#mytakeaway

[thoughtvomitandsuch]

My thoughts after today's reading sesh...

Do not allow your highest achievement or lowest moment be the foundation on which your happiness is built. Every day the sun rises, you find a great new song or a fresh pot of coffee is brewed. Celebrate the abundance of still moments instead and you will find happiness everywhere you look.

[seaespi]

Queen & Slim, 2019

a thought-provoking realistic fiction film directed by Melina Matsoukas, blew my mind in ways I never experienced. Melina brings life to the #blacklivesmatter movement and completely changes the narrative. When a prejudice, violent White cop stops a Black American male and his girl and unjustly accuses, harasses and shoots them - the accused fight back and shoot the cop in self-defense then flee. They flee, not because they’re guilty - but because of the reality of the history Black Americans experienced from defending themselves against racist, aggressive White male cops - in a White male dominant society we still currently live in. How many times do we hear Black Americans earning the justice they deserve from acts of self-defense from white police? Michael Brown, 2014 and Trayvon Martin, 2012 are examples of young Black American males who defended themselves against the violent discrimination they experienced by white cops and who were shortly murdered thereafter.

Melina gives us a narrative that imagines life after unjust violent attacks for Black Americans. The hopeful journey to freedom by the pursuit of fleeing the country is not ideal, but it’s certainly better than being murdered at the blink of an eye-as Trayvon and Michael Brown experienced. The film ends tragically as the young Black couples’ lives end by the police, but their travel to freedom includes a life truly lived. On their journey, Matsoukas portrays the characters making self-realizations, falling in love, living fearlessly and trusting in strangers with their lives. They gained a new hope in humanity - before they breathed their last breath. Melina also shows us the legendary movement the fleeing Black couple created, building a new hope for Black America.

The perspective female directors give is visionary. It takes the heart (empathy) of a female to make decisions that imagine a better world we all want to live in. Living in the moment is a past-time. The narrative won’t change unless you make the decision to live a present that moves towards a better, transformed future. 

[buddylizdog-blog]

#mytakeaway 🍎 (at North Liberty, Iowa) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpDW98LBllYNfc8S6JKwrQ-DTt78N23Zovs43A0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1om2gksz4x6qn

[migacandicewrites]

Bible #mytakeaway Nahum 1:7

[migacandicewrites]

#mytakeaway for today's #thebibleinoneyear challenge: Share your the blessings.

[nakedjedi07]

“What’s gonna happen in 50 years when the generations that follow us look back and see that their forefathers were too afraid to treat each other with the most basic level of respect.”

If I may offer my thoughts to this topic

I’m not the best at conversations, debates, or what have you. I’m awkward as hell. Because of this, I rely on my actions. To be an example to others. Maybe it’s because I grew up in a Christian home.  Matthew 7:12  Do to others what you want them to do to you. The golden rule Mark spoke of.

I don’t mean to bring up such a hot button as religion; my opinion is you don’t need religion to be a moral human being. But this is besides the point.

This, I feel, is something Mark harps on a lot. Being an example. Because it’s important to him. Because he knows how important it actually is–how important the future is. We are the history in the making. Forget Youtube, forget social or news media–put it aside. Put this drama aside. 

It cost NOTHING to be a decent human being, to that man on the street, or that woman on the bus. Our actions define us. What you put into the world will spread. Will you put love out there? Or hate? Because your actions–your pebble that you throw into that water will ripple, no matter how small. 

I understand what Mark is getting at. Not respect that’s “earned”, the respect “on a basic level” for your fellow human being. 

Now, I’m not gonna pretend to know Mark. But I would like to make an observation. 

“When a parent dies, children feel their own mortality.” (Yes, I know that’s from AHS–nonetheless it’s a good quote.) This world, this life, your life, is finite. I’ve known this since I was 10 years old when I lost my father to colon cancer. Something tells me Mark knows this too. Why he works so hard. Why, me personally, strive to be a good example to people I meet, to the people I work with, to my friend’s kids who call me Auntie, and one day to my niece, who will turn 1 year old here soon. 

We only have so much time on this earth. Be that better person. Set that example. Because at one point, you’re not gonna be around to see the ripples from your pebbles–the effect of your actions. But the generations that follow us will.

“We’re all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?”

[migacandicewrites]

Treat others the way you want to be treated. #mytakeaway #thebibleinoneyear #bookofluke

[migacandicewrites]

Stay alert and pray. #mytakeaway #thebibleinoneyear #bookofmatthew