“Blooming from Brokenness: One Woman’s Rise from Despair to Divine Purpose”

There are some curious quirks in most of us---little telltale signs that never seems to fail. For me it has always been the absentminded clearing of my office space. Over the years I have found that if I start clearing my office my exit from said office is imminent. In July I started clearing my office, stopped in mid-stream and stated that “Oh no, not again.” I turn to a coworker and explain that every time I get into a cleaning frenzy at my office I left. True to form a number of things started happening and before I know it I was resigning. It was hard to do since I had started a project that I was close to and wanted to see it through, but life had other plans for me. Surprisingly, the main reason I resigned is no longer an issue, so I will not be going away for as long as planned. However, in hindsight it was just the right time to say goodbye and move on, not only for me, but for my former place of employment. While I was a part-timer, my replacement will be a fulltime member o...

Domestic abuse transcends race, social class and financial status…it affects us all in one way or the other. I was thinking yesterday about a horrendous story in read in The Star newspaper (http://www.jamaica-star.com/thestar/20070925/news/news1.html) about a young Jamaican woman who was stabbed over 100 times all over her body. Her crime, daring to end an abusive relationship, while showing compassion for her abuser. Despite ending the relationship, Oneka opened her doors to her abuser because he had nowhere to live. Her story is particularly disturbing to me because I have seen the face of the abused up close, have helped to wipe their tears. Like many, I have family members and friends who are themselves victims of domestic abuse. Is there a physical profile of an abuse or abused? Unfortunately, no…on the outside an abuser rarely carries any indication of their abusive personality on their person. In public they are sweet, gentle and extremely loving to their partners, but behind c...

I found myself watching ABC News early yesterday morning and couldn’t help snickering, when a segment aired and the word ‘frienemies’ was referred to as something new. Jamaicans have been using that word for as long as I can remember; I know that more than 10 years have passed since I first heard it. I know that the term came into popular culture in the USA sometime in the late 1990s thanks to New Radicals and their hit song, You get What You Give. Just out of curiosity I went to urbandiction.com and there it was. I quick search online showed that the term has been in use for years. Sorry, ABC, nothing new about that word, but the piece was entertaining.

I don’t know about anyone else, black or white, but I’m tired of the typecasting of black characters. It’s about time black actors and actresses start showing some guts and refuse roles that demand this type of behaviour. Just this weekend I was watching Transformers and while I didn’t mind the movie, I hated the first scene with Anthony Anderson acting like an idiot. As a matter of fact I am sick to the stomach of black characters playing hip-hop loving dolts all the time. I must admit that I don’t watch a lot of TV, but I just happened to see a piece of “Corey’s in the House” and was saddened by what I saw. I at least expect better from Disney; maybe ten years ago that show would have been funny, now it’s just dumb – spin-offs are not always a good thing. Come now, if Hollywood won’t offer you, the black actors, roles that are not insipid why not make your own movies. If not for yourselves, at least do it for future generations. It can be done!!!

One of my favourite Hollywood celebrities, Halle Berry, has joined the list of celebrities who first denied and then confirm a reported event. This lack of honesty, whether it’s called PR or whatever other term we use to “pretty it up” is lying. With so many taking them as role models, celebrities should at least try to be honest. Being a first time mother later in life, I was thrilled for her. However I had to contain my enthusiasm and joy when her people said, “not true” to reports she was expecting. I was disappointed and thought of the pin she must be feeling because of her desire to be a mom. Congrats, Halle, I wish for you a great pregnancy and may motherhood be for you the great joy and blessing I have found it to be. I know that you and your boyfriend must be on cloud nine. What this situation has shown me is that take whatever celebrities, even those you admire, with a grain of salt. One word of advice, if something is true and you do not want to confirm what is being reporte...

Ok, maybe the headline is off, but seriously, it’s amazing how many of Hollywood’s top players are pregnant or recently gave birth shortly after beginning a new relationship. Some are pregnant and the other half is already in another relationship. Some of the men are fighting paternity suits with former lovers… It just leaves me wondering if they pay attention to little details such as safe sex. At last count there is quite a long list of well-known soon-to-be-moms and moms in Hollywood, none of whom are married. Now, I’m not saying that being married is an indication of faithfulness, but the way some celebrities play musical chairs with their love life…don’t they wonder about HIV? Two of the ways promoted to decrease the incidence of HIV are to use a condom and having one faithful partner. I have noticed that for many celebs, they are in a relationship for a year or less and wham, they are expecting. The pregnancies certainly indicate that condoms are not a part of the package. As Sp...

