Janaina Medeiros
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YOU ARE THE REASON
JBB: An Artblog!
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PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
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One Nice Bug Per Day
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@jevonbolden
A bit of a plant haul this weekend to fill out a few of my plant thrones
Macho fern
Prince of Orange Philodendron
Dracaena
Lady palm
Cast iron plant
White bird of paradise
Alocasia California (elephant ears)
I hadn’t bought a new plant in about six months. This was fun!
Two years ago, my Pentecostal Sunday started with a cup of coffee and a James Baldwin essay on a stony terrace behind a lakeside apartment in Minnesota.
I may not be the neighbor who’ll give you sugar if you knock on my door needing it, but I got you if you need fresh herbs. 😊
They grow faster than we can it them, so I prune them and then propagate them by putting them in a glass of water and setting them in my kitchen window, refreshing their water until they root. Then I put them in soil and add them to the family.
I’m propagating oregano and cilantro for the first time. I hope they root. 😬
🌱 🪴 🌿
Here’s how to pull yourself out of despair and live your life
Being able to name how I’ve been feeling is EVERYTHING!
The spaces we live and work in have a big impact on our mindset. And creating a calm, restful space can provide stability in times of change and uncertainty. It's called "comfort decorating."
I see why fixing my home up felt so necessary these last few months. It really felt like self-care to add plants and decorative touches. After having to move abruptly last August, barely unpacking and jumping right into work, I felt like I couldn't let another day into 2021 pass until I got things peaceful and pleasant-looking.
And sanctuary was the word that came to my mind as I went about it.
"...'comfort decorating'...can provide a sense of normalcy...Small touches can make a big difference. A sense of control over your space...'boosts your mood, and that helps you get along with others and helps you solve problems effectively.'"
“To be human, whether having moved or stayed, is to long for home.”
—Jen Pollock Michel, Keeping Place
So interesting this book comes along—I saw a tweet about it being $3.99 on Amazon, so I bought it and started reading immediately. It’s about the meaning of home. See previous posts as to why this is significant to me right now. I’m grateful to God for “coincidences” like this. I’m already tearing up.
A study for a piece my uncle is painting for me. Artdelasoul.com Terrill Kevyn Johnson. I can’t wait to see the finished work.
In my study/library, my reading/nook. A nod to Hilton Carter’s plant throne. (I’m reading his book Wild at Home and loving it.) Also, this is where the Majesty Palm was relocated (see last post). it’s funny because this is where I put it when I first brought it home, but then I got scared about the lighting. A light meter helped resolve my fears and it’s back.
This Moonlight Philodendron may be my favorite member of my plant family. I said maybe. I feel bad naming a favorite. They’re all gorgeous in their own way.
It may not be much, but I love it.
It may not be much to someone whose home always feels safe and warm and comforting, like a refuge or a sanctuary, but I’ve not felt the peace and safety at home enough to put a room together the way I like in years. Home has not felt like a safe place for a long time until recently. Home has not felt like a place I could...be.
I mean, it’s a work in progress like this room but it’s coming along nicely, I think. Partly, I’m processing the grief of what home had not been, and that feels humid and thick and suffocating. But there’s also this rising coolness and effervescence. Something about this season of home is feeling nice and blue and white and fresh; green and yellow and vibrant; earthy, grounded, and calm.
There was a time when work was my refuge when home was not. I remember wanting to get back to work after long weekends and holidays to escape home. It hurts to think about how much living at home during those times felt so hard, how much living I was missing out on and how much I longed to live. My homebody longed for a home that accepted me and my body.
Yes, there’s a story behind my words I’m not telling. Maybe one day I’ll share it. For now, for me, I’m making a note, a mark, here that I am feeling like home is once again becoming a place I love to be.
Naturally in love with home, a teenage subscriber to Architectural Digest, Southern Living, and Martha Stewart Living (is that still in existence?), I dreamed of what my home would be like as a grownup. To grow up and find myself displaced with no place to rest, heal, or recover; no place to be sheltered and protected from “the elements”; no place to be me...
