Writing Challenge, Day 4: Purpose

I’ve alluded to this over the past few days, but I believe one layer of my purpose is to be an agent of change by explicitly speaking up for what is right and speaking out on what is wrong. I am such an equal opportunity whistleblower on people’s b.s. that it’s often made me seem militant or even disrespectful in the eyes of some (specifically family elders). I often joke that “I’m used to people being mad at me for one reason or another, so I’m willing to be the one to stand up and say _____. I can take the heat, I’m good.”

It’s not meant to sound callous, but at the end of the day I recognize that I was placed here to do serious work, and you can’t always worry about pleasing everybody when your focus is to bring truth to light and get things done.

This is especially true when you’re trying to initiate serious shifts in thought and how we handle cultural and systemic issues.

The other main layer of my purpose is to ultimately help people, including by using my story to inspire others. I’ve previously talked about my other ways of being intentional in trying to positively impact others. What I said above relates to this because I want to make this world a better place for all of us. One of the first ways to start doing that is talking to people I may not agree with and talking about things contributing to our problems that people often like to sweep under the rug for the sake of comfort. There are other elements to my purpose, but they all basically overlap and comeback to these two common themes.

***SN: I never try to be disrespectful, but I don’t sugarcoat the truth when addressing tough topics either. In family matters, this has meant being the bad guy for calling out toxic behavior in adults and children alike that others may rather overlook and discuss behind each other’s backs, rather than addressing them directly. Being the youngest grandchild in my large maternal family for most of my life, elders who have been accustomed to holding very authoritative “my word is final” type roles for me now sometimes perceive my now open disagreement or firm stance on various topics as disrespect ( because #BlackFamiliesBeLike…🙄😂). I can’t worry💁🏽‍♀️

Disclaimer: I talked a lot about my passion for discussion by any means necessary, but I promise it all comes from a loving place. I’m not a straight up ass about it lol 😂