When You’re Not Sure!

Stop!

Get off of social media.

Be Still & Know that He is God!

Psalm 46:10

P.S: I’ll return tomorrow and complete this post with a cup of a tea. Ha, or maybe that’s enough:).

I RETURNED!

Three posts in, and I’m already tired, but I will forge ahead. We are in a time like no other with information coming from every direction, and it’s so easy to get sucked into the social media vibe of being every where, doing every thing, looking fabulous! When, in fact, you need to be home tending to a sick puppy, or feeding the baby, or concentrating on one single thing! So that’s it, nothing magical, just sensible let’s slow down, put our phones away, get quiet and still, so that we can be directed from that perfect still place that knows ALL about us and what exactly we MUST do!

I repeat, put our phones down, especially in public places where there are wonderful humans in arm’s reach who may have something interesting to say, like “Good Morning. Let’s Have a Cup of Tea with MeMe:)”

People — strangers included — are the best kept secret. Put your phone down and spend some time with wonderful people, or meet a new person in a coffee shop or in an airport terminal. Okay, this has turned into a MaMa Kelly Post and so it is!

XO,

MaMa Kelly AKA MeMe

WHY A CUP OF TEA WITH ME?

There’s a divine plan in work in all of our lives. It nudges us and guides us to just the right people and places that are meant for us. And If you want to see a Black woman SHOUT, recite,

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD,

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

‎Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV

Most of us know that God’s plan is at work. If you need evidence of this, revisit the Fired Up and Ready to Go story of Edith Childs and Barack Obama. It explains that sometimes when we’re tired and at our worst, God will send an angel to guide us to our destiny place. Edith Childs was that angel for Barack Obama.

And for the last seven days, I’ve had my own encounter.

Please read my first post under the “Cup of Tea With Me”banner, We Love You, before reading this one, to understand my encounter fully. I wrote it two days after I returned from San Francisco feeling fired up and ready to go. But, before, I could hit the ground running, I fell ill. In the post, I explain why San Francisco fires me up, and how when I returned, suddenly, I felt like there were 1000 tiny pieces of glass lodged in my throat. Instantly, I knew that I had to sip tea, lemon, and honey, and retire to bed rather than do the 100 things I’d plan to do to share One Night in LA, my indie feature which is an Official Selection of the Essence Festival:

So on Day 1 after returning, I sipped; on day 2, I sipped, and on Day 3, I sipped some more.

By Day 6, I was concerned, although I went out for about an hour.

On Day 7,  which was this past Sunday, I could, finally, speak and eat without feeling the tiny pieces of glass I envisioned in my throat. Still, I rested. But, I felt like God had turned me around:). I was clear about what I needed to do to be ready for the festival. During the week, I entered into a distribution agreement for One Night in LA. And I begin to feel more at peace and ease about this leg of the journey.

During the seven days, I slept, rested, took cold medicine, and sipped tea, honey, and lemon. My husband is the great comforter so he was by my side with comforting offerings of tea, soup, snacks, and Nyquil. He kept repeating, “just rest.” He knows that I’m sometimes child-like, and it’s hard for me to sit still and be quiet. During the seven days, every morning, I would, eagerly, wake, and then swallow slowly to determine if it was time to jump back into activity. When I’d feel the glass and the lump in my throat, I would slump back into my bed and bury myself under the covers. On Saturday, I went out briefly to my sorority (Delta Sigma Theta, Century City Alum) chapter's end-of-the-year meeting. I went for the last 20 minutes of the meeting, and I felt pretty good. I was supposed to go to lunch afterward, but when I swallowed while waiting for the meeting to end, I felt the glass, and I decided that I had to see my doctor on Monday to make sure the sore throat wasn't a symptom of something more serious. I touched my heart rather than hug my Sorors goodbye for summer while explaining that I had a bug and didn’t want to get anyone sick.

