people are being very open and bold with their hatred. And I feel like they are coming for basic human rights of people that I love. So the the weightiness of all that, the this past year and a half, but god damn, these past six months have been painful, really painful. So much is like flooding the system, and it just it feels so very overwhelming and it feels so very hopeless, but it's all the more reason that we have to keep fighting.

Privilege Means Action Beyond Awareness

SPEAKER_00 4:19

And so, my message to each of you, and really truly my ask is that if I'm feeling this way, I assume for anyone paying attention to what's happening in the world right now, and if you're struggling between being a conscious and informed citizen, and yet what do you do and how do you lean into helping people? And especially, especially, I just want to say this. Especially if you are a person who has any privilege, and like this is where this is where when you ask yourself what you would have done if you were alive during slavery, during the civil rights movement, during any of those times, this is where I think it gets really important for those of us with any privilege, right? Making ourselves aware, I just want to say, is bare minimum, bare minimum. So if you ask yourself, what would you do if you were alive during slavery, during the civil rights movement? Educating yourself, you all is bare minimum, okay? And especially for my white women out here who we love, so I'm like bare minimum princess treatment, educating yourselves, bare minimum, okay. Doing something about it, bare minimum. I also just think that it's decent human being, bare minimum, to educate yourself on issues that are impacting your neighbors. And

Faith Crisis And The Church Today

SPEAKER_00 5:55

that's also where I struggle with the church right now is that I feel like we have a lot of really hateful things being done in the name of Jesus, being supported by the church, being funded by Christians that are resulting in genocide, that are resulting in the very things that like Jesus said to take care of and do. And I just truly don't understand how we've gotten so far away from the gospel. To be clear, when I talk about God, I am not talking about the Christian God. I was raised in it, and that's what influences me, but I'm curious about global perspectives of who people believe God to be and how they believe that that God looks like love. So it's been really painful to see the church not only just support war, genocide, pedophile. Like, I don't even honestly how did we get here, y'all? Like, literally, what what Jesus did you all like? I feel like I'm about to have a breakdown. Oh Jesus. Y'all are really killing me. Um, anyways, I'm trying to pray. I'm praying for the church. I'm really praying that y'all actually have an encounter with the Jesus you say that you believe in because the church literally needs the real Jesus to stand to the front. Cause what are y'all doing? Y'all, the church is really I'm really praying that y'all have an encounter with God because the things y'all support tells me y'all need Jesus more than anyone else right now. That's a word right there. So here's what I'm asking is that if you can relate to any of this, if you're like, you know what, I have been struggling to love people, we have to do as much as we can right now. And like I said, educating yourself, bare minimum, bare minimum. Doing something about it also, bare minimum. Y'all for out. We can't be silent, we can't. Now is not the time to grow weary. These there are pedophiles running the world right now, y'all, and they are using the name of Jesus to back wars and inhumane treatment of human beings and genocide.

Restore Your Soul Without Tapping Out

SPEAKER_00 8:43

Now is not the time to grow weary, and so I really encourage you to find ways to restore your soul, if you will, whatever that looks like for you when you want to tap out. And I get that, especially us empaths, really have to find ways to not carry the weight of things. Also, this trip has just been so healing because the way that I've just met so many beautiful strangers and connected with them and also shout out to the salsa community in Puerto Rico. I'm obsessed. I have to find a way to come back here just so I can dance in Puerto Rico like quarterly. I need to figure that out. Oh my goodness.

Salsa Joy And Puerto Rico Real Estate

SPEAKER_00 9:42

I do have to tell y'all about some of the real estate stuff that I heard when I was out and about with like salsa friends, and I've learned a lot, and now my dreams are expanding to maybe include Puerto Rico because affordable housing is a legit crisis here for real. Um it would be an honor to find a way to actually help them. If you have any connections in that space, please let me

Choosing Love And Rethinking Neighbor

SPEAKER_00 10:13

know. So to wrap it up, life has felt very weighty, and I genuinely want to spread more love. That's always been my dream. And so it's interesting that I'm noticing how hard it feels to spread that message when there's so much hate, but all the more reason why the message is so important. To quote Martin Luther King hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that. And honestly, in my heart of hearts, I believe that's true. I believe it with every fiber in my being. It's also why I think your view of who God is and that God looking like love being so important. I also think it's important for us to ask ourselves who our neighbor is because I don't know enough about other holy scriptures, but in Christianity, there is so much emphasis on loving our neighbor from Jesus. And I think we need to start refamiliarizing ourselves with the red letters, what Jesus said about loving our neighbor, maybe refamiliarize ourselves with what that parable meant and how the neighbor was actually their enemy, and how Jesus constantly talked about taking care of the widow and orphan, yet the church is supporting people who are actively targeting widows and orphans. Anyways, y'all. That's a lot for vacation. This was heavy, but honestly, I'm just fucking exhausted myself emotionally, and I know I'm not

Gratitude To Listeners And A Funny Close

SPEAKER_00 12:07

alone. I love you all so much. Thank you all so much for being on this journey with me. Thanks for just like for those of y'all who have been rocking with me the whole time through all the various transitions. I hope that this has inspired you. I I hope that you've grown. I hope that it's been a place of inspiration to love more when you have struggled with it. I love you guys so much and stay strong and keep loving. Y'all they got some big ass cats in Puerto Rico, man. I swear to God, I I've seen cats so many times that from a distance I thought were raccoons. These things are monster cats. Um, I mean they're not that big, but they're not like man coom monster, but they're they're freaking big street cats.