August 4, 2022 • 30 mins
In this last episode of the season, Senator Turner reflects. She inspires us to focus on life as a journey, not a destination. Speaking from the heart, SNT stays true-to-form and gets deep in her inspirational quotes to demonstrate the message that life is not a straight line; it is bumpy as hell, but we’ve GOTS to keep on keepin’ on. #HELLOSomebody
Links:
“Life is a journey, not a destination” - Ralph Waldo Emmerson
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/24142-life-is-a-journey-not-a-destination
Songs:
Love Lifted Me
https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/love-lifted-me1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZik72kD_NA
Please Be Patient With Me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DluynRKEBjc
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Turn Everything turn Welcome to Hello Somebody, a production of
(00:28):
The Black Effect Podcast Network and I Heart Media. Where
we rage against the machine, where we raise our voices
against injustice and stand up for justice. Where we embrace
hope and joy with an optimism for a bright or
more just future. Each week I'll be dropping knowledge, whether
(00:48):
it's a solo episode from me or a hearty discussion
with esteem guests doing great things in spaces and places
of politics, entertainment, social justice, and beyond. We get real, baby,
I mean really real. We get honest, We get up
close and personal for you, Yes, you, because everybody is Somebody.
(01:15):
Before we begin, I want to give a special shout
out to my team, Thank you, Sam, Tiffany, Sam and
the team over at Good Juju Studios, Erica England, Pepper Chambers,
the Hot One, and my social media team. Here we go,
last solo of the season, Hello Somebody, Because everybody is somebody.
(01:43):
This is Nina Turner welcoming you to the show, and
if you have been listening for the last two seasons,
I want to let you know how much I appreciate you,
how much I am vibing with you, how much I
am sending all of my love to you, and if
you're listening for the very first time, welcome, Welcome to
(02:05):
Hello somebody. Please go back and watch the previous episodes.
You will not be disappointed. So I don't know how
I'm feeling today. This is the last episode of season two,
and I'm in a reflective mood. I really am, and
(02:26):
I wanted to share that with you. I am so
grateful for the opportunity to have had two blockbusters seasons
on the Black Effect Network on our heart radio. I
gotta give an extra extra extra special shout out to
the man himself, the one and only Charlemagne, the God.
(02:49):
I want to thank him so much for his vision
and for him seeking out talent from across the spectrum
is generational political affiliation, no political affiliation, and especially for
how he lives women. I mean, he started off this joint,
this network. He started off with some incredibly strong and
(03:13):
courageous black women. And you know what it means a
whole lot to black women when black men lift us
and promote us and push us. We should be lifting
and pushing and promoting one another. And it is not
about whether or not we always agree on every little
or every big thing. It is a sense of solidarity,
a sense of love, a sense of friendship, or sense
(03:34):
of camaraderie. And I'm gonna tell you something, Charlotte may
love you, baby. I want to thank President Bishop who
runs the Black Effect Network, Dolly for just all of
her encouragement, support, tutoring, you know, just guiding and leading,
and she took this network to the next level. And
(03:58):
I just appreciate her and tire Black Effect Network team,
to my team, my Extra Special Team, to sim to Tiffany,
to Ryan, Oh my God, Pepper Erica number love for y'all.
This has been an incredible, incredible journey and I could
(04:22):
not be more pleased with what we have done and
the vibes that we have been able to put out
into the universe that will continue to whipple well beyond
the two seasons of Hello Somebody. The entire team passed
and present Sam and his team on good Juju shouting
(04:47):
y'all out too, Baby, the sisters Tina and Joel shouting
you out to Oh my God. There have been so
many people who have impacted Hello Somebody, both in his
gener us, his phase and even at this moment as
we've become a little more seasoned. I mean two year
olds still pretty young. But I just want to thank
each and everyone, and to the listeners, to people have
(05:10):
been with me, to those on Patreon as well, thank
you so much for all of your support. It is
just a reminder that none of us can do any
great thing without each other. There will be people whose spearhead,
who lead, But when it comes down to it, if
it's something great, if it's something magnificent, especially if it's
(05:31):
something transformative, didn't happen by one individual, there are always
other people involved in all of this. So just thank
you so very much for being a part of Hello somebody.
