Inspiring words from the great Dr. Cornel West

Tonight while aimlessly searching for some type of motivation I somehow found myself on YouTube, the mecca of "entertainment" for about 99.99% of the world...SERIOUSLY  haha.  But I didn't look at the typical jargon instead I searched for a gentleman by the name of Dr. Cornel West.  Intrigued by his appearances on CNN I decided to look deeper into this soul of a man. He talked with such elegance it made me proud to be of a race that had been forgotten, spat on and enslaved beginning on the coast of a maginificently enriched continent.

West declares himself to be "A Jesus loving free black man trying to tell the truth" and that line of character can be heard through the countless speeches given at college universities, and other public platforms.  And if you want to hear of a man on the pursuit of social justice then here it is.  His rhetoric invokes that of equality for all people, whether indeginuious, native, or refugee.

But as I listened to his words there was a specific theme that latched itself on to my thoughts and dug deep into the grey mass we call the human brain. That theme was the courage to find self.  It is a courage like none another; he describes it in an interview where he speaks on style or what the kids today call swag. He gives a quote that states courage to discover self, going into the deep darkness of who you really are, is even greater than a soldier going to war.  When one discovers self, spiritually, mentally, and physically, we become holistic.  Dr. West, an avid Christian man states, "Christianity for me is like something I breathe, it's not just a cognitive commitment." He says with the combination of this and the music and love, education and fight for social justice gives him a holy anger to find the courage to speak to and for the people.  He describes courage as the triumph over fear, the working through the scars and pain of failure and on to a final and satisfying success.

So on my trek for inspiration tonight it seems as though I found a bit of it.  I found it to correlate with this new journey I'm on and also found it inspiring to see a man of great reverence stand in the gap for a generation falling away because of the failure to know thyself.  Along with Dr. King he is a man who is educated, divinely inspired and determined not just to have an echo but a voice.  A voice that does not shatter at the waves of sound but reverberates and continues for generations to come. That is the sheer excellence of the unadulterated commencement of what it means to be human- allowing suffering to speak and bearing witness to love for one another and for ourselves.

Into the wild....

While driving to pick up a friend this afternoon from downtown Rochester I had time to think...more than usual.  I thought about the recent introduction I allowed for my parents to have with my amazing boyfriend of now 3 months and some change :]  But after all of that I felt as though in the end I had even let my own family in to close.  There judgements and moments of intervention for the rest of the time I was home on break was personally overwhelming.  It seemed as though they couldn't conceptualize the decision I was making, and that I was truly happy. But on this particular drive today I thought of this,  I was beginning to discover something new...I was going into my own wild and nobody else will be able to experience that except for me.  

Now don't get me wrong I revere the words of the wise but there comes a time when they are simply that, just words.  Don't worry I will never be so in love that I will forsake all that I know or have been guided in, but there does come a time when I must grow and see beyond what others see into something greater.  Who really knows the plans that God has for us?  How can they possibly recognize the vastness of it in such short amounts of time, even when you can't?  These are simply questions that I thought about and meditated on.  I allowed for my thoughts to reach those murky muddled grounds that they seldom go.  And although sometimes it may seem full of brush and prickly annoying things we must go there in order to discover who we really are.  

In the end I think going into the wild doesn't mean you lose all capability to comprehend right from wrong it just means you are willing to take risk at a greater and wiser aptitude. So now it seems that I will be going into my own wild, whether any one or everyone understands it doesnt matter.  I have a greater power with me, stronger than the authority of kings and queens and bigger than the entire universe.  With time we will all see, and for me I think I'm ready to take an adventure like never before.