I know everyone is not Christian on this site and that what makes it such a wonderful place to be because I can be who I am without someone judging me and you can be who you are without me or someone else judging you.

I posted a link to an article on my blog written about my church doing a small tribute to Michael Jacksons Music influence. We took 3 songs changed some words around and turned them into gosepl and my Pastor preached a life changing sermon that dealt with our inner and hidden issues in life.

Take a look at the last 2 post and let me know what you think. There are no wrong answers it's your opinion.

NappturallySpeaking.blogspot.com

I struggle today to make peace with things happening around me - things that I have no control over, wouldn't want to have the power to control, but yet, these things are still the source of my lament today.

We all have had to take our time to come to grips with the sudden death of Michael Jackson. Most of us remember the bright eyed innocent wonder with the wide brimmed purple hat aced/deuced to one side mesmerizing us with his vocals on the Ed Sullivan Show back in the 70's. Some of us hold fondly to the memories of him amazing us by moon-walking into his destiny in 1995. Whatever your memory of him is, hold to the positive and not the negatives that will surely surface - because as we know every fool on the planet has something to say about someone who's dead and can no longer defend himself.

I love infusing oils. The process involves grinding freshly dried herbs and allowing it to steep in oil over a period of time. I like to infuse my herbs in extra virgin olive oil. I leave my infusions out in a sunny location to let the sun gently heat the oils to allow the herbs to release all of its potent nourishing properties. I use this potent infusion in my hair oils and hair butters. It's a potent blend of herbs to stimulate hair growth and soothe the scalp.

I used the following herbs in this Infusion:

Organic Burdock: Maintains and Promotes healthy Scalp, encourages hair growth, Improves Hair Strength, Shine and Body.

Comfrey Root: Most well known herb for healing Skin, Offers relief to dry itchy skin.

Organic Neem: Repairs Damaged Hair, Restores Sheen, Encourages Hair Growth.

Organic Chamomile: Heals inflamed Skin

Organic Nettle: Antifungal properties, Simulates the Scalp and encourages Hair Growth

Black Walnut Hull: Antibacterial, Antiviral, Anti parasitic

Organic Calendula Flowers: Nourish the skin, healing and Anti fungal

As I've been preparing for my transition back to New York, in between searching for rooms to rent and getting my funds together, etc. I've been taking time to reflect on my time and my life here, and really enjoy myself. Yesterday was a sunny day in San Francisco, and I spent it outdoors. I went downtown early in the morning and got to see the gay pride parade, which was huge, colorful, and at times hilarious, then headed to the outskirts of the city to watch a free Les Nubians concert in the park with Halima and a couple of her friends. And in the midst of all the fun, I found myself having wonderful conversations that kept me connected to purpose and spirit. One of my old friends called me early in the day (he's also friends with most of my other girlfriends), and we briefly spoke about what had gone down a few weeks ago between everyone. He said to me very simply, "Everyone knows your background and where you come from, and real friends are going to respect you for who you are, even if your views are different from theirs.

In trying to share literature with teens, I occasionally get frustrated/saddened by some kids' tendencies to almost always be cynical, jaded, sarcastic, or pessimistic. Can't they drop the cold-as-ice persona for a few seconds?, I sigh inwardly. That attitude will still be there when they're done, if they really think they need to have it! However, while I try to be as positive as I can in the classroom, I feel an invisible finger pointing back at me. "Maybe you need to check your own self, Ms. Sunshine!", my inner voice says.

Are you tired of having deja vu experiences? Are you ready to feel good instead of feeling bad? Do your emotions have the best of you?

http://www.goddess-body-mind-spirit.com/emotions-how-to-master.html

Click the link above because I have written an article that just might assist you in you endeavor to master your self.

You do know that we are here to achieve mastery of our own selves, don't you?

If not, now you know and there is no better time than the present to start mastering you through mastering your emotions.

I have been adding quite a bit at www.goddess-body-mind-spirit.com these days.

Here is the link to my blog to see other postings:

http://www.goddess-body-mind-spirit.com/Goddess-blog.html

Take care! Have a feel good day!

Peace and Love
Tirra-Olufemi
www.goddess-body-mind-spirit.com

...and his music has been an inspirational fixture in my life - all of my life. I consider myself blessed to have witnessed such talent in this life...may he rest and be at peace in all of the love and warmth that is showered upon his memory! Here's to one of my favorites of his songwriting!

