#pause for thought

[katy-133]

Halfmoonjoe's playthrough was my favourite.

[awakebutdreaming]

Tiny Toad Brown: Do you find beauty in something that people consider to be ugly or undesirable?

Hmmm… this is tricky because I think everything is admired by at least a few people. Maybe grey hair? Or growing old gracefully. Men’s body hair seems to be undesirable (on here anyway) but I think it can be beautiful and sexy.

[mrsm-h]

Two things happened yesterday that gave me pause for thought:

1) As I was about to cross a road in East London (England), I saw a woman beside me who had an amazing head wrap. As I turned back towards her, she turned towards me and we both said "I like your....." at the same time. The lady was complimenting me on my hair and I was doinf the same regarding her head wrap. We did not know each other but did not let that stop us.

We laughed and walked on a short way together talking about how it's lovely to receive a compliment from a woman. 

The lady said that as black women we can sometimes be portrayed as tearing each other down and it's good to lift each other up.

We spoke a bit more and then went on our merry way.

2) Later this evening my Ma & I were walking to the tube station and there was a woman who must have been in her early to mid 20s she had her bed made up on the pavement just outside the station.

As we walked past I stopped and Ma & I went back. I asked if she wanted a hot drink and/or some food. The young lady asked for a hot drink. As I looked down I saw someone else lying down with their head in her lap. I asked if her friend wanted anything and the young lady said "Mum do you want something?". Her mum also asked for a hot drink.

My Ma & I got them their drinks and gave what change we had. The mother and daughter blessed us. It was not lost on me that here I was with my Ma and there was the young lady with her mum. We blessed them in turn and I said it was only a small gesture and to please not to give up hope.

To which the mother replied we won't, hope is all we have.

In the space of 3 hours I had been both uplifted and humbled.

Why am I writing this? Well as my bro bro Jason Junior Johnson said just over a week ago: Help if you can. I will add to that and say if you can bring a little happiness into someone's life with a kind word or gesture, even if it's just once you might be surprised by the results both for you and for them. 💜

Ps. This is a long post so If you made it to the end. Thank you for reading it 😊

[spi-ltmilk]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQQ3XmCgiy5/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=dvplrzns30zw

[gangcolours]

[katy-133]

There's something really powerful about seeing a YouTube comments section where every comment has a unique reply from the video creator except the rude ragebait one. Like you know that one commenter is just seething but has no control over the situation because everyone has collectively agreed to not give them that control.

[katy-133]

I've been trying to not use language that compares me to a machine. I make art, not content. I want to learn, not optimise. I read, not consume.

[katy-133]

Sometimes, I think about how brave Paddington was in the second film for being polite and showing compassion to strangers while in prison.

The Paddington Bear films and the books are, in part, about the bravery of being soft enough to be kind to others, but being hard enough to say no, this isn't right, and give a Hard Stare in particular situations.