A Year of Moving Forward

In 2017, I made a promise to live my life by moving forward. I vowed to let life be felt. Too often people confuse living and surviving. Survival is anticipation. You move through life waiting for your future. Living is experiencing all that each day is offering you. It took a lot of breaking, discovery, and healing, but I made decision to always move forward. 

Let's be clear: moving forward does not mean I ignore what hurts. I do not simply shrug off my pain and smile. That is unrealistic. Instead, I allow myself to feel without regret. If I am meant to cry then I cry. If I am angry then I allow it. Moving forward is a lesson in progress not perfection. 

Now, here I am, young and black and a woman and daring to live. An essential part of my journey to moving forward was doing what I wanted to without hesitation.

First, I read. I delved into the works of Upile Chisala, James Baldwin, and Cleo Wade. I spent hours in the African American history archives at Emory University learning about the importance of preserving the past. These lessons continued at the Avery Research Center in Charleston, South Carolina as I held the shackles worn by enslaved people throughout the American south. 

Second, I spoke up. I stopped keeping my thoughts to myself in class and in meetings. I tweeted a lot. I asked questions. Slowly I began to realize that everybody is not for me-- thank God.

Finally, I traveled (well as much as a college student can travel with low funds and no passport). Leaving my comfort zone allowed me to learn by experiencing the incredible world around me. I got my nose pierced  in Atlanta. My boyfriend and I ate our way through Charlotte in a summer. I explored a Native American community in Tennessee.  In December, I ended the year by taking my first trip to Los Angeles, California and attending the first ever Teen Vogue Summit. 

This site is a product of my year long journey. Here is a space entirely mine to vent, to explore, to edit, and--most importantly-- to be vulnerable. Here is where I pledge that I have something to say. Here is where I say it.

Hopefully you are here to listen because this journey will read like poetry. 

Entering this site is a decision you are making to take a look at all my scars. I am laying them out for you. There will be tears, laughs, and lots of frustration. Some of you will think I am sharing too much. Well perhaps I am. Some of you will be looking for the naked details of what causes all this pain. Well you might find out. Then there are the blessed few of you who will feel all of these posts. My anger, happiness, and dreams will resonate with you. To you all I say welcome.

Thank you for joining me in this space.

Love,

Bry.