Love is…

Love is beautiful. The word love is all encompassing. It’s so broad but so simple. Psychologists have come to define love in a few different categories. A quick Google search can summarize it for you, but to quickly note it in this post, here are the components and types of love. Three components of love are intimacy, passion and commitment. Three Greek types of love are Eros, Philia and Agape. And love can be seen in three types of relationships, romantic, familial and friendship.

God is love and God’s love is the agape kind. The highest form of love, unconditional and selfless.

I do think that love is taught. Whether it’s taught in how it’s shown or learned from what’s not shown. I unfortunately learned from the latter. I knew what I hadn’t received and I knew that different and better was out there. I was able to test it out in my first real relationship at 19 years old.

Oddly enough, I was able to sit down with my first boyfriend recently and we chatted about our past and who and what I was to him back then. It was a blessing to hear what I did at 19 years old after not being taught or shown love. I guess it was just God given, so it was just in me.

I’m glad that over the years I’ve been able to still operate in love despite not receiving it in return. I love love and love will always be the thing that I want to lead with. I pray that the world could/will follow suit because love is truly beautiful. Love makes everything better. When you finds God’s love, self-love should follow and the love for you neighbor can and will come easily.


Just a few things I love!

Found in Walmart
Black Seed oil: https://amzn.to/3M2fuEO
Book Light: https://amzn.to/3NNQSQD
Plant light w/timer: https://amzn.to/3Z7uEM0
Nivea Shower Oil: https://amzn.to/4qbru4W
Blue Light Glasses: https://amzn.to/49PAJCY

Memory Lane: Do y’all remember this song?

“The word “love” is a hell of a word to be sayin’. If you don’t know how to use it with caution,
it’s a death-defying game to play. And when you’re thinking of, the one you want to get next to, make sure it’s a mutual feeling…” -Take Your Time -Mo Thugs

I used to sing that song word for word when I was younger. I haven’t heard it in decades but the lyrics always come to mind. So I had to go find it on Youtube. LOL!

Happy Valentine’s day Lovers,

Sincerely, Angie ❤️💕

Thankful for Healing

“There’s only so much healing that can be done in isolation. You have to be triggered by the real world to see if the healing works.” -Crissle

I told y’all a few posts ago that I am finding out a lot about myself in this season of my life. I was always sure of who I was/am. Not in the sense that I can’t learn more about me but I thought that at the core of me, I knew me. Well little did I know, it would be “AI” to show me, that I, indeed have work to do. Deep rooted childhood work.

There’s a trend on TikTok of mostly women, using Gemini(AI) to merge pictures of current them, hugging their younger self. I love me so much that I thought it would be great to see a picture of little me and big me in one picture. Baby, little did I know, little me needed that hug I saw in the picture. Of course it’s AI but I’m a visual person, so, I sobbed. I sat with a friend and shared it with them also and I sobbed even more.

Even though I am the “strong one”, behind these walls, rests someone who is indeed vulnerable and has questions that need answering. I’d say 25 year old me to 41 year old me has life under control. Twenty-four year old me on back, needs a bit of clarity. Forty-one year old me is secure, confident, loyal, at peace, happy, content, growing, learning, living by faith, comfortable, stable, trustworthy and so much more. But there’s a part of me that was triggered by that picture. Now I have to get with her and see why and what she has to say.

You can navigate the world so much better when you are in charge of you, your emotions and your well being. It’s easier to have compassion and sympathy for others when you realize that every day is a journey and everything is not a personal attack. This understanding and knowing comes from learning yourself and having grace. So here I am, doing both, learning myself and giving myself grace. There’s no way you can know that there is a part of you that’s hurting and you do nothing to fix it. Let the healing begin! #HappyHealing

  • Part of this post was written months ago. It wasn’t until recently that I read it and decided that now is the perfect time for it.
  • I read a book on Inner Child Work, you can check it out here. It’s an e-book that was written by my Therapist cousin Arianne Washington with Elite Therapy. Visit https://www.elitetherapy.love/

Sincerely,

Angie

The Last Straw

If you read my last post, I briefly spoke of the last straw. Well, considering Tyler Perry’s latest movie Straw, I figured I’d go ahead on and drop a few lines on Straw and the double entendre of it all.

For the movie Straw, I get it. Women, specifically Black Women are tired and at their breaking point and the next incident to happen, could be the very last straw. The straw that breaks the camel’s back. To summarize in a few sentences or a few breaths, A single mother loses her child, her mind, her car, her job, her apartment, and essentially her freedom, all in the course of 24 hours. And because it was so much happening, all of it was probably not to the extent she imagined in her head. Because at some point, she was merely just existing and not present mentally.

While I pray to never be able to relate to this black woman trope, I know that when it rains it pours. And I don’t know anyone personally or even heard of any one person going through that much trauma in 24 hours. Over the course of a month or year, maybe even a few weeks but never 24 hours. Regardless of the time frame, I understand that life happens and not everyone is built like Job from the Bible. I haven’t experienced the level of trauma that Janiyah(Taraji P. Henson) or many other women have experienced. I also have a different outlook or perspective on life and life lessons.

Most things we encounter are happenstance while others are a direct consequence of our previous actions or seeds we’ve sown. Insert cliche here, “what goes around, comes around” “you reap what you sow” etc. So most times, if something happens, I imagine it’s happening for a reason. I believe that there is a lesson that will come out of the situation. I refuse to be a victim or have a “why me?” attitude. Maybe it’s my faith or maybe it’s my self proclaimed avoidant personality but either way, life is supposed to life. It is inevitable to go through life without some type of hardship. It’s all in how we handle what life throws us.

I am highly aware that everyone’s chemical makeup is different and our balances and imbalances cause us to react to negative things or trauma differently. I don’t expect people to respond how I respond. I accept life’s curveballs and handle them with grace. It’s no one’s fault, it’s no one’s responsibility, it’s mine. Don’t get it twisted, my mind is orchestrating a million scenarios but crashing out, is not an option. This is no shade to the person who does crash out. Our mental bars and/or limits differ per person.

The last straw for me, is just that, the last straw. Now it’s time to make a move, cut ties, sever the relationship, quit the job, move, etc. But what I refuse to do is take out my frustrations on innocent people. I’m not knocking anyone who has done that, I just pray that we all learn to give it to God and trust Him. Honestly, no one wants the last straw. The last straw was the one that broke the camels back. It was one straw too many. I encourage you to remember that God WILL NOT put more on you than you can bear. Seek Him and trust Him. If a lot is happening to you, just know a breakthrough is closer than you may realize. You are stronger than you know and you got this! Someone before you survived worse and maybe, just maybe, you surviving this will be a benefit and blessing to someone else.

Sincerely,

Angie