The STRIPES of Healing
Founding Statement:
This biweekly newsletter will seek to explain the pain and suffering mainly people of color endure through no fault of their own. The dehumanizing excuses our people always seem to elicit from people in power that make our Christian Brothers and Sisters accept their reasoning as if it was uttered by the Almighty. Lastly what I see with my own eyes begs the question from my conscience. “Are we loving or can we really love our neighbor as ourselves”.
Issue 8: Clarity in Self-Care
This is as important as any of the topics underlying the pain colored people have endured as much as the whip. Mental Health and Self-Care are not just words in a news article. These words elicit mandatory clarification because the way those words are applied are critical to understanding the stimuli bombarding the human heart and mind. I will not debate the Almighty or his purpose in how his creation learns, but one of those ways may seem unfair as we are most likely to be hit with stimuli we don’t understand before we can understand it. Do you get what I mean as even I am hard pressed to explain it any other way.
The young lady playing tennis stepping away from the court means that she is seeking clarity for the stimuli she is withstanding. I read her statement and she clearly has great respect for her craft. The mistake at first on those that see it as a business failed to consider that she isn’t a machine that can be walled off from her personal life and the journey of exploration to which she is underway in her life. Listen to my next statement. “Stimuli often comes before understanding and clarity is achieved. Human beings often forget that our ‘Maker’ bore us into family, communal, tribal, matriarch or patriarchal systems that by definition means we must learn from those that came before us. The teacher can be anyone who has obtained knowledge and wisdom and is able to bestow that knowledge on those younger that he or she. The young lady tennis player may not have that elder there to help her process the stimuli she is experiencing. She can obtain clarity, but she must talk to someone that knows more than her about Mental Health and Self-Care.”
Healing comes from reaching out or that good friend not just telling her she should go talk to somebody. Be like Black people and snatch they friend up and tell them we’re going to see somebody and you’re going to get help right now. If you’re not that member of the family system that can bring clarity to a family member that’s struggling then ask around, somebody needs to get help right away. Stop being a family member in name only. I know you can never do it for them, but you can be insistent and clear in telling them by showing them you love them.
I say lastly again. Don’t just offer your love or send energy to her (N. Osaka). I’m glad those that see her as more than just a money machine are giving a dam about her. Don’t tell somebody you care show them you care. Offer to be at their side when they make the call for help. Yes, there are ways you can help your friend other than putting hands on them and making them do it. Yes, being supportive with your energy right there side by side throwing your energy into their energy can and will produce results positively.
All life is precious and I can’t say otherwise because I am not the ‘First Father’. No that tennis player is not a ‘brat’. She is a woman in pain and she needs our help because she is a member of the human race. Money cannot explain, comfort or bring clarity to the stimuli we all face and have faced in our lives. It is not about how much money anybody makes. It is about loving thy neighbor as thyself. Can we at least agree to have compassion for that.