It's a New Year 2021. I want to be present and jot down a few thoughts of history in the making thus far.
I came back to work last month, December 17th full swing, a week before Christmas ready to help my framing team complete the 100+ orders in the queue. I felt at ease knowing that they had made it this far in my absence which allowed me to enjoy my recovery in peace. No one reached out to me, maybe a few times but it wasn't obsessive. Coming back I felt like a knight in shining honor coming to save the day and bring everything together. The week of Christmas felt good as well as the entire company had the day off and we were able to spend it with our families. I thoroughly enjoy my holiday time! The food is always on par, girls night out in our onesies, family time and movie night right after to watch Soul as a majority of us did was refreshing.
The week after in retail is tough. If you don't know I'm a certified custom framer at Michaels. I enjoy it a lot but it can be taxing. Months prior to my surgery I had been mentally preparing to create a mindset of peace and efficient workflow. I have since proven myself successful because the fruits of my labor attest to it. The streamlining of the effortlessness of how I'm able to stay on top of things: phone call follow ups, getting orders done on time, creating designs, and all the elements of customer service are at an all time up tick. We're very close to reaching our yearly sales goal (-3%) which is the closest I've been in my entire framing career.
A few struggles have been mental and from outside looking in one wouldn't realize it unless I voiced its which I am doing so now. When I get interrupted my disposition changes for the worst. After watching a few Iyanla, Fix My Life episodes I adopted a simple breath in and a slow breath out before I respond. The breathe in allows me to take in what's being said to me while the breathe out forces me to focus on my posture, facial expressions and what I'm going to say afterwards. My frustrations quickly fade and I operate in a position of service. Practicing this over and over I'm able to create a pattern that promotes an agreeable, positive personality. I've become more vocal about the commitments I can keep vs those I cannot or would not be able to promise to the fullest. Overall my communication has soared to an extreme level of efficiency, if only I could get my close friends and family on the same page.
To not go into too much detail a long story short, the outcome was surprisingly positive and fulfilling. Sometimes you have to go through the absolute worst before you can see and appreciate the greatness of what you really have. If the relationships mean something to you and all parties involved want the better than as my new friend Craig has sung, A Heart Of "Forgiveness" is always on the horizon revealing fruits of gratitude. I can say that my family and close friends are on the road to healing and that makes me happy.
I'm currently reading 5 books:
Think, Learn, Succeed, by Dr. Caroline Leaf
The Black History of the White House, by Clarence Lusane
Fin A Story of Love and Hope, by Gamal C. Williams
Becoming, by Michelle Obama
Male vs Man, by Dondré Whitfield
My good friend Sydnei has created a spark within me. She has a book club and even thought I may not be able to keep up at her pace I want to be able to read more than I ever have. I met a girl the other day in framing and she was speaking on how she wanted the piece we were designing to be in her library. I said to myself WOW a library. Now that's what I want in addition to an in-house studio (art/music/dance). All things for the arts and performance that move our culture forward - I'm down. I'm trying to look at books now like flipping through apps on my phone or different shows on Hulu or Netflix. And I want to eventually write my own book someday. So I'm investing the time. In additional when I read in my quiet personal space it helps me to read out loud.
1, I don't fall asleep 2. It actually helps me with my speech patterns. I find that now more than before I have the words to articulate my thoughts in small talk, during the consultation at my framing job and/or when I do interviews such as the No Gossip-Just Talk Podcast where we don't gossip we simply talk about cool topics. I'm a feature on the Girls Talk Panel.
Now 2021, 6 days in has gotten off to a lovely start sarcastically speaking. We had a mob raid the State Captiol Building which lead to POTUS being impeached for the 2nd time the only President to do that. News stations and late night tv shows all giving their commentary. Some debating on how could this have happened where as communities of color spread memes of we're minding our business because this is some white on white rage that we knew would emerge but we'll sit sipping our tea watching things unfold. The States comparing the Black Lives Matter protest to this is like night and day. I pray that Jan 20th is a day we can all agree to move forward, get this pandemic under control and be better people to each other.
As a Soror, we just celebrated our Founders Day Jan 13th for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. 108 Years of Sisterhood, Scholarship and Service and we're going #forwardwithfortitude. It's a blessing to be apart and I'm honored to still be here to serve.
I have a performance tomorrow in Albany, Georgia. Looking forward to getting out in front of an audience. Just wanted to chime in. Its been a while since I've written. Oh and soon I'm going to try to do some more art work. How and when you ask? Lol idk but keep watching my stories and my feed on social media and it will all come together.
Who Am I? Tiffany Jaye - Singer / Songwriter / Dancer / Artist
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