Happy Anniversary Michelle B!
WOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW It’s been ONE YEAR!
Talk about a surreal feeling!
When I started this journey a year ago I had no idea what it would look like or what I was even doing… Can I let you in on a little secret? I still don’t know what I’m doing, LOL.
I have found so much excitement in writing from the heart and encouraging anybody I can get within earshot of to be D.O.P.E. and go after whatever it is they’ve been afraid to go after. With the current state of things during this COVID-19 epidemic, all I can think of are all the things we tend to count ourselves out of and now look at where we are. Today, I’m overly thankful for the chance to have this platform and the courage to be real on topics and things that can be super hard to share in general.
Year 1 has taught me so many things that I couldn’t have imagined I would have gotten out of creating and committing to writing a blog:
To push forward and keep going no matter what.
What I write will reach whomever it needs to reach.
It’s not about the numbers, it’s about the impact.
Growth takes time.
I have to be my biggest supporter, otherwise why am I here?
There have been times where I’ve rethought things I wanted to share and in some cases me rethinking led to me not posting, but in more cases than those situations I pushed forward and chose to be vulnerable. I’ve even run into issues I couldn’t fix or figure out how to truly get around like losing access to my FaceBook page, anything you see on there is from an autoposting feature I set up before I got locked out.
I think now that 1 year is down the next year is a chance to step out of the box even more and tap into things that are scary to share opinions on and create some buzz around the really important topics that we as women deal with and need insight on. I don’t have all the answers by any means, but whatever experiences I’ve gone through can help someone that may be dealing with the same things I’ve dealt with.
2020 so far has been filled with a bunch of unexpected twists and turns and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I want to hold on tight for this ride and embrace the discomfort as much as the comforting parts of it.
To EVERYBODY that reads anything on my site, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!
I cannot say enough how much it means to me that you take a few seconds and/or minutes a couple times out of your busy weeks and give your precious time to read my thoughts, feelings, and share in my stories. I appreciate everyone that supports directly an indirectly. Without you there would literally be no intention for my ramblings.
To all the women that support by reading, thank you for giving me a reason to keep writing and every kind word that you’ve sent to encourage me to keep doing what I’m doing.
To all the black women that I write for, thank you for being the spark I need to continue pushing forward with my purpose. You are beautiful, you are powerful, you are the reason I do this!
I have so many ideas and things floating through my mind right now that I can’t wait to get started on, and I hope everyone is receptive to them and gets just as excited as I am about it all! I’ll take this time to also thank everyone for supporting even when I run into tough times and you don’t hear from me as often as you do when times are easier.
At the end of the day today is a celebration not just for me, but for all of the D.O.P.E. women out there working hard, pushing forward even when we don’t want to, and spreading your magic out here to the world that doesn’t always deserve it but we believe in it anyway.
I recently read Demetria Lucas’ book “A Belle in Brooklyn” and it made me realize how much I love doing what I’m doing, how I can’t wait to grow further in this journey, and all of the knowledge and influence I have in my story to share with the world. You should definitely check that out, I understand why I chose to read it now and why I hadn’t had the chance to read it before.
The things from our past that make us who we are have the power to teach and ignite hope in the hearts of those around us. Don’t be afraid to share your story and remember if anything comes in opposition of your growth and progress that just the Devil trying to make you second guess yourself.
This year my focus is to be more courageous not fearless and maybe even be a little more in tune with the hot topics and things the world is buzzing about. I can’t promise that second part though, LOL… baby steps. I would love to hear what my readers want to see more of, and cater to you and what you need. Let me know your ideas and what you hope to see more of from me below or comment on any of my IG/Facebook posts. I’ve honestly been winging it and now it’s time to step it up. Please feel free to push at me if you don’t see me stepping my game up, the encouragement and challenge is greatly accepted. Thank you so much for encouraging me to step out of my comfort zone and step into the light, that’s where change and growth happens.
I love you!
Ya’ll are the greatest!
Thanks for joining the ride with me!
WOOHOO! Cheers to one year, and here’s for many more to come!
Be D.O.P.E!
Sidebar: Shoutout to David Wilkerson for creating this D.O.P.E. graphic for the brand last year. Go check out his work at www.theartofdlw.com and follow him on IG @godleehaze. His such an amazing artist and going some big places!