What if you stood up and screamed with me right now? How cool would that be?
Picture us, being witnesses for each other’s stories. Isn’t that why we’re all here?
There’s a quote by Ram Dass that goes, we’re all just walking each other home. I never heard of that quote until I started hanging out online, visiting social media platforms, learning about the views of others beyond my physical environment. Meeting people through computer screens, way outside my neighborhood, across the country, and around the world.
Crazy right? If you were born before 1980 you watched the world become something entirely different than the world many of us previously grew up in. A world before smartphones and internet everywhere. We’ve been witnessing technology explode.
Seven years ago today–July 28, 2023–I said goodbye to my co-workers and drove out of the employee parking lot for the last time. I thought I was quitting the day job to write full-time. And that was it. Nothing more.
And then my life exploded, spreading like starbursts of color in a fireworks display. I was NOT prepared. It’s been a ride. All I could do was strap in and hold on tight and let Life whip me around like I was on a fairgrounds ride.
What happened?
A lot. But I’ll only mention some highlights—
✦ A book idea sent me into throngs of hundreds of strangers—all black women!—surveying them. All by myself. Then the aforementioned book idea flipped my world inside out.
✦ I tabled that book idea and wrote a different book. Something more manageable. This was my memoir in essays which I self-published in 2020. Now I’m back to work on the original book idea, a book about black women’s friendships.
✦ We sold our house and moved to Mexico. Once we made the decision to leave, there came the whirlwind of getting everything DONE. Passports. Getting rid of our cars. Selling our stuff. Donations. Painting our house. Selling our house. Finding places to stay. Immigration. Language barriers. Whoa!
It’s been an adventure. Oh yes, it’s been fun and rewarding. For sure. But it hasn’t been easy. It’s Life, you know? So there have been plenty of ups and downs.
By now, most people who view my posts online know my style. I don’t just post happy pictures. I don’t gloss over my difficulties. I really don’t know how to show up to a blank page without revealing some of the messiness. You know? The lumps in the gravy. That’s me.
I write what I’d like to see written. You know what I mean? Because life gets fucking hard sometimes. And I want to know how people are getting through it. So I figure if I want to know, then someone else out here would like to know too.
You see that picture above—lol, yeah—the one with me screaming, pumping my fist? All sweaty across my forehead? That was the moment I finally finished designing my website. This very website where you’re reading this blog. It was almost one in the morning, Sunday, July 23, 2023. Listen, I was ecstatic! Because after dozens of hours of Youtube tutorials—days and weeks!—I had built an actual website. Thirty-seven days. That’s how long it took.
That picture covers so much more though. It represents seven years. Starting with job quitting. And then job quitting led to so many repeat episodes of me blowing up my life. I honestly had no idea. Blowing up my life was never a part of my plan. I didn’t know all the ways my life was going to get flipped around because of all the changes I was making. Right? Because of all the ways that I was changing.
So I’m here telling you all this because of my purpose. I’m not just a writer. I’m a woman on a mission to remind us of the journey we’re all on—the walking home journey. Like the Ram Dass quote. I want to hold space for you. And I want you to hold space for me. That’s why I write books. That’s why I write these posts. That’s what all my social media platforms are about.
It’s super simple really. YOU are a walking container of thousands of stories by virtue of all your lived experiences. You’re already witnessing and being witnessed. You do this with the people you know in your own life. Swapping your personal stories. Not just by talking about it (or writing about it) but also by displaying yourself, using your gifts.
The way you tell a good joke. Or cook a nice meal. Or play an instrument. Or make something with your hands. No matter what, it’s YOU. It’s your essence on display. And the people around you are witnessing it.
Visit my website and share your energy. Together we are all members sharing a part in The Human Story. It doesn’t take a lot of energy or time. I’m inviting you to connect with me so we can all connect with each other.
Check this out:
I wrote a story in my newsletter two weeks ago. It was about some of the dynamics faced between adult siblings—old grudges and tension, for instance. I put a little humor in it. It was about what’s been happening between me and my brother in recent months. After reading this story, one of my subscribers sent me an email telling me about her relationship with her own siblings. There were only three or four sentences in that email. But what she wrote made me laugh out loud and it filled my heart.
That’s how this works. We hold space for each other.
I love you. Come see me. Come share your beautiful vibe with us. If you read this far, you are exactly the kind of person I would love to have join our community. I look forward to seeing you in other spaces.
Love, Mia 💕
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P.S. To sign up for my newsletter click on the homepage and scroll down to the bottom. Write your name and email address and click submit. You will receive a free gift (my Audio Journal checklist) for signing up. 😍