Growth

There comes a time when you realize how far you've come... and I am at that time in my life. I am truly happy with who I am, who I've become, and where I am going in this thing called life. I have come to realize that people enter your life for a reason - and whether they bring good or bad to you - they serve a purpose - even if you don't see it at the time. As long as you learn from them, something good came from the experience.

I grew up in New York. I wasn't born here - I am a Jamaican girl, born in Kingston, educated there until the tender age of 12, by Jamaican born and bred parents who are responsible for the values and morals that I possess that make me me. I attended high school in Cali - Los Angeles County - Inglewood, CA to be precise. That's where the street girl in me came of age - and where I survived and graduated from the school of hard knocks :-). Love the beach and the sunshine, but the heat makes people go ape shit in the summer - let me tell you. Then there's the A; Atlanta, where I ended up when the streets of Cali threatened to take me under - grossly misguided by the hype of the Olympics thinking it would be a nice change of pace - silly me; but Atlanta is where I learned just how hypocritical and judgemental people could be... so it was in my late 20's by the time that I ended up back in NY (random visits to grandma here and there don't count). So, how did I grow up there you ask?

I grew up in NY because NY is a place that people don't make excuses for who they are - they just are. You can't bullshit your way through - either you get in where you fit in, or you get rolled over - literally. It's the place where I was forced to take a long hard look at who I was - and I chose to change the negative things I didn't like - and enhance the things about me that made me great. In taking this position, in the short time of 5 years - the time it takes to get a college degree - I managed to survive, grow, and blossom in the concrete jungle - by being true to myself.

In today's day and age, when everyone is trying to keep up with the Joneses, no one likes who they think everyone else thinks they are, and most people are too busy trying to be something they're not in the name of "keeping it real" (hilarious - right?), authenticity is underrated. The beauty of NY is there are so many different kinds of people here that if you stop a while and look, you see the beauty in being different.

It is through my innate ability to be tolerant of others - and respectful of who they are, that I learned to love myself for who I was. It was at that moment, that I began to really grow up. I began to embrace my positives, and acknowledge and work to improve my negatives - leading me to be the individual that I am today. There is a sense of peace that you get when you stop trying to be who you're not, and embrace and accept who you are. It is quite beautiful. This is why I love NY - for not only providing many of the songs that are the soundtrack to my life, but for lifting the blinders and allowing me to see exactly who I am in all the flashing lights. I have grown into a formidable woman here in this concrete jungle - and for that, I am happy. I look forward to the next chapter in my life - and hopefully you'll all be along for the ride ;-).