Whether motivated by rebellion or love, here’s a list:
75 Black-Owned Businesses to Support
Black-Owned Business Directory
Just 27 Cool Products from Black-Owned Businesses
Buying Black ✊🏽🇺🇸✊🏽
Kwoted
Monday Notes: 18 Thoughts from a Phone Dump
I began Monday Notes a few years ago as a self-accountable way to transfer thoughts from the Notes section of my phone to this blog. But sometimes, I have more ideas than writing time. When my notes outweigh my writing, I do a phone dump to share.
Here we go:
- Relationships take effort and not everyone’s willing to put in the energy. What do you do when others don’t exert the same energy, whether it is familial, romantic, or friend?
- To be a mother, you have to get used to others judging what type of mother they think you ought to be. I’ve been on both ends of this, so at this point, I think it just happens. Either you think you know a better way for someone to mother her children, or someone thinks the same about the how you’re doing it.
- “I ain’t popping no pill, but you do as you wish” is one of my favorite rap lines. It’s from a song called “Middle Child,” by J. Cole. I love it because I think it’s representative of live and let live, which of course is contradictory to #2, but hey.
- Life was easier when I wasn’t as conscious.
- It’s not my job to make you be self-aware. It’s not any of our jobs to make someone else be self-aware.
- Acceptance does not mean approval; I think I read this in Iyanla Vanzant’s, Get Over It!
- Has anyone written about how patriarchy is reflected in the American presidency through age and race?
There’s a difference between being influenced by someone and copying someone. I prefer the former.- Some people think they have an open mind, but really, they just are open to listening to people who share their worldview.
- Seeing how people treat others in their life may be an indicator of how they will treat you as well.
- When someone says they wished they were married or had a husband/wife, I always think what they’re wishing for is a fairy tale. Marriage is not a fairy tale, even if the two people have immense love/like for one another.
- Love is deeper than your love language.
- You’re either committed to your craft, or you’re committed to your excuses. I think this may be a direct quote, but I’m not sure…maybe I made it up. I’ve Googled it and can’t find it, so I’m claiming it.
- I could complain about the person who didn’t hold the door for me, or I could just hold the door for the next person.
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Is it fair to ask someone to change their behavior to suit your needs? I’ve decided it’s not fair, which is why I’d rather change myself than ask anyone in my life to change how they function around or with me.
- Don’t ask people to change their review of your book. This happened to me last year. An author didn’t like what I had to say, so that person DM’d me on Twitter and asked me to change my rating and comment. My answer? NOPE. I thought this was hella tacky.
- The threat of male privilege is showing through American comedians. I wrote this when I happened to watch a series of comedy shows, where men seem very threatened by the LGBTIQ community. This has ranged from Dave Chappell to Bill Burr. They all have a segment specifically focused on sexual identity and how it’s affected them, but opinions/jokes seem to be fear and insecurity based.
- If there’s a vast difference between how you present yourself on social media and how you present face-to-face, then the problem isn’t social media.
Please feel free to comment on any of these. You know I’m always up for a conversation in the comments 😉
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Other People’s Quotes: Xmas Edition
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Other People’s Quotes: Xmas Edition
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♊44 Lessons♊
Today is my 44th birthday! You might remember this from last year. I’ve added a 44th lesson:
- Pay attention to nature.
- Some friends don’t last forever.
- Physical life doesn’t last forever, but death will continue to surprise you.
- If you don’t like the life you’ve created, then make steps to create a new one.
- Be yourself.
- Love yourself.
- Be nice to people you don’t know.
- People will let you down. Learn how much letdown you want to tolerate from any one person.
- Learn when it’s time to let go.
- Learn when to hold on.
11. You always have a choice.
12. No one owes you anything.
13. You don’t owe anyone anything.
14. Sometimes friends act more like family.
15. Be honest with yourself and others.
16. Kids are not a do-over. They are individuals with their own experiences.
17. If you want more love, compassion or empathy, then give more love, compassion or empathy.
18. You can’t make people like you.
19. It’s never too late to grow.
20. Change is inevitable, whether it’s biological or spiritual.
22. Apologize.
23. Accept apologies.
24. Folks will fill in the blanks of your life AND make up their own stories about it; so what?
25. Mistakes are inevitable; try anyway.
26. Institutions look out for themselves.
27. You will attract people and experiences that reflect how you feel about yourself, whether you believe that concept or not.
28. Treat people the way you want to be treated, even if you don’t think they’ve done the same.
29. Nothing is finite.
30. Recognize how you feel in situations.
32. Wisdom doesn’t always come with age.
33. Listen to your children. For a long time, they are a reflection of you.
34. Don’t try to convince people that their belief system is wrong, stupid or inaccurate.
35. Fear nothing.
36. Know yourself.
37.One way to avoid manipulation is to be clear about who you are and what you want.