While quiet and still for seven days, I thought about the next 30 days on my way to the Essence Festival, and what it meant to me to have my first indie feature, One Night in LA, be an Official Selection of the festival. I thought about the journey of 30 years of writing, which has been filled with tacks and nails:). I’ve only continued because I’m a WGA (What God Anoints) writer:)! I produced One Night in LA with the help of friends and family. I crowdfunded it. I’ve pack theaters and produced plays. I’ve written, directed and produced several short films that have been featured in notable festivals. After I dropped my sons off at college, I returned to grad school to get an MFA in Creative Writing because it was on my bucket list. I’ve toured the nation with my novels On Edge and Wings to Fly. To share my words, I’ve done it all! I’ve persevered and kept the faith.

While sitting still with a cup of tea, I thought about who I wanted to be as a writer moving forward, and I decided that I would end my writing journey as I began: Loving others, loving America, and loving Black people with my written words.

I decided that what the world needs right now, more than anything else, is L-O-V-E! Ironically, it’s what it needed in 1993 when I begin. In 1993, I remember listening to Stevie Wonder’s These Three Words a 1000 times.

I reminded myself that first and foremost, I’m a writer, although I create in many ways.

And so I will write my way to Essence while sipping tea, lemon, and honey. For the next 20 days, I will blog.

And here I am!

In yesterday’s post, We Love You, I wrote about being a Quiet Storm, a woman reconciling 30 years of writing while sitting in an upside-down world:)! Today, I must add that, no matter what spin I place on my journey, it all adds up to a journey filled with my love for America, readers, audiences, viewers, and you.

I thank God for my angel, which came during seven days of quiet and stillness, sipping tea, honey, and lemon.

Now, I’m fired up and ready to go!

P.S. These posts are written quickly in the mornings after my prayer time. They’re edited by moi:). Please overlook any mistakes. If I tried to make my words perfectly combined, flowery, and special, I would never share a post. I would use AI. LOL. These are from imperfect me.

I love you! I look forward to my cup of tea with you tomorrow.

WE LOVE YOU!

We Love You!

This is the theme of the 30th Anniversary of the 2024 Essence Festival which fits perfectly with my mission as a writer for the last 30 years. For me, One Night in LA, my first feature film, being picked as an official selection of the 2024 Essence Film Festival is a convergence of a perfect storm, a Quiet Storm: Me 30 years after beginning the writers’ journey making peace in an upside down world!

I started writing in 1993 because I needed a place to express the love I had for America, my birth country, that was a bit of a mess back then, as it is now, but that I thought I would always love. I wanted to express my admiration and love for African Americans. We were so strong to pursue our best lives in the wake of so many obstacles. I was in aww of our light and success. Our rhythm and the love notes we sang in the midst of the trials and tribulations we faced. My love would always be peppered with contradiction; a little anger about this or that. Forgiveness for missing the mark, and finally ladled with acceptance of it all because “It is what it is.”

We can only just be!

I needed to allow the emotions swirling in my head to land on a soft surface. And so I prayed, and I was guided to write. Although I had no idea where God was taking me, I knew He knew I was a sensitive soul. I needed soft landings, like I used to fold into my Bigmama’s arms while my Mom pursued worldly things. The first thing I wrote was a novel, On Edge. I called it a ”Coming-to-Sense” novel, a novel about urban professionals, figuring out how to be true to their inner selves while cultivating self-love no matter what. By the time it got to book store shelves, it was 1997, but, still, some weren’t ready for my main character's husband being in the closet, a dedication to my high school BFF Dennis Billups.

Dennis was a 6'9, handsome Moorehouse graduate, a Kappa, who passed from an AIDS-related illness. He was my wing man, my encourager. He was the first person I said “I want to write” out loud to. We’d talk on the phone all night long while my husband worked the night shift and my three boys slept nearby. Some times we’d hurry off the phone as my husband’s key was turning in the lock. We talked about his life as a professional gay man in Los Angeles. Dennis had been openly gay in high school and hated that many didn't dare to come out. Now that we had lived a little. Gone to college — I’d graduated from UCLA, he’d graduated from Moorehouse — we were coming to grips with the realities of life.