Your eyes tell me things that I can see,
About your life, about you and me.
Your eyes show you emotions and deepest fantasies
Your eyes tell me a story of struggle,
About the complicated ways in which we are forced to live,
Your eyes may sometimes cry, in between love and a painful lie.
Your eyes may cut through a soul like knives, when you get mad or pissed
Your eyes will not wonder
When there is something important in your life,
That you should not have missed.

~.Natural.Beauty.

Hi sisters
I thought I would share this song, when I first heard it, I shed a few tears of joy....such a beautiful song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1_sHpwfzMU

p.s I hope you do not mind the excerpts from the movie (The Family that Preys)

Enjoy! oh, get up and dance!

Cancer, Cardinal, Crabby

Sunday, May 10, 2009
On Mother's Day

My son had been asking for Sunday pancakes since Friday. Early This morning he woke me up with, " mommy, when are you making the pancakes?" I sat up in bed thinking of a way to get out of it and then it hit me. "Hey its Mothers Day! I should be asking you when are you making the pancakes!" He ran out the room and yelled for his sister to come to the kitchen. About a half hour later my special breakfast was served. A plate of soggy pancakes drenched in syrup and a tall glass of iced tea so sweet it made me thirsty. I loved every drop.

I think of my own mother today. I wish she was alive to see her grandchildren. So they could make her a special breakfast. She would have loved them so much. She would probably be shocked to see me with three kids and doing a good job raising them too!

Hello Sistahs,

I write today because I'm getting ready for a new me, a new beginning. On August 10, 2009 I will be having the Lap Band surgery done. After years of battling my weight I've decided to take a big step towards becoming a healthier me. It's time to take care of MoZaic because I've been taking care of everybody else.

Please keep me in your prayers as I make this change in my life.

Nappturally Yours,

MoZaic

http://www.goddess-body-mind-spiritcom/emotional-crossroads.html

I hope you all glean something from this writing. It did me a lot of good to write this. Thanks for sharing in this writing with me. Summer is almost here!

With Love
Tirra

Time is flying by and many lovely things are happening, along with some negative things that force me to think harder and love harder. In the past week we've had someone close to us attempt suicide, and I literally told some of my friends to please leave me alone and pretend they never met me. There was so much hurt, confusion, and anger floating around, and Codi and I were drowning in it. I kept trying to breathe, sing, paint, anything I could to shift my energy, but nothing was working. Codi tried to throw himself into his freelance jobs, but found himself sad and exhausted. Both of us had just had it.

While I was on hiatus,I also got involved with this group.I hope everyone will take a moment if,not to view the video,visit the site.....our freedom and health depends on it!

The Codex Alimentarius is a threat to the freedom of people to choose natural healing and alternative medicine and nutrition. Ratified by the World Health Organization and going into law in the United States in December 2009, the threat to health freedom has never been greater.

This clip is about what we should expect to happen to the human population due to various plans made by the US government to force us to eat foods that have been genetically modified in laboratories. Bottomline is that on December 31, 2009, all foods that we know now will have become the opposite of what nature intended. People will begin to die off very quickly, because the nutritional value of foods will have been depleted. The first set of people to die will be those that are poor and who are unable to afford to buy any food. The second set will be those that have a dependency on prescription drugs and immune deficient.

I am L-A-Z-Y lately!! There I said it, it outs there, now I need to get up and go.

In my mid-twenties I was an avid jogger with buns of steel (or so I'd like to think), I would run with such joy and the delightful runners high, for 1.5 hours around the tracks feeling the burn and wanting more, like a running junkie.

How do I motivate myself to those days of me, the wind and my burning muscles. I bought a new Ipod, download techno music (love it), bought some running pants, I even bought shirts with rhinestones, but nothing motivates. yikes!