38. Judging does not equal caring.
39. Treat the homeless as you would your own mother.
40. Exercise so you can continue to move your body in ways you enjoy.
41. Learn something. But figure out if you need to pay for the knowledge or if you can Google your way through.
42. There is no correct way to live life. 
43. We’re all connected.
44. Be of service.
~kg
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Behind the Kwote: Your Own Biggest Fan
This was one of the first kwotes I created. Many friends and family call, text or inbox me for advice and encouragement. Listening to someone with my whole heart and then offering what I think will inspire them is inherent for me. In fact, a former student asked if I was a high school cheerleader because of how much I stand behind and uplift others.
Well, there came a time during my 360-mile commute that I felt I had no one to reassure me. Even a cheerleader needs encouraging, I posted to FB. I couldn’t think of one person who I could turn to that would offer words of motivation. If I called my grandmother, then she’d remind me of how dumb I was to have taken the job in the first place. If I talked with my husband, then he would remind me that this was a choice I made, regardless of his early warnings. If I spoke to anyone else, then they would try to solve the problem for me and that wasn’t what I wanted or needed at the time. I wanted someone to tell me, “Hey! You can do it! You’ve done more challenging things in your life. This is no different.” I found that the only person that was going to tell me that was, ME. Consequently, this kwote was born. Cause, guess what? Every now and then, we all have to dig deep and find that inner strength. Trust me; it’s there.
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Behind the Kwote: Your Journey
This kwote popped into my mind after I’d announced to several people that I was leaving my tenure-track position at Florida State University. There was no visible job prospect in April 2015, but my intuition had spoken and I was listening. Even though my instinct was clear to me it wasn’t to others.
My cousin’s response, “Are you crazy?” Mind you he’d asked me the same question when I announced the commute.
My best friend at the time replied, “What??? Now I can’t say my best friend is a professor at FSU!”
My daughter’s reaction, “Are we gonna be poor?”
My aunt’s email, “So what if you’re the only Black person? Since when did that become a big deal?”
My friend and university’s alum, “What? Why?”
This is just a small number of people and their opinions. But in my mind, there were far too many and I didn’t feel as if I owed anyone an explanation for decisions about my life. With the exception of my daughter, none of these people would be affected by how I generated income. This kwote helped me to see the truth.
Oftentimes, this time of year prompts reflection and a sense of renewal. But sometimes we neglect to follow our hearts and inner voice because we’re worried about what family and friends will think about our new paths. Let me tell you something. They’ll be just fine! Now, let me ask this question. If you don’t follow your intuition, will you?
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Be You
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Behind the Kwote: Be You
My sister-in-law and I have different personalities. Our one commonality is being married into the same family. The last phone conversation we had stemmed from a final attempt at building a long-distance relationship, so that family events wouldn’t feel like two strangers meeting for the first time. This is how it went.
SIL: Kathy, you’ve always been rude and mean to me.
Me: Really? How was I rude and mean to you the last time we saw each other?
SIL: You didn’t say anything to me and you didn’t want to listen to my advice about Kesi’s hair.
Me: You’re right. I didn’t say anything because whenever I do, then you call me rude and mean and when I don’t say anything, you still call me rude and mean. But, it’s funny cause you always tell me to be myself.
SIL: <sigh> Well, I’m not going to tolerate rude behavior.
And she shouldn’t. But after lots of overthinking, it seemed that my SIL wanted me to be myself in ways that pleased her. The 2011 visit we’d discussed is when I tried something different and said very little. I thought it would keep conversations peaceful.
However, it backfired because in essence, for me to speak few words is not me…at…all.
Our phone conversation revealed how I’d stopped being myself to appease her for no reason. Her perception of me remained. From that day forward, I’ve learned to be myself, regardless of others’ positive or negative opinions.
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Behind the Kwote: Least Miserable Situation
This kwote is in a section called “Konscious Life Perspectives.” As the subtitle suggests, it’s all about making conscious decisions appropriate for your life.
The thought came to me while talking to one of my favorite cousins. He was going through life-changing events. The way he saw it, he had two choices. On the one hand, he could pursue his dream career, but it required him to live several states away from his wife and young daughter. On the other hand, he could continue working two part-time, “dead-end” jobs, and that would preserve his marriage and relationship with his daughter.
During our conversation, I asked him what he really wanted to do. I encouraged him to pursue his true intentions because after all life is not about choosing the least miserable situation. Subsequently, he pursued and attained his dream job. But the move was more challenging than he’d anticipated. It didn’t work out as planned and he is currently back home living with his wife and child.
I’m never sure how my messages resonate, so I’ll add this for anyone reading. Oftentimes you may find yourself faced with what you see as a limited decision. However, there are infinite paths; your vision may be too myopic to see them. If you take the time to assess your desires and then vibe out from there, then the appropriate course for your life will appear. In that vein, I hope you never feel as if you’re choosing between least miserable situations.
