Yes to Amanda Trusty! #ROAR

I absolutely LOVE this video and all that it says! Thank you Kelley for sharing it!

"Amanda Trusty (New York performer) has dealt with pressure from the entertainment industry to be a certain size and weight for over ten years. This is her way of finally letting it all go. Watch her peel away the words that have held her back and dance her joy. // WARNING: There is no nudity, but burlesque is an art form involving the removal of clothing. This, is removing clothing, and "roaring", for a cause. Performed at a benefit for Hawaii Island Gay Pride."

Be sure to visit and like Amanda's YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/trustyamanda

Still, Reflective, and Solo (Thanksgiving 2013)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Please enjoy it the way that you see fit. Today I'll be still, reflective, and solo. My only mission for Thanksgiving 2013 is self-care. I'm neither sad nor depressed. I'm not anti-social and I'm definitely not anti-family (shout out to the McCullough and the Silver families). The last 14 months, however, have been life-altering for me. I've lost a great deal: some family, some colleagues, lots of stability, my home, and too frequently, my peace of mind. Instead of fully processing and re-adjusting, I've worked through the grief, been traveling and have attended to other people - hiding from my own issues.

Most troubling, though, is that I've focused too much on what I don't have and what has NOT happened for me. I've also focused too much on my wrongdoings, failures, and shortcomings. And I've certainly been too focused on me not being or having enough - not being smart enough and not having enough power; not being fast enough nor in step; not being stable and not having enough money (!); not feeling beautiful and not being confident. For some time, I’ve doubted that I have enough of anything to get to the next level. My faith has been shaken. I’ve been too focused on all the deficits, comparing myself to others, peeping over fences, and wondering “How come I don’t have that?” or “When is my turn?” And then I’d beat myself up because I’m supposed to know better, I’m supposed to be past all my adolescent, self-pitying yearnings. One would think.

A shift happens for me only when I’m still, reflective, and solo. Different people need different tools in order to shift gears. I need quiet so that I can silence the whining child in my head and humble myself to the re-birthing process that has dominated my life lately. I now respect my every wrongdoing, failure, shortcoming, and deficit as a rung, every hole as a grip. I respect myself as worthy of forgiveness, as I forgive freely. I give thanks knowing that I’m blessed, that I’m more than sufficient, and that since God saw fit to wake me up this morning, I’d better make the best of it!

Lovingly,
~ ars.

Sobriety Has Its Place | An African Life Lesson

#myheartisfull | Last week you couldn't tell me that I wouldn't be writing constantly about my first trip to Africa; that I wouldn't be taking family and friends along with me, every step of the way, via my blog. "That's Bananas!," I would have said.

I'm back in the US now and I'm still processing, I'm still shook to my very core about what I learned and unlearned while in Nigeria for a short week. I feel un-robed. This nakedness is more sobering than anticipated.

There are many ways to give birth, to be naked, to open up to the world. There are many ways to learn a new thing. Doing so from a quiet place is one way and were I not a feminine energy, Gemini woman who ascribes spiritual and symbolic meaning to everything (every single thing), I would have, perhaps, been "blogged out" by now. But I am that woman so I'm quiet in the moment.

But while I savor my African life lessons and give them an opportunity to settle in their rightful place, I'll be loud and clear about this one thing: Go hug an artist and thank the activists you know. Send good vibes to all the ones you don't. All over the world, our survival is in their hands. Shame on us if our actions don't show how much we care.

More to come...

ars.


::::
April R. Silver
Founder and President
AKILA WORKSONGS, Inc.
www.AKILAWORKSONGS.com

april@akilaworksongs.com
718.756.8501 office
646.522.4169 mobile/text
@akilaworksongs (Twitter)
PO Box 250553, Brooklyn, NY 11225-0553
Celebrating 20 Years in 2013!