Today I let go, what i thought should, could, would, if I just could would should be what you would want me to be,think how you think I should feel, react how you tell me I could react to please thee.
I scoff at the selfishness you call love and the possesiveness that you call concern. You thought me how to stand all by myself while in love.
You taught me how to be by myself even when surrounded by everyone else.
"every tub must stand on it's own bottom" i hear my ancestors scream to my face!
I am a tub with no feet....I say. They tell me stand firm...any way! I do.
I make a way where there is no way carrying myself and those of womb with me...
and
Today, I say
I choose what you cannot give and I know it is ok for me to finally walk away...
To be a FULL me! A whole me.
A me i see fully and respect because I walk in my own integrity...doing what is right for me... without apology.
Without anger or fear of what is to happen to me... because I Esubayi am the Creatress of my Destiny. "When I didn't know the to go I should have followed Destiny" My ancestors sing in praise of my new found victory. Wole Wa Egungun

So I have finally put my ceramics on etsy.com for sale!!! This shop contains some of the work that I produced during my first year of grad school while studying female circumcision/female genital mutilation in Africa.
I became aware and interested in this issue while auditioning for the Vagina Monologues in undergrad. After performing, I decided to investigate further--doing a research project and seminar to teach educators about this issue.

PLEASE VIEW AND PURCHASE THIS WORK! IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO GET THIS OUT AND TO CULTIVATE DISCUSSION!!!!!!

I'm not sure which link works best so I'll include both

suburbansoul.etsy.com and/or http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5653511

More work will be posted soon!!!!!

Salaam
Lately I have been thinking about my mortality, and the impact I may have had on others, what will others say about me, if I should pass away, who will miss me. As much as this may sound a tad bit self absorbing, this is my transition into a different person. You see I have gone through so many phases. As I sit here writing this note, I remember what it was like through the earliest part of my twenties and even in my teens and I can't believe I was that person, because that's not how I feel or think. Its amazing how one can change without realizing the changes. Our experience in life does mold us, every situation makes us a different person. Can one truly label their personality or who they are?
In my teens I was a rebel without a cause, I loved motor bikes, I had a shaved head, I wore black lipstick and believed that anything above the knees was the go, I did not care for men as much, although deep down I wanted to be loved, at those times I just wanted to have fun, anything fast, furious and crazy, believe me this did not gain me brownie points with the do-goodies in my village.

As I age (or get younger as I like to say lol) I realized that my skin has changed. My teenage years were acne-free (thank god for that), but I am plagued with adult acne recently. Not just acne, but black heads, I have thought about going to a dermatologist, but I am rather skeptical about the treatments they might suggest. I have spent many waking hours browsing on sites for the right cream and the right scrub.I have tried Proactive, which worked wonderfully by the way, but I needed something more natural. My philosophy, if I have the difficulty in pronouncing the ingredients, then I probably shouldn't be using it on my skin.It was only recently I realized that every individual skin regiment is different and I need to learn my skin and try things that will work for me. I now know that I can make my own homemade cream and scrub, so I absolutely refuse to buy the store products.

First I have to say thank you all for your support and on going prayers!

Unfortunately, my great niece Daisja Weaver has been murdered by her own blood- dad Alandus Weaver. My niece Tamaira Creagh, Daisja's mom has been a victim of abuse , physical/mental for a long time. According to her lawyers we the family are unable to speak (openly) regarding the case. Out of fear of her and her unborn child's life, she was coerced into silence for 24hours- along with making false statements to the police and the media. Saturday, was her breaking point away from an abusive boyfriend. Both parents have been charged with tampering with evidence, although she was actually an eye witness to coming home from working 9-9pm to find her daughter dead after being in his care all day.

This God forsaken situation has not only torn our family apart but has brought all of us together.It hurts...my brother had her at a young age putting me and my niece a lil over 10yrs apart. We started off close, as if she was my little sister- I truly had no idea of the type of hold this "so-called" man had on her.

It has been kind of a crazy week. To make a long story short, my friends happened upon this blog and were none to happy about what was written (I suppose that will teach me to use aliases when I write!). This is a forum where I express myself very deeply and honestly, and I'm determined to keep that up no matter whose eyes are upon my words or how folks react. I suppose that's the artist in me. I'm in the process of letting go of some old wounds and relationships that no longer serve me, and that can be a wrenching process. At the same time, I feel blessed to be surrounded by an amazing and supportive group of people who love me for who I am. So while I am sad by what has transpired, I feel like I have angels lifting me up, reminding me of all that is good in life.

"We all come equipped with gifts. The question is will you express your gifts through love or through fear? The choice is yours."

~Tirra-Olufemi
www.goddess-body-mind-spirit.com