Today's my 35th Birthday! It seems fitting to post a reflective piece being another year older. Here goes... The day it released I received a copy of Shonda Rhimes’ Year of Yes. I don’t often read self-help(ish) type books. But hey the book came with the tickets of her appearance at the 92Y so why not?
Here’s the premise: One day Shonda Rhimes of all people has a metaphorical wake-up when she realizes she’s not happy. One of the most power women (of color) in television was not happy. She tended to hole herself up and not do things that scared her or took her out of her comfort zone. She was happiest when with her kids, in her jams/sweats, and/or writing. She was not someone who was into parties or public speaking, these things freaked her out easily.
So she decided to challenge herself for one year. She was prompted by a comment from her sister who essentially said she never said “yes” to anything instead going on to complain about all the invites to events, being super busy in her success, and so on and so forth. However, she didn’t indulge in the celebrity life people were asking her to be a part of. She really wasn’t living period. And then, voila she made a change and while it wasn’t immediately soothing over time she got over those hurdles and realized that once something that terrified her was over and done with she didn’t die. Life goes on.
Read moreI'm going to preface this post with the fact that I had written this back in December to go live first week of January and it was gone. Thanks a lot WP. Anywho, I redid it and here goes. Gotta keep with tradition.
I think last year was stronger for books than previous years for me. I’ve been trying to spread out more in terms of reading more nonfiction and poetry, not just a handful but a significant amount to combat the amount of fiction I read. One can dare to dream for a job where this is your soul day-to-day. Alas, perhaps that is in my near future.
So here’s a breakdown of the books that totally tugged at my heart strings after I placed it back on my bookshelf.
Read moreMy Minorities in Publishing podcast has been asked to curate the upcoming HiFi Reading Series for November which is happening November 4th, 8pm at HiFi Bar in the East Village! Come here acclaimed author Daniel Jose Older and emerging artists Courtney Gillette, Glendaliz Camacho, and Ennis Smith read from their latest. Come for the booze & cupcakes, stay for the literature!
Read moreFirst post in a while but I think it's a great one from Ta-Nehisi Coates on how he kept going through writing and how writing can be an act of courage and persistence if you're going to actually make it.
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