So I was talking about the journey. I don't know
that word journey is is on my heart today, so
I do want to focus in on it and I
(05:52):
want you to come with me on this journey as
we focus in on journey. And you all know, especially
those of you have been following me for a very
on time, even beyond Hello Somebody, you do know that
quotes are my love language. Oh I love some good quotes,
(06:13):
and so one quote that comes to mind for me
right now as I'm reflecting on this particular leg of
the journey is from Ralph Waldo Emerson, and he said
the following, It's not the destination, it's the journey. I
want you to wrap your mind around that, just for
(06:34):
a minute. It's not the destination, is the journey. In
other words, it's not the place that we're gonna end up,
but it is how we get there, what it took
for us to get there, every single step along the
way to get there, that is what is most important.
(06:56):
It's not the destination, it's the journey. You know, life
is not a destination. It is a journey, and we're
gonna have ups and downs and and turn arounds and
things that delight us and excite us, and also things
that disappoint us and cause us great confusion. But it
(07:17):
is absolutely in all of that, embedded and married and
weaved into all of that is an outcome that we
did not necessarily expect, and in those outcomes come the victory.
(07:40):
It's not a straight line. It is bumpy as hell.
How many of you can think about or or just
think about it. Let me just affirm that. Think about
moments in your life where you thought you wanted one outcome,
but another one happened, and even in that outcome, ultimately
(08:01):
things worked out. Have you had moments like that? Just
think really hard, Just pause for a minute and think
about the multiple times that you were going in one
direction the universe happened and it took you in another direction.
And even if that alternative direction that you were not
(08:22):
expecting to go on was not the most pleasant and delightful,
when it was all over, when all was said and done,
is it true that most of the time, not all
the time, not of the time, but most of the
time things worked out just fine. There are sometimes where
(08:45):
ship is just fucked up and there's no way around that. Granted,
got it. There are some things that cannot be explained away,
prayed away, you know. And I'm a praying woman, I
get it. But there are sometimes where stuff is just
so messed up, so ridiculous, that it's gonna take a
(09:07):
whole lot to move that mountain. Got that too, ultimately, Ultimately,
ultimately on most things that happened to us in our life,
even the most unpleasant circumstances, with a few exceptions, because
there are things that happen in life that is so
left up. I'm trying not to curse too much, y'all know,
I speak a second language. And that is it. I
(09:28):
am very proficient in that language. And it's not French.
This is pure unaudoterated English, Spanish and maybe some French.
But no, never will I say, excuse my French, excuse
the multiple languages that I speak. When it comes to custin,
I am very proficient in it. I revel in it.
(09:49):
I'm not running forward from it. And nobody is perfect.
And if I didn't curse, you know, then I would
be basically perfect. So I must confess I I do curse,
and I enjoy it, and I want the cussing folks
out there kind of getting their man, not the prol
clutching folks, but the people who know. Sometimes a good
(10:10):
cuss word or words clears everything right up. I'm thinking
about I don't know what movie it is, because I
do see life through movies and songs and quotes. Can
I get somebody who can relate to me on that?
But it was some scene where somebody said, because I'm
totally I can't even remember what damn movie it is,
But basically the line was, ain't nobody cuts you out today?
(10:34):
Clearly because the way you're comporting yourself, ain't nobody cuts
you out? Today sometimes people need a good cussing out. Hello, hello,
somebody on that. All right, let me get back to
the journey. I mean, this is part of the journey too.
But if you really just just oh, just take a moment.
I'm feeling this thing. I got a certain vibe this morning.
(10:55):
If you really really go deep and you just think
about it for a moment, didn't it work out? Did
it work out? And it worked out and things are
going to continue to work out even in our darkest moments.