I really hadn’t realized the weight of that until now. No, I’ve thought about it, felt the feelings. I think what may be happening right now is about the depth of the realization of what was lost. But I’m also feeling a deep appreciation for what is being reclaimed, restored, and recovered.
I’m so glad, so grateful—so, so grateful—to feel my home feeling like home again.
I need to find a spot for that extra chair. And since this picture was taken, the majesty palm has been relocated to another room and a Rojo Congo Philodendron has been sat down in front of the Cordyline Black Magic.
My home and me are works in progress.
My daughter is in my bed on her phone watching YouTube makeup tutorials while I’m working on an author’s book proposal. I just patted her on the head thinking about what she means to me and how only God can shield us from the cumulating clouds of unrest threatening to burst over us in a raging torrent. Her hair is parted down the middle, flat-twisted down on the sides and smoothed into two low curly, puffy ponytails. Her edges are laid, of course. That’s just Autumn. I think about how Breonna Taylor had been seventeen like my Autumn is and she and her mom may have had moments like this one.
Girls are so precious. You just love them. You want to protect them.
I can’t imagine being awakened to the news of Autumn being shot in her apartment at night while she was sleeping. But then I can somehow imagine the hopelessness we’d feel finding out she was shot by police—hopeless because we, a black family in America, would know at that moment there would not be a matching consequence. Our hearts would drop and we would know—no evidence of wrongdoing.
Almost immediately, we’d begin the work of negotiating our anger and feelings of helplessness—pitching them up against our faith, hoping with everything the rationales stick—willing the trauma to do as little damage to our souls as possible, managing our breath, swallowing tears, and measuring our words—suspending the release of emotion, scared to death of our inability to rebox the certain pandoric outlay if we didn’t hold ourselves together.
What a hellish spectacle of a day—a day we’d relive forever with no justice and no peace. Crushed. Defeated. Broken.
Lord God Almighty, be near the Taylor family. Bind up their broken hearts the way only You can. You are acquainted with their grief.
HELLO, AUGUST
Looking into it with my natural eyes, August came and is presently camping out with something that seemed like trouble to me. It came with a harsh and unexpected kick out of one place into a place I’ve yet to see. It is the eighth month, yes. In some circles, we often see the number eight as a signal to begin expecting new and better things. New for me in this moment is inevitable. I was pushed right into it with no time to dream of the possibilities or build any expectations.
One good thing among the many that I can name is that under normal circumstances I welcome change. I embrace pivots. After the initial gut reaction, I enthuse over transitions and get joy from the opportunity to mull over the many possibilities of what could happen next.
This time, I admit, I got nothing. Well, no. That’s not exactly right. I had fear. Yes, fear, initially, for sure. A type of panic I don’t think I’ve seen in myself. Nope. Never, I don’t think. Calls to God, family, close friends, and counselors centered me, and with fear and grief over losing the old, I moved with rapid speed to jump on the train to...
I don’t know where this little piece of my story ends. I’m in the in-between, looking on with blurry spiritual eyes as hope begins to reshape my expectations for what could be next.
When things are stable, I find I like the foretellings of August’s new things and new beginnings more. They feel exciting. Managed chaos. Controlled change. Planned newness.
Not so much this time.
On this temporarily dark path, with the light shining only on my feet and filtering out into the one or two steps ahead, my eyes are adjusting. I found appreciation and peace in that yesterday and it’s still holding today. What’s more is I know more light is coming and I’ll soon see where this trip is heading.
How has August greeted you?
Words I Love and Live By
I don't understand how a woman can leave the house without fixing herself up a little—if only out of politeness. And...maybe that's the day she has a date with destiny. And it's best to be as pretty as possible for destiny.
—Coco Chanel
You are here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth….You are here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world….Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
—Matthew 5, The Message
It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy; it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others.
—Marianne, Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
—Marianne Williamson
It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others….One ever feels his twoness—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.
—W. E. B. DuBois
Pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can't take their eyes off you.
—Maya Angelou
Do one thing every day that scares you.
—Eleanor Roosevelt
Well behaved women seldom make history.
—Unknown
The most successful people won't take no for an answer if a yes is what they need to succeed.
