Today, I realized that my blog crossed 250,000 page views last week. How did I miss that? It's so exciting, if you're a numbers person, and actually, kind of exciting even if you're not. I've been working hard since my second year blogging to get away from being moved by the numbers. So I don't hawk my analytics anymore. I needed to get back to doing this because I wanted to and doing it how I wanted to instead of trying to keep up with the crowd. That's a theme that has kind of been running through my life the past six years.
The lesson will come around as many times as it needs to until it is learned.
Don't get me wrong, crowds can be good. But, I realize that throngs of people don't always signify that a relationship, of any sort, exists. Some are merely onlookers. And truth be told, we can all be finicky. To that point, I learned a long time ago not to judge myself by the ebb and flow of the crowd.
I appreciate the page views as 250,000 opportunities to inspire though I have found myself spreading the MVL love across many platforms these days. I appreciate you — readers turned friends, peers turned mentors, strangers turned lifelines.
The truth is, if a crowd forms around the idea of us chasing our best lives ... pushing and pulling each other when we need to be pushed and pulled, I'm happy with it. If not, and it's just you and me {yes, you who's reading right now}, I'm happy with that too.
"The key is not to worry about being successful, but to instead work toward being significant - and the success will naturally follow."- Oprah
By Katrice
Thanks K. Logan!
I was excited to receive an invite from K. Logan Hair to drop in and have my fro done in a "Kute with K. Logan Hair" makeover. Can you imagine that email!? Ahhh, the thought of not washing and detangling for a week or two. Yes, please. The Atlanta salon owned by Akia Logan {Kia for short} reached out to me a few months back and it was a wonderful opportunity that we almost couldn't coordinate because of my schedule. But, thankfully it worked out. If you're here often, you know I tend to be pretty basic with my kinky coif. It's either in an afro, twist out or puff for the most part. Two things: I'm not very creative with my hair and ... I'm not very creative with my hair. I think that about sums it up. I always admire intricate styles on other women with naturals and have decided many of such styles require a super power that I do not possess.
The Havana Twists I did a little more than a month ago were a phenomenon.
Nevertheless, Kia is actually well able to do any and all types of hair and styling — her specialty being customized hair pieces for both women and men. I checked out some photos of her clients and asked a lot of questions before the appointment was set. {I'm always worried that my hair will be overwhelming for anyone else.} And I chose a braided style as I have never straightened my hair since being natural and was thinking that any type of weaving would require that.
Nevertheless, Kia is actually well able to do any and all types of hair and styling — her specialty being customized hair pieces for both women and men. I checked out some photos of her clients and asked a lot of questions before the appointment was set. {I'm always worried that my hair will be overwhelming for anyone else.} And I chose a braided style as I have never straightened my hair since being natural and was thinking that any type of weaving would require that.
My inspiration was a photo of friend to MVL, D'Andra. I saw it on IG and immediately took a screen shot for a future style. So, I was prepared and the timing couldn't have been more perfect as I was heading to Jamaica two days after having it done. The perfect sun and fun 'do.
I actually had quite a bit of hair added to make my twist bun in the front more bouffant, and Kia twisted the braids from back to front to spice up the style. It was also so manageable that I could adjust the bun's positioning a bit myself for a change of style every couple of days. Perfect.
K. Logan Hair
1610 Lavista Road, Suite #4
Atlanta, GA 30329
By Katric
I often have this repetitive conversation about happiness with people. I literally say the same thing every time: You can't count on waking up every morning happy. When you're not in the middle of a blissful moment in your life or on the heels of some spectacular accomplishment, being happy ... staying up takes work. So, I think we have to start from a place of just understanding ourselves as wonderfully made. And from there, spend a great deal of time encouraging and thinking well of ourselves. If you really take stock of your thoughts, probably half of them, if not more concern the downside of things. Because, of course, we're always seeking an optimal balance. That's fine. But, the object is to train your mind to push the goodness to the top. When you don't know where to begin, just remember that you were already great at birth. Understand that as your foundation and use it to press on.
By Katrice
Next month MVL friend and fellow black girl activist Ebony Janice Moore, founder of The Free Girl Initiative, will make her first junket to Africa on an outreach trip dedicated to empowering black girls in Kenya to shape their own communities. Brilliant work.
One of the aspects of her project to shape future leaders and world changers will be gifting books to the young women for them to share. I'll be heading on over to Amazon and Half.com to purchase a few of the books they've chosen, and I hope you'll join me in sending one before June 1st, as well. Some titles are less and $1. You can also purchase from your favorite book store or online book seller, or even donate a book you have if you see the title listed below. Every bit will help.
Booklist
Next month MVL friend and fellow black girl activist Ebony Janice Moore, founder of The Free Girl Initiative, will make her first junket to Africa on an outreach trip dedicated to empowering black girls in Kenya to shape their own communities. Brilliant work.
The Free Girl Initiative, a non-profit organization with a mission to utilize artistic and mentoring programs throughout Africa, will launch this summer with tutoring, and the teaching of yoga and entrepreneurial skills, while implementing an arts and mentoring program to high school aged girls in Nyahururu, Kenya.
Booklist
The Bride Price by Buchi Emecheta
Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala
Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
No Longer at Ease by Chinua Achebe
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Why the Caged bird Sings by Maya Angelou
A tree grows in brooklyn by Betty Smith
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kid
Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
A Midnights Dream by William Shakespeare
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafar
Becoming Billie Holiday by Carole Boston Weatherford
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
Malcolm X: A Graphic Biography by Andrew Helfer
Touching Snow by M. Sindy Felin
What They Found: Love on 145th by Walter Dean Myers
The Riddles of Epsilon by Christine Morton-Shaw
A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
13 Little Blue Envelopes and Girl At Sea by Maureen Johnson
The Maximum Ride series (The Angel Experiment, Schools Out Forever, Saving the
World and Other Extreme Sports, The Final Warning) by James Patterson
A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels and The Far Sweet Thing by Libba Bray
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series by Ann Brashares
Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
A Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass
Impulse by Ellen Hopkins
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
All-American Girl by Meg Cabot
Uglies series by Scott Westernfeld
Define “Normal” by Julie Ann Peters
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Bad Boy by Dream Jordan
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Black Hole Sun by David Macinnis Gill
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch
Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones
Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel
Kick by Walter Dean Myers
Resistance 1 by Carla Jablonski
Rotters by Daniel Kraus
You Killed Wesley Payne by Sean Beaudoin
Mail book donations to:
The Free Girl Initiative
C/o Alysa Campbell
2263 Silver Maple Circle
Ellenwood, GA 30294
Books can also be sent after June 1st for this ongoing initiative.
