Think back to when you were younger as to the professions you were encouraged to choose from. About 70% of the people I came across would encourage me to be a lawyer, while the remaining 30% encouraged me to be a teacher like my father. My mother taught me to read very well before I started basic school. My birthday gifts were books every year. I loved reading and I fell in love with poetry from a very young age. I fell in love with the news and reporters in particular, and I knew the profession I was meant for was that of a journalist. This was frowned upon by many as I was told that journalism will not bring me enough money to live a lavish lifestyle. I've never told anyone that I was in search of a lavish lifestyle. Despite the discouraging feedback, I went to University and did journalism just the same. No, I'm not working as a journalist to date but I still have that dream. Throughout my time working on getting my qualifications in the media field, I ventured into my true

When you log into social media you are taken into a world where everyone seems to be striving for perfection. Filters are applied to cover flaws so we will either feel better about ourselves or others will be accepting of us. Some of us receive the validation that we need that will allow us to feel better when we log off but what happens when we realize that we don't receive that same kind of validation in real life when we can no longer apply filters to our flaws? In order for people to be accepting of the reality of the flaws that we have,we have to start campaigns to encourage us to be proud of how we naturally are. I may come across as if I am fighting out against people expressing themselves but that isn't the case. Why do people continually say that they are proud of who they are and they don't care how people view them yet everyone looks the same as if they are all fresh out of the same factory. The other issue is how people will say love yourself just how

As a young lady growing up in these times isn't the easiest of things. We are constantly told to be proud of how we look and to always be confident. Often times we are told to be proud of ourselves by people who aren't proud of themselves. What I mean is that you will see an influential individual share an image of flawless skin and beautiful long flowing hair with a caption of love me with all my flaws and all. If you are indeed proud of these flaws why are they hidden? Wher e are the flaws you speak of when you are proudly showing us a touched up image of yourself? For those of us who will never have a huge fan base to validate our looks every couple of seconds how do we become confident? Then there are those who will share an inspirational quote about how what's on the inside matters most yet they are the first to share images of individuals to make fun of them because of how they look. The world gives us app after app to smoothen,lighten, curve and shape our images

I've always shied away from funerals because I don't ever know exactly how to show my sympathy for those who have lost their loved ones. When I heard about Jordan's funeral I immediately said to myself that I would not attend his funeral due to the sadness that I would have to deal with. However, when I was asked by family members of Jordan to read my poem at his funeral I couldn't say no. I felt like this was a way to show them just how inspirational he was to not just me but the entire Jamaica. In the days leading up to the funeral I was a bit conflicted wondering if I would be able to hold my nerves or whether or not I would be overcome by sadness. When I arrived at the funeral location all sense of nervousness and sadness went away. I saw faces that were simply in awe of the young man who was Jordan Foote, I saw determination in the eyes of his friends but sadness of course lingered closely by. For anyone who went to pay their final respects to Jordan it was a

For many of us each day of our lives is simply just a repetition. We go to school, we go to work and we have little or no time for anything else. For those of us who don't own our own business we put our all into helping others achieving their dreams while we hope and hope that one day we will be able to do the same. If God forbid you were to die today, what would you be remembered for ? Would you have accomplished any of your life goals? There are so many people who are burdened down with the load of carrying the dreams of others that it eventually kills them. The joy that many of us dream of should be something we live each and everyday. There are relationships that eat at you every single day and instead of lifting you to higher heights it brings you lower and lower. There is no time in this already limited lifetime to be stuck in situations that eat at the little joy that you may have. The same can be said for friendships. There are friends who only come to you with bad news, t

My life is my life and your life is your life. Simply put we need to spend more time focusing on ourselves. Everyday we come across people who see, to have life figured out. They have the perfect house, job and family.  However, do they really have everything figured out or are we just being fooled into thinking they do? Yes, there are people who have figured things out and are living out their dreams but there are those who are simply putting on a show tho let the world believe that they have figured it all out. This show will fool the world but it will do nothing for you. There are individuals who put so much effort into pushing the perfect images and telling the perfect stories of their life but put little or no effort into actually putting some truth to these images and stories. At the end of the day the truth will always come out. You are the one who will actually have to live with the true state of your life. Those who you put on the show for will just continue to look on in from

So, I haven't shared my thoughts wth you in a while and that's primarily because I was busy working on my latest poetry book which is now available on Amazon. I've always been a lover of poetry but I never believed that I could one day become a really good poet. Today, I'm here to say to you that you should never give up in your dreams. This year I self published two poetry books of which I'm very proud. If I had listened to the doubters and the voices in my head I would have given up on poetry years ago. It's very easy to stop believing in your dreams when the world is fighting against you and telling you that they are pointless or you should choose another path. You were born with the desire to achieve something and you should always work towards it regardless of what the world tells us. I gave up a couple times due to negative feedback so of no feedback so at all but somehow I got up and continued to push. I've improved on my poems more and more each day

I once had a friend who grew to be very close to me. Once when we were sitting at the edge of a swimming pool, she filled the palm of her hand with a little water and held it before me, and said this: "You see this water carefully contained on my hand? It symbolizes Love." This was how I saw it: "As long as you keep your hand caringly open and allow it to remain there, it will always be there. Ho wever, if you attempt to close your fingers round it and try to posses it, it will spill through the first cracks it finds. This is the greatest mistake that people do when they meet love...they try to posses it, they demand, they expect... and just like the water spilling out of your hand, Love will retrieve from you. For love is meant to be free, you cannot change its nature. If there are people you love, allow them to be free beings. Give and don't expect. Advise, but don't order. Ask, but never demand. It might sound simple, but it is a lesson that may take a lifetim

Friendships and relationships continue to suffer due to the journey for perfection. People enhance their bodies on the journey to what they view as perfection. People seek knowledge of certain things in order to achieve perfect intellect. This journey towards perfect leaves us from time to time to believe that others around us must themselves step up and be perfect or they no longer fit into our perfect lives. Believe it or not those friends who falter from time to time will help you to either learn from their mistakes or they will inspire you when they overcome the mishaps. As friends we can't drop those who maybe aren't able to keep up with the speed at which we are reaching the end our journeys. Often times I see quotes that speak about drop those who aren't going anywhere behind and go after your dreams. However, we have to make sure that we don't drop those who are progressing but aren't yet at perfection. 

Sometimes we meet people on a bad day,month or year. Sometimes we don't see the entire story but only a fraction and it may not be pleasing to us. Sometimes we meet people when they are trying to over come an obstacle in life but we don't see that. Sometimes we meet people after they have overcome a heartbreak but we just look at the fear in their eyes and laugh at their weakness. Sometimes we are presented with the old pages of someone life but and we form conclusions without flipping to the new pages. Sometimes we are so caught up in that particular bad moment that we experienced that the newness of a new day are never factored into our analysis.