Living with Purpose by living the Golden Rule

 

Pictured above is Ms. Amber Patrice Riley, known best for her role as Mercedes Jones on the Fox musical comedy show Glee. She's also a current contestant on season 17 of Dancing With the Stars and one of my favorite actresses, who I'm using to make a point today. Part of living with a purpose is learning to accept those you don't know for who they are, instead of being critical of them. Anyone who has watched Dancing with the Stars knows that they are known for shocking upsets and one such upset occurred last night when R&B singer Christina Milian was voted in the bottom 2 and eliminated from the show.

The elimination sparked outcry and hateful comments from many fans, quite a few making biased comments against the "fat black lady" (Amber), saying she was a "horrible dancer" and only stayed because there is a huge bias in the eyes of the judges in favor of her pro partner, 4 time  DWTS champ Derek Hough.  What shocks me is the negative comments made against her because of her race and weight, with one Huffington Post user calling her a "pant load". Which brings me to my point.

As I strive to live with purpose I see that so many people in today's world have forgotten what it means to be kind, even to those you don't know. As a plus sized young woman just a little younger than Amber (I'm 23, she's 27) I wonder why people would stoop to calling her fat and a pant load and how they would feel if the same names were directed at them. I was always taught to accept people for who they are. I also wonder what kind of values this teaches young men and women today. Are we going to tell them it's okay to call a person a "pant load" just because they are larger than the size two ideal that magazine covers and models paint for us or are we going to live by the value of treating each other as we want to be  treated.

How do you think we should teach future generations to view others who may be of a different size, race, etc, than them? Comment below!

So many things going on....

.... that I keep forgetting to update this blog. Wow. Well, there's lots of random new things going on with me. . .

• Going on a family vacay for the 4th. I can't wait because we're hitting up our favorite place in the whole world: Charleston, South Carolina!!!!
• I've officially decided to do NaNoWriMo! For those who don't know, NaNoWriMo stands for "National Novel Writing Month" and begins in November. I'm hoping that doing it will cause me to at least finish one of the novel ideas swimming in my head, but we shall see.
• Hopefully will be taking more classes in my major this fall, putting me one step closer to graduation.

Wow, that may not seem like a lot to some people but it is to me. Also hoping to get back in my music writing groove soon, but we'll see how it goes. Lord willing, I'll be fine and I can just get back to it whenever. Ciao, bloggersphere!!!

Changes

For those who don't know,  I am an artist as well as a student. I've been writing my own Christian Hip Hop  and Christian spoken word pieces since the age of 15. As a female emcee I've had to deal with people thinking I couldn't do anything lyrically. It's difficult out here for any emcee. For me, it's especially hard because I'm not typical. I don't flow like most emcees and there are times when I feel like I'm seeing ahead of my time. And I mean way ahead. I'm only 22 so I feel like I'm kinda a baby compared to everyone else.  But there's one thing I keep hearing lately.  "It's time for a revolution". It's strange. I've always felt like an outcast, but I guess that's because I've never been a secular rapper. Lately I've been praying,  God, show me what to do. You give me the rhymes. You show 'em it's You, not me. I'm just a mouthpiece.

I'm a general. I know that. I've known that since I had visions of spiritual warfare when I started this. But I'm rambling.  .  . I think it's time that we change things. WE need a revolution. I'm not talking overthrowing the physical government. I'm seeing in the spirit realm. It's time for the army to raise up. My generation has so many sleeping warriors who don't even know who or what they are.  There are two definitions of the world revolution that apply  here.

If you look up the word "revolution" in Merriam Webster's dictionary, you will find that the second definition has many subsets. The core definition is: a sudden, radical, or complete change. Then come the subsets:
b.: a fundamental change in political organization; especially: the overthrow or renunciation of one government or ruler and the substitution of another by the governed  and : a fundamental change in the way of thinking about or visualizing something : a change of paradigm. It's time for the spiritual paradigm to change, or as my good friend Dr. N. Cindy Trimm might say,"We need a paradigm shift."  Now I'm left to think on how we go about it. (This is where my book comes in, I think!)

Someday, Somehow, Somewhere

For those of you who haven't already met me somewhere in the blogosphere, let me introduce myself. I'm Erin, I'm 22 and I live in North Carolina, USA. I'm a fourth year college student with big plans for the future and a bigger God to help me accomplish every one of them. I speak fluent Spanish and am currently studying Spanish with a liscensure to teach at North Carolina Central University, where I'll probably remain for at least a year and a half more. I began in 2008 and I'm taking my time to make sure I do things right, which has included retaking some classes and changing my major and career plans along the way. It's not easy to do when you're living with Cerebral Palsy, but I do it and make the best of it.

For those of you who like what you see here, be sure to check out my other blogs on Wordpress (Heart Of A Warrior, Soul Of A Renegade, Mind Of A Revolutionary, and Beauty Of Light)

I'll also be starting a Spanish language blog soon, Encontrando Mi Proposito: Mi Tiempo Llegará.

Stay tuned, guys, it's going to be a wild ride.

Blessings,

Erin