Tag: world

Happiness is finding pencil after pencil after pencil after …

by Soulful Storytellers, LLC, posted in Eclectic thoughts

#Soulmuze #Soulspirations #MySoulSpeaks #SelfDiscovery #ChewOnThis #Pencils #Change #SpillingInkUsingLead #SpilledInk

The first $20 I ever made was performing at the Billie Holiday Theatre at the Restoration Plaza located in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. I played Peppermint Patty in “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” with my JHS Drama club. The entire cast was paid equally and it was amazing. I took that $20 and opened my first bank account at the now defunct Chemical Bank which was also in the Restore, that was in 1977. Kitura, Walter, Darryl, Yolanda, Lamar, Sheila, just to name a few of my cast mates; our Music/Drama teacher Ms. Powell who did all of this with/for us on her own dime, back then teachers gave of their personal time without per session pay.

I almost sound like Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo in the Golden Girls ‘Picture it: Brooklyn 1977…’ lol

What an amazing feeling! I remember we were all celebrities for our brief run on our very own little Bed-Stuy Broadway! Everything was about community back then.

To this day I still love the Peanuts gang. We enjoyed the stories and didn’t see their colors or gender identities, just kids; plain and simple.

I never realized the lessons I was learning thru it all: teamwork, patience, sharing the spotlight, finding our voices, recognizing our individual talents, encouraging each other and so much more.

There are so many things I loved about that musical but as I grow older the one thing that stands out the most is the ensemble song Happiness, the first line is “Happiness is finding a pencil.” It truly was for Charlie Brown for when the pretty little red headed girl dropped her pencil, he picked it up, saw teeth marks and knew she was human.

“I’m so happy. That little red-headed gril dropped her pencil.It has teeth marks all over it. She nibbles her pencil. She’s human! It hasn’t been such a bad day after all.” Charlie Brown, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown

I have my own little chewed up pencil with it’s equally little eraser and I never hesitate to correct my mistakes, I’m only human.

My bite marks on the pencil represent the release of panic, anxiety and putting thought into my every action. When it’s needed and I’m ready (for change isn’t easy) I find my pencil , I erase and start over again with renewed confidence.

I save each worn down pencil to remind me of how far I have come, how much I have accomplished.

Happiness is finding pencil after pencil after pencil after pencil after…

Dedicated to one BAMF-CDC who has found his pencil after pencil after…

©️ Soulmuze 2018

Sandy Hook

by Soulful Storytellers, LLC, posted in Poetry

#Soulmuze #SandyHook #SandyHookElementary #ProtectOurChildren

Our hearts cry out in pain
Tears falling like a never ending rain
Prayers by the masses
Knowing this type of pain never truly passes
How do you reconcile yourself with this type of loss
What was in this madman’s head as the shots fired off?

Innocent children whose lives had yet to truly begin
Now has been brutally ended by a man so full of anger that led to this sin

Reports say psychological issues are to blame
Yet the methodical path taken says he was not totally insane

A child is born every second of every day
Each one is precious and priceless in their own way

Now these gems lives are gone
Their peers forever will hear the sound
One by one as this man took each one down

School a safe haven to learn and grow.
Now has been added as one of the scariest places those children and their families will ever know

© Soulmuze 2012

Do it just because…

by Soulful Storytellers, LLC, posted in Eclectic thoughts

#Soulmuze #Soulspiration #UnselfishActs #ExpectNothing #ItsAChoice

❤️ I had to remind myself of this yesterday and this pops up today. I believe we are sent messages and too often we ignore them but not I.

When you willing give so much of yourself and dedicate yourself to someone you naturally expect the same from them in return. However, that’s not always the case.

Your actions are just that, yours, it’s a choice. You made the choice, you own said choice and you accept the risk-reward that accompanies it.

If we put it in a business context we can easily understand and accept. You take the risk, invest $10k in stock the market, it does well and your investment doubles, you enjoy the reward. You continue to take the risk and let it all ride, the next day the market tanks you not only lost your profit but your initial investment, you have nothing. Who do you blame? The stock market is volatile you knew that going in… well?