I loved having three little boys but was , in the words of my favorite poet Langston Huges, finally realizing that,

“Life Ain't No Crystal Stairs. It has tacks in it!”

But, still, We Love Us, could have easily been our themes of life. We met our Junior year at El-Cerrito High School, which is a picturesque Bay Area town, settled between Richmond and Berkeley; in its hilly parts, there are 360-degree views of the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge, set beneath blue skies. When I moved there in the 70s, the people were friendly and open-hearted. It was diverse. Although the Blacks were bused in, all the students were one big happy family with Dennis leading the charge as our class president. As such, he was the organizer of decorating our class float, and we would party and have fun in the sessions decorating it. Dennis had long arms and they were always flying in all directions, as he emphasized this or that. The first time, I drank so much that the room was spinning, I was with Dennis. He kept assuring me that I’d be okay.

The moment I swung open the doors of El-Cerrito High School, walked its corridors with my Detroit swagger — Detroit, the land of cool Black people, who had migrated from the South — I was a big hit. I had a “sitting on the corner blowing Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson tunes vibe.” LOL. My favorite album that year was Smokey Robinson's Quiet Storm. I was an old soul, a jazz note, a girl who would grow to be a Quiet Storm.

I was instantly popular as Dennis Billup's sidekick. It also helped that I moved down the street from the vice president of El-Cerrito, and she and I became car poolers and instant best friends. It helped that my Mother was a big wig, literally and figuratively. She and her cohort were some of the first Black women to wear weaves, drive Cadillacs and Mercedes, and dress in St. John. She was a Rockafeller Fellow and studying under Dr. Ruth Love, the first Black woman Superintendent of Schools in Chicago and Oakland, and Laval Wilson, the first Black male Superintendent in Berkeley and Boston. We were in good times.

It was the 70s and “We Love Us” was the theme of America,

We loved America for changing. Changing its laws that made my Bigmama, Daddy Floyd, and Mama sit on the back of the bus. That wouldn't allow Black folks to go to school.

We Love Us metamorphosed into a country where everyone could move on up, to get degrees, move into a house overlooking the bay, drive fancy cars, leaning to the side, adorn in St. John. Even while some relatives lived in garages, we had hope that Change Was Gonna Come!

We Love Essence for putting us on every cover with our brown skin glistening and making us feel proud of our brown skin!

We Love Us, Black People, for persevering with love in our hearts, for going through horrific injustices, while being a Natural Woman as Aretha sang and a Quiet Storm as I will be, loving on America with words, just like the lyrics below do,

Quiet storm blowin'

Soft and warm, a quiet storm
Quiet as when flowers stalk at break of dawn, break of dawn
A power source of tender force
Generatin', radiatin', turnin' me on, turnin' me on

Oh, you short circuit all my nerves
Promising electric pains
You touch me and
Suddenly there's rainbow rings

Quiet storm blowin'
Through my life, oh...
Quiet storm blowin'
Through my life, oh... blow, baby

Check back tomorrow for another cup of tea from me. I’ll explain where the Cup of Tea Theme comes from.

Hello

I’m so happy to have a space where I can write from the heart. This is it! The act of writing and sharing are my blessings on this journey. I look forward to filling these pages with inspiring thoughts and hard truths from my heart! Until then, sending you a hug.

MeMe

I’m Back

My creative juices are flowing, and it’s important in this season for me to share. So, I’m offering a Your Voice Matters Workshop on Saturday, February 24th, 2024, 3 to 5 p.m. PST. https://www.elevatedstories.me/your-voice-workshop

And I’d love for you to get a copy of any of the e-Books. www.elevatedstories.me/books

Just contact me at memekellyproductionsllc@gmail.com and I’ll email it to you.

Also, the screening on February 18th of One Night in LA is going to be a virtual screening except for a select few who will join me for a private screening.

Stay Tuned