That was true one unforgettable summer night, which will tell you a little bit about me.

“There I was barefoot in the kitchen slicing eggplant, mixing olive oil, and maggi cubes; right where He wanted me to be so that we could really talk. It was a familiar place and yet this particular time, it felt refreshingly different. My mood was more relaxed, not forced in the frantic “man pleaser” mode of my youth. Without a menses for over a year, nothing less than a miracle could create life inside of me, yet creative life energy is alive and flourishing. Maybe it’s because like the rats that ran without exhaustion when it was of their own volition, my neurons are firing and synapses are making all kinds of meaningful connections. Perhaps because I choose to cook, to read, to reflect, listen to God and to write, the ideas flow. Or it could just simply be my season to take back what the locust stole from me? Whatever the reason, it’s a joy to be barefoot in the kitchen, pregnant with possibilities. Engaged in mindful meditation, movement, and miraculous living, the Holy Spirit is guiding my mission to make a positive impact on the planet.”

Over a grilled veggie salad, with the beautiful Pacific Ocean at its best in full view from the Catch Sushi Bar, in Santa Monica, California, my dream began to unfold. In my mind stretch, I envisioned Seven Sistahs with limitless potentiality in the face of unlimited possibilities, gathering for a nice meal on the seventh day of the seventh month in the year two thousand and seven, to reflect on what we could collectively design with our Creator to maximize the abundant talent among us.

God surely must have a magnificent plan for our lives that was put into place before the beginning began and the blueprint outlines the very best of everything!  We all have a situation, condition or circumstance that challenges us to grow to a whole new level and closer to our dreams. Even though we may still be going through, the key operative word is “through”. We are designed for greatness and as Women of God, destined to shine for the glory of God. That means we were created to go through the valley, not set up a tent and camp out there for too long.

And Still We R.I.S.E.!

At that dinner on 07/07/07, we were called to R.I.S.E. (Reflect, Imagine, Seek, Encourage). Daughters of Judah, descendents of Hatshepsut, Sisters of the Yam, Women of the Great I Am, did indeed rise up! We realized when and where to take a stand; no longer a need to mumble, grovel, moan or groan, complain or frown, just rose up and traded our cross in for a crown. Two years later on 09/09/09, when everything seemed just fine, my leap of faith landed me in Saudi Arabia; clearly it is never too late to R.I.S.E. and find more truth about who we really are as well as what we are made of.

What this journey to the Middle East has shown me thus far is that life is full of wonderful moments; there really is enough love in the Universe for everybody, and what we send out eventually comes back, sometimes in the most unexpected forms. At Christmas time, for example, once, there was a card from the College of Engineering and Computer Sciences Department at Howard University that had a wish for Peace as the design for the coming year. There never seemed to be a greater need for inner peace, than at the close of 2009.

Another surprise came in the form of a magic genie lamp and Arabian scent that appeared right before the hardest day of all in the desert; my first Christmas — alone. On that day, I missed a very important Skype call while on another call, and was never able to speak to that special someone for the rest of the year. How painful, yet it was a wake-up call to remain awake, really be about the business of making my life, a quality one at that, work.

On Valentine’s day some of my new friends thought I was going to be so depressed that they dropped flowers and “Zen” perfume (a new scent I had been wanting to try by a Japanese designer that was my favorite in High School discovered while working at The Broadway Dept. Store) on my doorstep much to my delight!. On February 14th, in honor of Fredrick Douglas’s and my niece’s birthday, I spoke about the courage to love no matter what, and the power in sending loving kindness over criticism and hurtful words. In the midst of what physicist Arthur Zajonc (in Love and Knowledge) describes as the ability to “sustain contradictions”, I am learning to deconstruct negative messages and take positive action towards my well-being at the same time. It all continues to be good fodder for growth in the sweet garden of life unfolding along the shores of the Red Sea.