Habitually and On Purpose
adapted from a blog post on Nia/Purpose day of Kwanzaa
Back in December I reviewed some tasks I gave myself in August:
to interpret the reason in other artists' craft
to find the hidden gold nuggets in texts
to keep and tell other people’s stories
to teach and interpret information
If I ain’t nothin,’ I’m impatient. People keep reminding me about slow and steady and I keep rejecting their advice. Sorry about that, y'all.
After working at and meditating on my purpose all fourth quarter of 2023, what I came back around to is habit work. I did a lot of this in 2021-2022 but it’s hard to maintain habits when lifestyles change. I read Atomic Habits in January of 2022 and then moved to Guatemala in July.
I know that “you are what you do all the time.” In that light, I am a workaholic, addicted to my phone. I chase a bunch of things that keep me from sleep and nourishment.
I had already begun, but never completed the process of dedication to the habits of a healthy public intellectual, habits of body and mind.
In an August post, I elevated:
writing as a process
writing as a result
the energy exchange between myself and a crowd
the energy of a cypher circle
poetry slam teams
training and rehearsing
editing and revising
Go back to the previous post to read about my friend’s wisdom regarding gifts in contrast to purposes/callings. In short, the difference is the habit work.
There’s no way that these public intellectuals (Morrison, Walker, Baldwin, Angelou, Butler, Ellison, Giovanni, Brooks, Hughes, and Wright) don’t have a daily writing habit, and a constant reading habit. In my “Black Future” poem, I mentioned that one of the main things the Black community needs to take back is our health. Social media accounts and authors are doing and promoting this work: my favorites are Black Liturgies’ Cole Arthur Riley, The Nap Ministry’s Tricia Hersey, and Racialized Trauma expert Resmaa Menakem.
So instead of an unhealthy workaholic, I want to be:
a meditator
a journaler
a yogi
a good sleeper
a writer (who reads and edits and revises happily)
a performer (who finds joy in rehearsing)
an efficient educator
It’s not good to criticize oneself without talking about the wins also. So, I said I was going to focus on poems for publication in periodicals and a remix of The Risk to Bloom. I submitted to three poetry prizes.
I didn’t do the remix, but I published an all new book. That’s better, right?
I haven’t done new short stories, but the old one can be read here on Substack with a subscription, or at this link for only $3. I haven’t done a guidebook yet but I am excited to.
I’ve written way more blog posts, newsletters, vlogs, and poems that make me happy.
For a month or six weeks at the end of the year, I journaled and meditated consistently. I was invited to and accepted the invitation to perform poems here in Guatemala. I was even the only English speaker, but the vibes were immaculate nonetheless.
The influencer and hypnotherapist who helped me with my most recent level up, Amoya Shante, hosted another short class a couple of weeks ago. I am so proud of my growth.
Do you know your purpose?
Do you even resonate with the idea of having a purpose?
I encourage you to consider how you can live creatively. The Kwanzaa principle is not about us artsy types. It says we “always do as much as we can, in the way that we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.”
What creative solutions do you bring to the community?
Don’t say “none” because it’s not true.