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

It was bound to happen – an epidemic of national proportions was just a matter of time in this country.   After the January 12, 2010 earthquake many predicted that the poor handling of dead bodies and the conditions in the tent cities around the capital, Port-Au-Prince would result in serious health problems. By September 2010, conditions were not much better. Approximately 1 million people were still calling tents their homes.  As such it comes as no major surprise that the island has been hit by a cholera outbreak . News reports from the Haitian government reveal that over 2000 persons now have the diseases. Based on the infrastructure and poverty in the country there is no doubt this number will climb. The number of dead officially reported to be over 200, but who knows how many others have died so far. Many countries have offered aid after the earthquake, but obvious much more still needs to be done. The current economic climate is not helping as donations are down in...

These days I find it scary the way aging seems to be moving into the terrain of becoming a dirty word. Seriously, I hear it around me more and more where someone is referred to as old, “he’s getting old” or  “Wow, she looks old” and many other variations in between. It’s no wonder so many celebrities and even regular everyday people are risking their lives to go under the knife. While I can appreciate that aging is a bit scary, it shouldn’t become such a dirty word. Life after all is a cycle. Interestingly, I recently overheard someone in their mid-thirties referred to someone a few years older as being old’ in a disdainful manner. I wish I could be a fly on the wall when many 20-somethings and 30-somethings move into the next decade of their lives. I can remember one woman becoming hysterical at work the day she hit 30. It was so dramatic, she wept and she couldn’t eat. A few months ago, someone else, on reaching 40 declared that she was now so old – life was over. Seriously...

This month being breast cancer awareness month, I wanted to salute those women, their loved ones, the medical community and other groups who have joined together to overcome this disease.  The first time I met someone who had breast cancer was many years ago. She was a vibrant woman, who didn’t let the loss of a breast and chemo stopped her living her life. Back then it was a scary thing to know someone who was affected. Treatment was not as good as it is now and reconstruction surgery was almost unheard of in Jamaica. While I still find it a scary illness, there is comfort in knowing that many women now beat the disease. Over the years the number of persons I know personally who have battled breast cancer and survived has grown.  The first person who comes to mind is my wonderful friend Connie Curry. Connie not only survived, but she did so with grace and humor in true Connie style. While dealing with her own cancer she befriended others and offered support and comfort. ...

You have seen them, many of us know the type. They have to have the most expensive, newest smartphone in town with all the bells and whistles. But heaven forbid they know how to really use all those neat features. Worse yet, they don’t even need them. Now, don’t go beating up on me, I am happy you have been stepping in beat to the technology. I'm all for advance and am happy for the success of others. If you can afford a smartphone, good for you, but please use them properly. Believe me, they are for much more than making and taking calls and sending messages. Some folks use them to go online, but there is still so much more. I’ve even met those persons who have an iPhone and have no idea how to even send a text message. I know people who forget assignments and appointments, and yet they have a smartphone. Come on, they have a calendar option for a reason. Send yourself a reminder once you have a date set for something. Every smartphone has this option, make use of it. I’ve hea...

At a recent family gathering, one person said that people with certain illnesses should have children. I strongly disagreed with that statement. Unfortunately I was unable to fully give my views as too many discussions were going on. My concern is who gives anyone the right to deny others their dream of experiencing parenthood. If someone is physically and financially able to have and care for a child, why shouldn’t they? A diagnosis of cancer or other lifestyle-related illnesses shouldn’t be the trigger to say, “You shouldn’t have a child.” If we are to go down that road, then why not say that persons who are physically and emotionally abusive to their spouses shouldn’t have children. Isn’t the kind of emotional trauma resulting from having an abusive parent just as damaging, or even more so than having parents with a serious medical condition? Research has shown that many serial killers and abusive persons lived in homes where spousal and child abuse was the norm. Unfortunately...

How many adults have been fortunate enough to be what they wanted to be when they were children? Certainly not me. For many of us real life steps in and we get derailed. Maybe we could have fought harder for what we wanted. Granted, no amount of fighting would have worked if lack of funds was the hindrance to fulfilling our dreams. For me, there were many things I wanted to be, but one thing remained constant – I wanted to write. Writing and reading were and still are in my blood. So yes, I never got to be a lawyer, granted it’s not too late especially since I believe it’s never too late to do many things unless you are dead. So have I been writing, yes…I write…lots. I write website content and blogs for others. I have some unfinished novels, and children’s book, one finished, one unfinished. So what is holding me back? Fear of failure – I fear that publishers will reject my labour of love and while I get great feedback I still fear rejection. And yet I know that a fear of failure...

I guess most of us have one of those days, weeks, months - you get the drift - where everything seems to be conspiring against you. This is my week, and I pray and hope not my month where many things are just not going too right. First off, I’m sick, and then my son got sick. Bad enough, but we’ll survive. Then my husband’s just one year old PC decides to start acting up. Shutting down every few minutes, the PC guru said it’s the monitor acting up…lots of tech talk. Did I mention that my husband is a freelance graphic artist and needs his PC is working order? So for the last few days he has been struggling to get some work done. Ok, we just a few months ago paid to have an old PC upgraded for our son, Jalen, so we hooked it up. Heard the fan going, but nada – nothing happens. The monitor is blank and nothing is happening. I tried a little tech work – still nothing. So there goes the second PC. Well, my mother-in-law has a PC that was repaired at the same time my son’s own was. Sh...

Over the weekend I had the good fortune to read a blog I subscribe to but rarely read – you got it, due to time constraints. If I must be honest, there is often plenty of time, I just need to use it wisely. Anyway, back to the story. I decided to read the January 8, 2010 edition of Remarkablogger. Maybe it was destiny, but I happened to read Holly Jackson’s story and I felt a spark of hope and renewed determination. Jackson is the owner of a copywriting company, Cottage Copy (http://www.cottagecopy.com/). Her advice that hit home is that it is important to blog for business growth, but that it’s not just about blogging about your business. As she said, ‘it is important to put the real you out there even if it is scary.’ People connect to real people so when you blog you don’t have to be blogging about what you do such as indexing or records management for me, but about what makes you tick or makes you feel scared. They connect with you when they realize that you have the same fears of...