I BELIEVE IN... PART II

-Tea
Anyone who knows me well, knows that i am a tea junkie. Exotic, run-of-the-mill, loose leaf, bagged - Like pokemon, i gotta get them all. (i know. feel free to groan.) I am a lover of coffee too (and how), but there is something about tea that i find infinitely soothing. I had the pleasure of attending a Japanese Tea Ceremony, and it was a most tranquil experience. But, even without an elaborate ritual, tea calms me. Don't front on tea. BTW, im totally sipping some chai RITE NAH. :)

- Just Being
Or as we say in common parlance: Chilling. The Italians have a nice expression for it: "Il dolce far niente" The sweetness of doing nothing. Sound more poetic and less lazy that way, no? But in whatever language you choose to put it, doing nothing is one of the greatest things... ever. For best results, try doing nothing with a cup of tea. ;-)

-Dancing
WTH is wrong with you people? Why aren't you shaking your bodies down to the ground? Why am i, with my too shy shy © kajagoogoo self, the first one on the floor when the dance music starts?? Its my firm belief that 95 percent of the world's problems would be solved if everyone danced more often. Seriously, dancing is my number one stress reliever. Its not about formal training, its not about staying on beat, (though that helps) its about its about feeling the music, and ENJOYing yourself. And fellas... i can't stress this enough: DANCE. Don't worry about if you look stupid or awkward. You probably do and its ok. Kinda cute even ;-)

-Giving Compliments freely and frequently
If you admire something about someone why hold it in? Are you afraid of looking like youre sweating someone? Shoot. Ima let yall in on a little secret. I sweat all my friends. Seriously. Spread the good word. Oh and beware the difference between a sincere compliment and flattery.

-Not taking yourself(myself) too seriously.**
When did everyone get so deep? Between twitter, FB and the zillions of forwarded texts i get daily(im about to fight my cousin LOL), im wading through a glut of profundity. Folks are so insightful, so circumspect. Do we laugh at ourselves anymore? Where do the lighthearted go? Laugh at yourselves people! Be goofy! Admit mistakes when you make em. Stop couching everything in sagey expressions. Part of being human is being flawed! The world is a whole lot easier to navigate when we denude our egos of excessive gravitas.

-Men's Razors
Omg yall. Can someone explain to me why we ladies are getting the short end of the st(ypt)ic(k)? When it comes to hair removal why am i getting a closer smoother shave with mens schick quattro than with the one for women? (Um... don't answer that. I know yall got jokes. lol) But yeah they make the womens in pastels and scented and all that other fun girly stuff, but what im most concerned about is performance. And razors designed for males are much better than the ones designed for the fairer sex. But you don't have to take my word for it... ©

-Being unabashedly, unapologetically... Regular.
I don't know yall, but lately i've been feeling all last of the mohicans-ish. And it has everything to do with being um, regular. And no, not activia regular. lol. (rashad) I know everyone has different definitions of what constitutes regular/normal, but for the purposes of this blog im going to define my regular as "being content with the basics." Its more than that of course, but thats my feeling reduced to the lowest common denominator. t seems that everyone is on the cusp of greatness, is making moves or some other expression that signifies a grand aspirations. Not that anything is wrong with that... but. Its like nobody is _just_ a person anymore. Everyone is a daggone brand. Conceiving their brand, building their brand. Why is everyone intent on making themselves a commodity? Whatever happened to the simple life? Sheesh. I just (ok maybe not JUST) want to get married, have some pretty (hopefully) babies, and a nice home to come to where i can close the door shut out the world, and watch the history channel. Seriously. Keep your flashing lights. I am not at all average, but i am quite regular. (and yes there is a difference. ;-)

-Hugs
Give one. Spread love.

-Being alone
People who always have to be with people make me nervous. Of course i could be exposing my limitations here, but im a firm believer of aloneness (NOT loneliness) Why you always need people to distract you? Get comfortable with yourself. Solitude is not scary -- if you do it right. Learn what inspires you, get a handle on what makes you tick. You can't ever be comfortable with others until you learn to be comfortable with yourself. Over the years, the biggest hurdle for me was doing things by myself. If i couldnt get someone to accompany me on -- whatever -- then i just didn't to it. Wackness. I missed out on a lot because of that. Now im all about getting out there. So do, see, feel. Don't be afraid if no one wants to come with you. Its ok to do it alone. The bonus? When you do have someone(s) to join you, that makes it all the sweeter.

-Experiences not "things"
This may seem laughable to folks that know me - for i have many "things." But the fact of the matter is the older i get, the less i want things (or at least things in excess) and the more i want experiences. Experiences, shared or not - i find have much more long-term fulfillment than the initial -- but transient joy of things. Not to mention, material things take up so much physical space, where to store it all? Experiences are habitue of the mental. and that space is endless. The funny thing is, the more you fill it, the more space there is.

-Burning Bridges
Ok i don't mean quit your job on some steven slater steez. Or cuss out your momma when you know you're gonna be hitting her up for next months rent check. But i mean we all probably have experienced relationships with people places shoot -- THINGS even -- that we know are toxic. Perhaps we are even aware that they are no good - yet we keep going back to them because they are familiar, comfortable, maybe even comforting. Yet the toxicity remains. In those instances when we finally get the cojones to cross that bridge - BURN BABY BURN. Watch the smoke ascend. Don't look back! We know how that worked out for lot's wife. ...What? "Didn't any of you go to sunday school?" (points if you can source that quote) Anyway. If we don't burn it, we may be tempted to cross it once more, double back on ourselves to see if things have changed, gotten better. When chances are, they haven't. According to einstein the definition of insanity is doing the same thing but expecting different results. We aren't insane are we?

-Under promising and over delivering.
You know the old adage "actions speak louder than words?" and its cousin "talk is cheap?" Well those didnt become old adages for no reason. The fact of the matter is, most people would rather you DO rather than tell saying you will -- but DON'T. That's worse than never saying anything at all.

-Bacon

Need i really explain?

**Of course, it could be argued that by even making an entry talking about what i believe in, i am guilty of taking myself too seriously. But, well, we won't argue that will we? :-)

Roy Hargrove - Dream Traveler