Bloom Where You’re Planted

You see that plant up there in the pic? That’s me. I’m actually more so the middle green leaf. The brightest one. The one that’s in the process of blooming. Spreading out even though my surroundings appear to be either dead or dying.
This struggling plant of mine is a Bird of Paradise. I’ve always wanted one. Her name is Pooh Pooh, and she sits in my bathroom. While in the bathroom earlier this week, I took a look at Pooh Pooh, and said, ‘Wow, we have a lot in common…’.
Earlier this year, Covid-19 shuffles all of us around, and ushered us all into our homes. It was during this time, that my former employer decided it was the appropriate time to terminate me. Meh. I was ready to cut ties anyway. I had began to dread going in, and interacting with the business owner was a nightmare. So here I was, jobless, with no backup plan. Everyday it appeared that the world as I knew was slipping away, into the distance. Practically dying. Yet, I was beginning to feel more alive that I had in years! I had more time than I had ever before to be with my kids. I was cooking, teaching via homeschool, cleaning, sleeping in. Being a mom! It was great. It was a high. But, as we all know, every high comes down, and I was forced to think about what was next. I had sat on my business for over a year, and done nothing with it. I was unsure of what direction to take it in. Yet, I knew I had to do something and move forward. But how? And to what?
That’s where Mattie James came in.
If you’ve never heard of her, she’s a self-made influencer guru. Her super power is making new influencers feel as though they can conquer the world, and then showing them how. I had joined her private Facebook group in May, just a couple of weeks after I was fired. I simply joined the group, and left it at that. The next several weeks, I found myself really trying to figure out what to do with my brand, Chicago Style Cult. As I was looking at my account on Instagram, and thinking what a shame it is to have an unpublished website for it that I pay for, and never have done a thing with it. It was at that moment that Mattie came up in my timeline. She was doing a challenge for the Month of July, where bloggers would have to post a new blog post Monday-Friday. It was my ‘Aha’ moment. Chicago Style Cult had officially become a blog.
That was nearly four weeks ago.
Today is the next to last day of the challenge, and I can’t believe that I made it this far in the challenge! My blog, in less than 30 days, went from my hobby, to my passion, to my business. Incredible! And as it appeared that everything was fading away around me that was familiar, things that I thought I needed and depended on, here I was, blooming. Imagine that.
So whenever I look at Pooh Pooh, I smile now. I even trim back the dead leaves. Because, as we all know, that’s the only way to grow. And not just grow, but bloom, and flourish. And that’s what exactly what I intend to do!

Yours in Style,

XoXoMo

Diamond Princess

Diamonds are forever…

Pressure bursts pipes or makes diamonds. I have heard this many times in life. It wasn’t until my 30s that I actually began to fully understand its meaning. As I quickly approach 40, I can’t help but reflect on my past, my future, and life itself. I’ve been fortunate to witness great miracles, and also live through some really tough times. And with today’s environment, sometimes I wonder, which am I? The pipe, or the diamond?
As everyone else does each morning, I look in the mirror, and question what I see for a few short seconds? Am I making my momma proud? My kids? Myself? How am I going to make through another day of local, national, global uncertainty? What am I wearing today? Sometimes it can just seem overwhelming. And in the worst of it, it can be downright depressing. Almost to the point where even the thought of getting out of bed is too much. It is in these times that I come to value pressure.
You see, for some people, pressure is needed, or more like required. Without it, they wouldn’t move. Wouldn’t live. Without pressure, you almost can’t truly learn who you are. Since the age of 17, I’ve always lived under pressure. That was the age that I had my first son. From that point, until this day, I’ve felt pressure.
At first, it broke me. I burst. And chile, I was all over the place. Through the years, I learned, no less the hard way, of how to pick up all those beautiful pieces, and put it back together. It took great trial and error to learn how to adjust to being a mom, and adult, at the same time. Not an easy task, I tell you. With my son, I learned that I was much stronger than I ever imagined, ever thought I could be. He taught me that I could give my last, and not even miss it. That I had patience. And that if he spilled something on my clothes, washed it with the wrong cleaning agents, or broke the steamer, I was actually going to be ok. (Because truth be told, at those times, I was not ok.) And most importantly, he taught me that there is something that Incould be more passionate about that fashion: him. As a 17 year-old, I had never thought that possible.
The pressure of being a mom, and a good one at that, forced me to make solid, hard, good decisions. Decisions that I would likely have not been able to make had I not been a mom. And yes, several of those decisions bust my pipes. But, I’m here today. Standing tall and proud with some of the blessed, most humble, well-mannered, successful children walking this earth. And for that, I’ll forever be grateful to God. It is my motherhood journey that has taught me exactly who I am, and what I’m made of. And I’m proud to finally say, all of that pressure made me a diamond. Diamond Princess, that is!

XoxoMo