As a fan of the great Jimi Hendrix I was affronted to read this morning on Contactmusic.com that Paris Hilton has named her new pet pooch after Jimi. I have never been inclined to name a dog, no matter how much I love him after a person living or dead, friend or foe. I found the very though distasteful, but then no one has ever accused the attention-loving Paris of having any class. I find the very thought of such an act distasteful; when I think of Jimi Hendrix I want to think great music, not an over-indulged pet. Don’t get me wrong I love dogs, but I wonder how Miss Hilton would react if someone in the limelight decided to name their dog, Paris Hilton. I hope someone in Paris’s cam will ask her to find a more appropriate name for her dog. I know that under copyright law names cannot be copyrighted, unfortunately. I do know however that the Hendrix family through Experience Hendrix, LLC has the rights to the music, name, recordings and images of the Jimi Hendrix. Whether this applies...

I had a nice laugh this morning. I was doing my usual reading of news bytes when I came across this on Contactmusic.com, “I think people should be shot if they blog.” Well, being me I had to get to the bottom of this…yes, there is more. Apparently Sir Elton feels that technology, including the Internet is killing creativity. He would love to see the Internet shut down for five years…as an experiment to see what ‘what type of art (creativity) would evolve’. Sorry Sir Elton, not going to happen…the Internet may evolve but its here to stay. On a serious note, while I will not blame it on the Internet or technology, a number of things that I love are dying because of the fabulous technology. I loved receiving letters from friends and loved one. No, email does not equate…there’s just something about receiving and reading a letter. Spelling is another obvious victim of the technology. I have seen some pretty horrendous spelling online and off. I guess it’s partly a result of too much depende...

Today is Emancipation Day in Jamaica and it has me thinking, wishing really. Thinking of the sacrifices made by our forefathers, especially now as we approach another general election. No, I’m not about to discuss elections in Jamaica except to wish that my fellow Jamaicans will ‘emancipate themselves from political tribalism and violence’. A couple of other things I wish we could emancipate ourselves from include, the endless pursuit of materialism, our growing selfishness. It is these two that is responsible for some of the problems we face today. Yet, there is so much for each of us. Yes, some will always have more than others…I am aware of that, but that does not mean that we have to be selfish. As we enjoy Emancipation Day in our own ways, let us all pause for a moment in thanksgiving for the sacrifices made by the slaves whose blood soaked our soil. To reflect on where we are as a people and individually and finally to be resolved to play our part to make our own lives and the li...

I know what you may be thinking, why discuss allergies on my blog. Simple… I have allergies…the type that gets you coughing, watery, swollen eyes…the works. What triggered it this time: paint. I just happened to be working in an environment that was painted a few weeks ago. Modern conveniences can be both good and bad. The air conditioning unit sucks in the odour and re-circulates it in the office, of course, this air is tainted with the fumes from the oil paint. So now I’m paying the price. I hate being sick, especially when I have work to do. Well, I’ve been placed on Claritin and do feel better, but I hate taking medication. I need to complete some work but just feel so out of it, I can’t do much. Well, here’s hoping that I’ll be back to normal over the weekend.

Despite the best intentions sometimes we find ourselves not doing all the things we plan to. To counter this I make lists and then lists to remember my lists; well, not quite that bad but I do make quite a lot of lists to organize my life. In the almost one year since I last posted, lots of things have happened in my life. My son is now almost three years old and is truly the boss of his domain. He takes great pleasure in correcting his dad and myself when we do not use proper English. Of course, he also likes to remind you to say "Please" and "Thank you", yes, a babe shall lead them. On a personal level I've spend the last few months honing my skills as an indexer. I have found over the time that I love indexing even more than I thought when I was just fiddgling around. Shortly, I should have a website up for my indexing site; I'm looking forward to that. I have lots plan in the next few months, but right now my priority is completing a MA peogram I'm p...