—Unknown
My dear child, I have not learned my Christianity from them [slave owners]. I have learned it at the foot of the cross, and from this book," she said, placing a New Testament in Iola's hands. "Some of the most beautiful lessons of faith and trust I have ever learned were from among our lowly people in their humble cabins.
—From IOLA LEROY, the first African American Christian novel by Frances Harper (1892)
Somewhere, right now, someone is training while you are not. When you race him, he will win.
—Unknown
All the 'objective' facts were against us...but my confidence was not in the present circumstances but in the laws of God’s universe. This is a moral universe, which means that, despite all the evidence that seems to be to the contrary, there is no way that evil and injustice and oppression and lies can have the last word. God is a God who cares about right and wrong.
—Desmond Tutu, from his book God Has a Dream, speaking about how he knew Apartheid was over before it was over
Your body will argue that there is no justifiable reason to continue. Your only recourse is to call on your spirit, which fortunately functions independently of logic.
—Tim Noakes, from Lore of Running
DO IT ANYWAY
By Mother Teresa
People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. FORGIVE THEM ANYWAY. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. BE KIND ANYWAY. If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. SUCCEED ANYWAY. If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you. BE HONEST AND SINCERE ANYWAY. What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. CREATE ANYWAY. If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. BE HAPPY ANYWAY. The good you do today, will often be forgotten. DO GOOD ANYWAY. Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. GIVE YOUR BEST ANYWAY. In the final analysis, it is between you and God. IT WAS NEVER BETWEEN YOU AND THEM ANYWAY.
When you discover things that seem to contribute to the glory, do those things more; and when you find things that seem to diminish the glory, stop doing them. It’s as simple as that.
—From Revival Glory by Ruth Ward Heflin
Others may; I may not. Others can; I cannot.
—Kevin Leal, #chayil #templeofelchayi (1 Cor. 6:19; 1 Cor. 10:23)
Inhale, and God approaches you. Hold the inhalation, and God remains with you. Exhale, and you approach God. Hold the exhalation, and surrender to God.
—Krishnamacharya
TWO YEARS LATER AND STILL THE SCARIEST, BEST THING I’VE DONE
Two years ago today, I stepped away from a pretty nice senior editor position at a pretty nice publisher. I stepped out of a perceived comfort zone into perceived unpredictability. I stepped out of the boat to see if I could walk on water, took a leap of faith to see if I could fly...
I can. I did. I’m still afloat, still flapping my wings. And Embolden Media Group turns two tomorrow.
I’m so grateful for the trust, encouragement, and support that have been extended to me these last two years. Publishers, authors, freelancers, conference coordinators, and many more have made room for my ideas, expertise, and advice when there are many others to choose from. Thank you for choosing me. Thank you for sticking with me.
Here's to more!
READ THE FULL POST HERE.
BREAKING NEWS: After fourteen years as an in-house book publishing editor, I have officially broken free from the corporate matrix. That’s right: you are looking at a free agent. Yesterday was my last day as senior editor at Scholastic. I’ve made the transition to better focus my time on my clients—both publishers and authors. You saw it coming, didn’t you?
There’s so much more news to come of my building BOLD mentoring communities, facilitating webinars and workshops, speaking at conferences, and writing and publishing my own books. But we’ll get to that. For now, I am OFFICIALLY UNBOSSED. I am the owner of Embolden Media Group LLC—website and branding are in the works. In the meantime, I will continue doing business as Jevon Bolden, Editor.
Sometimes when someone launches a new venture people want to know how to support. You can support me in four ways:
1) Tell serious faith-based authors and inspirational personalities about my work as an editor and ghostwriter. Tell them I can help them say what they want to say in books and provide great resources for their audiences.
2) Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Like my posts if they mean something to you, and share them.
3) If you’ve ever worked with me and had a great experience, leave a review/endorsement of my work on my Facebook Page or LinkedIn profile, or send me an email of our experience together and I’ll post it on my website.
4) If you’re a person of few words, you’re a doer or a giver, I have PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/JevonBolden.
Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Do one thing that scares you every day.” Transitioning from full-time employee to full-time business owner is my one scary thing for a few days, maybe months… But it’s awesome and energizing, something I’ve been preparing for my whole life. And there’s still more to come. Stay tuned as this story develops.
