A Thankful Heart...

"The unthankful heart...discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!" ~Henry Ward Beecher

So many thing I'm thankful for!But let me first start by saying that none of this would be possible without the grace of God. Wanna hear about my experience at the @ttic NC?! Once again, I'm a week late, but I didn't forget about y'all!

I didn't think that I was going to be performing...so I only went to hear some great poets. Well, it certainly was a nice surprise to find out that I was and guess who was the feature poet that night?! Rebecca Dupas!! If you don't know about her, www.myspace.com/rebeccadupas check her out. The girl is SICK! But I digress...lol

I was the first poet in the line up,so I was EXTRA nervous.Thank God I had a chance to get some of my jitters out the week prior.But guess why the video was recorded this time!!*looks down at toes shamefully*...:I went to the even straight from work and forgot to pack my camera the night prior. I KNOW!What a loser! But I'm trying to get better. I did have a friend there that took some piccz for me though!

After I did my piece, I got more compliments and kudos than I did the last time. This was probably because I felt a little more comfortable and owned the stage and was confident in what I was saying. Believe it or not, the audience can sense your nervousness, you have to be mentally prepared to do poetry.It's practically a monologue.Pull your audience into what you're talking about and make them feel the way you felt when you wrote the piece.

As I took a seat at my table, along with another friend/poet, a lady came to me during intermission and said, "I loved your poem! You should really get a CD cuz I would buy it girl." I smiled, from ear to ear, and gave her an earful of thank yous. But the best compliment came from Ms. Rebecca Dupas. She came up to me and placed her hand on my back and said, "You did a great job on your piece. I loved it."....Now let's be real...my head got big for about 2.5 seconds before I quickly said a "Thank you Lord" in my head. Even when I receive a compliment like that, I have to remain humble because as I stated in the beginning, none of this would be possible without Him.

Me and poet Rebecca Dupas

I thank God for this gift and the opportunities he's given me to meet some great poets.Oh! Did I mention that we had a male feature poet too?Yes, Rebecca Dupas was the first female feature we've had at the @ttic but Soulful Jones also came!That boy RIPPED it! I had to get both of their CD's and of course, I don't regret it not one bit. With that said, I've been inspired and motivated to continue writing and letting my voice be heard. I love my gift :-). Toodles!!

Me and Soulful Jones

Wanna see more piccz?! http://www.myspace.com/unhurdchyld

It's A Family Affair

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I'm a couple of days late because I'm STILL on a high! I had an awesome night on Thursday! As you all know, I'm stationed at Ft. Bragg. A friend of mine told me about a lil poetry session that would be going on here and said that she thought I should go. When I looked more into it, BETJ Lyricist Beny Blaq and Komplex were hosting the @ttic here at Ft. Bragg!

Now, if you don't what the @ttic is, it's only like one of THE largest poetry spots in D.C. Look it up if you're ever in the area. So when I got there, there was a small lil social from 7pm-8pm and I asked if they were going to have an open mic or if there were just featured poets. He told me that I could go ahead and sign my name on the list(basically, the answer was no, but he gave me a chance). I guess there was some previous sign up list before the show and I didn't know about it.

Unfortunately, I didn't have my poem memorized, but I got up there and did my poem, "Taxi Cab Girl" and the audience loved it! So of course, this is only my second time behind the mic...but it felt GREAT! Now I just can't wait to memorize my stuff. I'm working on it now! But to make a long story short, listening to all of those poets made me feel like I was at HOME. I felt like I found my family! I mean the energy in the building was just so unreal that I honestly could have cried. If you don't have a TRUE passion for something, then you wouldn't know what I'm talking about.

So during intermission, I was approached by another female, while I was leaving the restroom and she said, "You're Unhurd Chyld...Taxi Cab Girl right?" I told her, "Yes." She said, "You did an AWESOME job! I'm Prosperous Soul. I really liked your poem." I remembered her and her poem and she said that she'd talk to me after the show. I had to opportunity to meet Komplex,Beny Blaq, and a few others after the show and then Prosperous Soul and I talked for a while. She introduced me to this poet named Solow. He is also the CEO of Solow Ent. They travel all around NC and a few other places.

I had the PRIVILEGE of going out to eat with some absolutely awesome poets: Beny Blaq,Solow,Prosperous Soul, and Soul Secure. I feel like I have found a whole new family and it feels great to be welcomed with open arms. Solow is now my mentor and I can't WAIT to see where this journey is taking me. God is just so awesome. More stories of poetry slams and open mics will be coming soon! I will have this stuff memorized in NO TIME!

Me and Beny Blaq