Summertime Readin' and such...

How about this: I don't care where LeBron is going...

Wait for it...

I didn't implode.

Basketball is real cool and all, and I like to watch it, but c'mon folks...is it really all that serious? I suppose so.

Anyway, that had nothing to do with what I wanted to write about...I just kind of wanted to put it out there since all of the world is tuned in to ESPN breathlessly awaiting the announcement. SMH

Books! Let's talk about those. It's summer time and summer time should always include books. Regardless of the fact that jobs are year-around, reading is a summer staple so I'm making a list. What to read this summer?

Isabel Allende's Island Beneath the Sea
I really, really love Allende. She's a magnificent storyteller. I've actually already read this one (like three weeks ago), but I'm gonna re-read it this summer because it was such good stuff. Set in 19th century Haiti, this story was epic but subtle....and fascinating.

Helena Andrews' Bitch is the New Black
There has been so much hype around this book, I'm gonna have to check it out. Plus, it got a great review from Sista Toldja (who is a VSS, if I may say so) I'm kind of excited about this one...might be my weekend splurge. I'm a 20-something Black, single professional in DC - I think I owe it to myself.

Toni Morrison's Paradise

...because I'm working my way through her collection and am more than half way done!

Ntozake Shange's Liliane

I've at this one for forever, but have never actually read it. It's about time I did.

A. Breeze Harper's Sistah Vegan

This pick is a nod to all of my vegan folks who try their best not to look disgusted when I order a formerly living thing in front of them. I really love meat, I do. But maybe I shouldn't. For the sake of intellectual honesty, I'm going to entertain this argument.

That's a pretty decent start, eh?

What are you reading?

Summer Solstice

This last week brought the longest day of the year…the first day of summer. Not necessarily a new beginning, but a settling in of something. Summer is when existing things ripen.

People ripen too (I’m reclaiming the word) as hopefully with age and experience we become a deeper, richer, more satisfying version of ourselves. Given the right environment, nutrients and care, we gracefully transition from a hard, tasteless, unyielding object to something that can be appreciated, enjoyed and even loved.

This summer I turn 26 and I find myself with a lesson to learn, a lesson that will hopefully move me forward and closer the person/partner/parent/friend I am meant to be. It doesn’t feel good and, like the solstice, I know it will last a while, but I know that therein lays great potential for growth and ripening…so I suppose I’ll go with it (and quite frankly, there is nothing else to do but to go with it).

As much as I wish I could spell out this lesson in easy terms and/or create bullet points or timelines, I can’t…it’s messy. It is how I wrestle and work through this experience (ugh, it hurts) that will determine my outcome. It is the working through of competing and conflicting feelings as I try to reconcile my head, my heart, and my gut – and let me tell you, when these three don’t align, it sucks.

I hope that when the time comes when I can look up and realize I’ve made it out of this season, I will have something to show for it. Hopefully when I have made peace with myself, myself will be a better person – a wiser, more thoughtful, more loving, more discerning, more complete one. I hope that I will be a little closer to that riper version of me I am so looking forward to.