Kimestry

I sat on top of a speaker at Zanzibar and felt the afro funke beats vibrate my legs as they swung freely. My friend Cat danced with vigor as the song transitioned into samba. A medium-built Latino male with an Elvis Presley hairdo approached me and leaned against the wall above where I was seated. We chatted and he asked me what I was drinking. I’d had a glass of wine with Cat earlier, but I was not planning to drink any more that night. Plus, Momma always told me to be careful about letting strangers buy me drinks, so I declined his generous offer. Somehow, we got on the subject of hair. He told me that he was growing his hair out so that he could have it braided into corn rows. As Cat returned from the dance floor and sat next to me, he pulled out his phone to show us a picture of how he looked with corn rows. It looked much better than the Elvis Presley ‘do to say the least! Cat demurred as she pointed to the picture of Julio in corn rows, “you should wear your hear like that again....

I remember singing lead on "Walkin in the Rain With the One I love" On stage with my friends When I was four I remember I only knew the chorus I remember being five years old and telling Mrs. Waters That I was going to marry her son I was only in kindergarten But hey, I thought she should know. I remember wanting to love someone Like Marcia loved Davy Jones. I remember meeting my very first Boyfriend At a pajama party The night I had my first car accident I remember I was eighteen and college bound. He was dyslexic And two grades behind me And I loved him More than Marcia loved Davy Jones. I remember seeing Prince in concert For the very first time. I remember a girl Screaming uncontrollably And realizing with Horror That the sound was coming From me. I remember that I'd just turned eighteen and had seen Purple Rain About thirteen times. I remember dancing to Prince tunes at college parties in the suites Until the walls sweated And blue jean prints stained the paint. I re...

"I'll think about it." For some people this means maybe, but for my cousin this means no. That is what she said when I invited her to go see the Spinners in concert. I asked a few more friends, but even my mother was not interested. Mom did however, give me a good lead on a potential concert companion--her older sister, my aunt. I found out where my aunt's seats were and secured a seat right behind her. It seemed that as soon as I decided to see the concert, songs I rarely hear by the Spinners kept popping up on the radio all the time. "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love" and "Working My Way Back To You" took me back to summertime in the 70's when I was just a child enjoying a play date in my cousin's garage. On concert night, I stood in the admittance line at El Camino College and spotted my Auntie B three parties ahead of me wearing an all-white jean outfit. Once inside, she spotted her ex-husband and his wife while I cruised down to row...

Recently I was at the supermarket waiting in line and the man in front of me received a ten dollars off coupon for his next shopping trip. The cashier reminded him to keep it in his wallet so that he wouldn't forget it. The man being offered the coupon recognized that he would not remember to bring the coupon, so he turned and handed it to me to use for my shopping order. I was grateful and said thank you, but when the cashier asked if I wanted to return the favor and contribute one dollar to Easter Seals, I said "no, thank you.' Later I reflected on that knee jerk response to saying no when asked to contribute something. It was an automatic response. I did not think about it. If I had thought about it, I would have realized that there was a spiritual principle in action right in that moment. I had an opportunity to give back exactly ten percent of what the universe had just given to me. One dollar given for ten dollars received as a gift. The universe or God is always at...

I was enjoying a power walk by the beach on a sunny day. Listening to the ocean and feeling the sun on my face calmed me and made me feel connected. I noticed that as I approached the man walking in front of me, he increased his pace so that I could not pass him. This happened at least two more times; when I increased my pace, so did he. This man, who was bent over by age, seemed not to want me to get by him. The strand was wide enough that I could easily pass him if I wanted to, but I was not in a competitive space. I was walking for exercise and for peace of mind. So I decided to let the man walk just ahead of me and I did not attempt to pass him. He was going at a good clip anyway, so I thought he could be my pace setter. When we approached a stairwell, he had to slow down and hold the railing so I ended up passing him. He said, "young, young, young. Do you realize you are fighting an eighty year old man?" I explained to him that I was not racing, I was just walking. He to...

The other day I was in my hallway looking through a box I'd placed near the front door. The light was already on, but it was dark. In an attempt to get more light, I flipped the light switch and turned the light off completely. I looked up and noted that all four bulbs on the lamp nearest me were burned out which left me with only the light from further down the hall to see by. It struck me that there might be other times when I'm attempting to extract more light from a burned-out bulb. What thought forms (bulbs) might I need to replace in order to manifest my true desires(more light)? The light switch on the wall was working. That energy source was available to me in that moment, but I could not access it because the consciousness with which I was operating was not in alignment with what I needed to create more light in my life. In any area of your life where things that you desire are not showing up, change the consciousness with which you approach that challenge you are faci...

Recently I took a trip with a group of people on The Ocean of Gratitude Cruise. I focused on being grateful for all that I have and all that God has provided in terms of resources, people, and things. What is miraculous about gratitude is that focusing on it puts all else in order. Before I left on the trip, I was worried about my financial dealings. I have a contract that I've been working since September that had not been approved and thus I wasn't receiving the pay that I should. While I was gone, rather than focusing on what I was worried about, I focused on what I was grateful for. Miraculously, the contract that has been on hold for months was approved. Things that were "stuck" got unstuck by focusing on what I want to expand rather than focusing on what wasn't going the way I thought it should in my life. Take some time to be grateful for what you have. It may not be exactly what you want, but see the good in it. Like energies attract one another. Focusing ...