Supporting the Right to Protest for Every American
I don’t agree with every protest, but I do recognize our right to peacefully protest. That Boston Tea Party was hecka inconvenient, disruptive, and blasphemous to the then governing body of this land. Everyone was not on board as it seems they were in our history books. People wanted their Earl Grey and English Breakfast teas. That was the protest that got us all here. I can’t deny that even my own present livelihood in America isn’t due to protest, for which I am so grateful and which may grant me a measure of patience when people protest for any reason in culture that needs solutions. Another thing I’ll admit is that as a black woman a few generations removed from slavery, I also am still working to feel wholly American, even though my ancestry in America may go back further than many other citizens. With that, I kind of have to take a step back and realize that brown and black people with a history in this country like mine don’t need to be tutored on what it is to be American. I can, we can, fully and lawfully take advantage of any right in the Constitution at any time that suits us just as any other American can. I say this because there frequently seems to be an undertone that I and many black Americans are met with when we exercise rights that disturb life as usual that suggests we aren’t American enough, that we aren’t playing our role in American life quite right, and that we’re ignorant of the characteristics of patriotism. We are not. Many of us have legacies of military service in our families that go back to the founding days of the country. Many of our military family members were treated horribly by Americans during their service both here and abroad and upon their return home—some disrobed of the uniform, some lynched, some spat on. Yet somehow we need to be instructed on how to move about the country. Every nation, kindred, tongue, and creed that is represented among our citizenry should feel comfortable to be as American as they lawfully and peacefully want to be, which the concept of what is an American is purposely and beautifully loosely defined. Peaceful and lawful protests by design are super inconvenient for both the protesters and observers. They are designed to disturb the illusion of equality, justice, and liberty, which may seem disrespectful to those unaffected by the issue at hand. Protests are designed to escalate the concerns of the few and voiceless to the ears of those in power. We will not all agree on the reasons and methods of protest, but it is a bought and paid for American right for every single citizen. It is in times like these when we have the privilege of seeing the integrity and merit of our founding documents at work.
You Prayed for Revival
Some have been praying for revival in America. America has a dirty past. Revival cannot come to America when America cannot honestly look at its wrongs. The things that this country did to blacks and other people of color to gain traction as a world power are some of the deepest, darkest, most denied and reframed sins of this nation. We keep trying to find other sins the Lord would want America to repent of in order to heal our land—and of course, there are others, but He is not going to let this one slide.
Just because it’s too painful to look at or too difficult to agree on doesn’t mean God doesn’t want us to deal with the fact that whole groups of people were stripped of their humanity, and not seen as ones who were also created in the image of God.
It is naive and short-sighted to think the residual effects of something that lasted nearly 400 years and was only fully outlawed 60 or so years ago has not tainted the fabric of every American system and damaged its people—all of us. We have a lot to reckon with and a lot to restore.
The tension that is growing is not because we are getting further from God; it’s that God in His righteousness is getting closer to us. His holiness is shining a light on our gross fallibility. If we want revival, we have some repenting and admitting, reality-facing and confessing to do. Ignoring who we are and where we are will not make the issues go away. We are getting to a tipping point.
Pastors; leaders; intellectuals/scholars/practitioners in psychology, history, political science, public policy, justice, and sociology; social workers and teachers; prophetic voices; and others who are skilled/called/anointed in this area, we need you to rally us with love, tenacity, and courage. Continue to lead the way, and help us heal.
I am grateful for those who stand against opposition and peacefully protest, boycott, sit-in, and turn a critical eye on dangerous things and call them to be better. Fighting against injustice is God’s work. I can’t pretend that the way I am now able to live in America is not a direct result of these types of efforts. I may not have understood them if I were alive when they took place, as many don’t understand what’s happening now. But I can look back with many of you, see who was on the right side of history, applaud them, and quote them. The struggle neither yesterday nor today is popular, but it is necessary if we want to be truly revived.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” ―Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from the Birmingham Jail (also anyone who says they admire Dr. King but hasn’t read this letter needs to do so immediately)