Life is volatile. People are volatile. Mother Nature is volatile. No matter how much you try to filter out the weeds they still find their way through. You prepare, you plan, you purposely pursue yet and still you seem to be standing in the same oddly shaped unidentified geometric spot. Stuck in the middle of what appears to be your private unique lonely universe. You’re yelling out imprecations but no one can hear you. Or maybe they do but don’t care because they got what they wanted from you already.

Before you gave of yourself did you question ‘what do I get out of this, what’s my return on this investment?’ Did you think about the risk-reward?

We are so busy rushing through this life creating our own expectations of others, blaming others for not meeting our expectations which we never communicated in the first place. We expect everyone to just know, be mind readers, common sense, telepathy… WE ARE ALL UNIQUE so is there really such thing as common sense? What do we really fucking know anyway? Everyone writes their script as they go. We can’t even erase shit properly, we can still see the outlines of the past, and end up tracing it over just changing character names… same Script Different Cast.

Yet and still this is life… Highs, lows, joy and pain, sunshine and rain. You make the choice, to take the chance, don’t expect the same in return from the person(s) for whom you are engaging.

Whatever you do, do it without expectations. Do it because you choose to. Do it for the joy of helping someone. Do it just because…

©Soulmuze 2017

Not living as if it’s my last

by Soulful Storytellers, LLC, posted in Eclectic thoughts

#Soulmuze #Soulspiration #Sunrise #Sunset #Moonlight #ChildsEyes #ElderStories #WingsOfLove #SpiritualDesign

I’m not concerned with living each day as if it was my last.

My world almost ended countless times yet the universe saw fit to allow me to see the beauty of another sunrise, sunset and the light of the moon.

I’d rather look into a child’s eyes believing in a better tomorrow. I’d rather listen the rattling voices of the elderly as they tell their stories of survival and days gone by.

I’d rather not live with reckless abandon but with purpose. I’d rather live on the wings of love than of fear or hate which breeds contempt.

I’d rather believe that the Gods which covers all within my heart and gives me spiritual insight into the darkness has great work that I must fulfill before this earthly journey is complete and my next one begins.

Yes, I live out of the love of my spiritual design.

(c) Soulmuze 2017

Choice.Chance.Change

by Soulful Storytellers, LLC, posted in Eclectic thoughts

#choice #chance #change

There is always the #fear of the unknown. Everything that exists today is a result of someone making a choice to take a chance and oh so much has changed!!!

Every unsuccessful attempt at anything teaches you how to do it better the next time. Life's recipe is not set in stone, tweak here, a tweak there can change something from sour to sweet.

What your heart #desires is waiting for you, be diligent, be passionate, be your own change agent.

(C) Soulmuze 2017

Soulspiration: Buds in bloom speaks…

by Soulful Storytellers, LLC, posted in Eclectic thoughts


This tree was planted in 2007, the year my daughter Quinn was born. #Symbolic of #life and #rebirth. No matter how dark and damp things may appear we are reminded that it’s just a moment in time. My Fab 5 family has risen above negativity within ourselves and others. We have managed to have everything while having nothing for we know when to ‘ignore the world’ for one another. We are small but strong. #EverydayIsHumpDay

Photo Credit: Soulmuze

(c) 2017

I am that wildflower

by Soulful Storytellers, LLC, posted in Poetry

I am that wildflower that grew from that single crack in the concrete

Taking advantage of the light that shone thru absorbing the morning dew

I am that wildflower that grew from the crack in the concrete seeking opportunity setting myself free

I am that wildflower that grew from the crack in the concrete climbing the backs and standing on the shoulders of great leaders who started thru a pinhole.

That crack is no longer! It is an open field, boundless for many more

The wildflowers from the cracks in the concrete happily fill gardens everywhere

Flourishing beyond expectations of many who thought we were nothing but useless weeds and crab grass

Seeds randomly dropped, expected to die yet grow colorful and bright with no end in sight.

We do not die when our petals have wilted and dried

For within those petals are more seeds waiting their time

To add to a world that is yours, ours, mine …

© Soulmuze 2013