Just Keep Swimming

Hey beautiful people! If you’re new to the Den, welcome! Come in real close and make yourselves comfortable. If you are part of the tribe already, welcome home! Thank you all for visiting! Life is nothing short of amazing. I’m grateful to be here with you. I’m glad to be able to spend time with you in this space. I’ve made many transitions in life, which has made it QUITE the journey for me. Life has been FULL. Since moving to Chicago, I’m not gonna lie… I had a few challenges starting out! Firstly, it is not easy being the new girl in a big city. Chicago is a huge melting pot. And you have to know where you're going and if its even a safe area to dwell before you decide to head out. I started out not having the slightest clue about ANYTHING. It was pretty much in the middle of the pandemic when I began making my way back and forth between Detroit and Chicago. 

I was working at Amazon, and then from Amazon to Penske Logistics when I'd gotten injured at work, took some physical therapy and realized that I would be bitter as hell if I'd suffered an injury from working a job that I really didn't give a single care to have and it causing me the disability to do the things that I absolutely loved doing, such as drumming and playing instruments. I had a bit of money saved up and I thought, “You know what? F this! I’m gonna take a chance on myself! I’m gonna become a full-time musician, I’m gonna make natural skin and hair products and I’m gonna be a writer!" Mind you, I had absolutely NO PLAN and I didn’t know WHAT the heck I was doing. I was only uttering the desires of my heart. The thoughts of not feeling like I was living my truth, like i wasn't walking my true path kept me up at night. I was dissatisfied. I was anxious. I felt like a loser for being 30 something, living with mom and dad once again, not having a single clue what I was gonna do next. WELP! That’s when I said, “Its time to seek my creator!” It was at that point that I began looking at my life from every possible angle, from the inside to the outside and deepened my spirituality and relationship with Self. 

Things needed to change. I needed to change. Everyday I faced the ugliest parts of me. I picked myself apart, just to put myself back together, and it was ugly. I mean... It was horrifying ya’ll, but facing my ugly and dealing with it head on was extremely necessary for the changes that I was seeking and the growth that I needed. Throughout everyday, I meditated and prayed. The first thing that I got out of that was that I needed to remove myself from my then current situation-ship, release friendships and change my environment and that if I did NOT do these things, I would not find the change and growth that I sought. So… What do you think I did? That’s right. I GTFO! I ended up sharing a home with my best friend for a while and then ended up living back home with mom and dad. It wasn’t something that felt good to do, right? But that’s the choice I made because at the time, I didn’t have anyplace else to go. My spiritual journey became stronger. I’m like, “God! Now, I’ve removed myself from all the toxicity that I could. What now?!” I meditated and meditated. Prayed and prayed for the universe to send me the RIGHT people. To send me valuable connections and friendships. To put me in environments that I could learn and grow in. I meditated. I prayed. And I believed. I trusted whatever the process would be!

During the summer of 2020 I started my own holistic business called Mother Spunky Nature Naturals LLC, took a couple classes and did some traveling. Did I have a plan? No. I just wanted something of my own. At the time, We were going through the whole pandemic thing, I had a lot of time on my hands, so along with my spiritual growth, I began making healthier choices. I started making my own hair and skin products and was like, “I should totally start my own line!” So I did. Then I met someone special and thats when I began frequenting chicago. A LOT… I didn’t think twice about it. It wasn't about what I had in chicago, rather it was WHO I had there. Love is enough to move you. I believed in it so much. At this point, I'd become the most fearless I'd ever been. It was magical because everything that I’d prayed for and meditated on, I got. Now, let's fast forward to now.

While sparing much frustration, a bit of pain and three dashes of detail, let me just say that I'd FINALLY for the fist time in my life made actual goals AND PLANS, y’all! I got my own studio apartment uptown. I'm literally doing things that I love to do for work. I work as a drum instructor, live performance instructor, a music director, a studio coordinator, and I still work professionally as a live performance AND recording musician. I’ve joined writing and music collectives- some of which feature queer musicians and writers in chicago. I've also joined a collective of communities around the world which are supportive of women in music. Life is progressive and my thoughts and actions have been clear and expansive. I'm Blessed to be able to work within Chicago's Public Schools and communities and surrounding communities as a teaching artist. I have been able to construct my own curriculum and teach workshops as well as collaboratively create curriculum with other arts and subject experts. It has been a BLAST. I'm SUPER blessed to be connected with some of the most organized and refined artists that a person could ask to work with!

I am not yet where I want to be but i'm on my way! In all that I do; my thoughts are very clear. This was something that I grew to have. In the past, I lacked a lot of focus. My thoughts were so unorganized. There was so much that I wanted to do and could do, but I lacked organization and planning HEAVILY. They come in these waves of clear consciousness. Meditation is super enriching to my daily life. To simply put it, life is never lacking in love, excitement or growth.

As a female in the industry, I have REALLY been on my “power to the pu$$y” vibe- which is involving myself in work that supports women, more specifically women of color. I’m all about women and embracing our strengths and understanding where we are in society and fighting for more power, money, positive visibility, respect and togetherness. I enjoy standing side-by-side women in our power and am REALLY looking forward to the future in that
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