I am one of those who do believe that there
(11:16):
is promise in the problem. So let me go back
to Ralph Waldo Emerson. It's not the destination, it's the journey,
and I want you to vibe and feel. I want
you to feel that journey. That you're wrong. Take stock
in where you are in your life right now and
(11:38):
figure out what's your journey in this stage of your life.
Let me go to another quote, life is a journey.
It's not where you end up, but it's how you
got there. See that's a perfect marriage between what Ralph
Waldo Emerson said as well, life is a journey. We're
gonna affirm that it's not where you end up. But
(11:58):
it's how you got there that is so important. What
we do in between time and the meantime? How did
we get there? Did we get there strong? Did we
get there sassy, where we pushed over the line? Did
we get there angrily? Did we take in every single
message and pulse that was out there communicating with us?
(12:22):
How did we get there? That is important too. Here
we have another quote. Y'all know, I'm stuck on journey
right now, Nickton namdio. I hope I pronounced that right.
But this is what Nickton said. The journey of life
is not about the destination, but about exploration. You see
(12:43):
how all these different quotes about the journey, I've read
three so far, they all have something in common. It
is the steps that we took to get to said destination.
That is what this thing is really all about. It
is what is in between. You know. Somebody once said
(13:07):
that life from birth to death, because we all were
birthed into this world and we all have that ultimate
date with destiny. I mean, that's the ultimate. That is
something that connects all of us, no matter how we identify,
we were born and we will die at some point.
And I'm not saying that to bring you down. But
(13:28):
that's that's what all people have in common, no matter
your economic strata, how you identify religion, no religion, born date,
death date, born into the world date, leave this earth date.
We all got that in common. But it is what
we do at the dash moment, that in between the
(13:49):
born day and the death day, what happens in between,
that's where the match is. That's where the power is.
It's right there, and we all can decide whether or
not we're gonna begin again. Every single day is a
new opportunity to begin again and again and again and
again and again and again and again and again. And
(14:11):
I want you to block out the mole folds. Them
mo folds over there, no matter where they are, block
them out, because every player is gonna have a hater
or two or three, or my circumstances thousands. Block out
the haters because most of the times, most haters wish
(14:33):
they were you. And I am not referring to people
who have some constructive criticism. I have air quotes, but
I'm talking about people who always dipping in, always got
something negative to say, They never have anything positive to say. See,
those people are miserable, and you know the same misery
loves company. They're trying to bring you down with them.
Don't go. You don't have to go. That's one journey
(14:56):
you don't have to go on. And don't absorb. You
know the difference between whether or not someone is telling
you something to ultimately help your growth, or whether somebody
is telling you something the funk with you to mess
with you, to bring you down. And they are people
like that, So block them people out and stay with
(15:20):
the folks who are committed and dedicated to your ultimate
will being. That's it. And the types of people are
committed and connected to your well being. Don't have to
be yes people. But you know the difference. Because love
should not hurt. That does not mean that it won't
be unbearable sometimes, but it shouldn't cause you pain over
(15:42):
and over and over and over and over and over again.
And there are different stages and different types of love.
Romantic love, the love that we have for our children
or our relatives, to love, this universal love that we
have for the world, people and animals in the ecosystem itself.
(16:05):
Many many different types and stages of love. There's a
song in the African American Christian tradition love lifted me.
That's what love is about. It's about the lift. But
before we get to the lift, there may be some struggle.
(16:26):
And struggle is okay because it is part of life.
Diamonds go through the fire. Baby Gold, I shall come forth.
I shall come forth as pure gold. Please be patient
with me. That's another song. I'm on my I'm feeling
my spiritual mina. It's a song. Please be patient with me.
(16:46):
God is not through with me yet. When God gets
through with me, I shall come forth. I shall come
forth as pure gold. Now, I know everybody doesn't believe
in God. Who's listening to me? And that's okay to you.
Do what you do. Boo. I'm just doing what I'm doing.
But that song came to mind. Please be patient with me.
God is not through with me yet. Please be patient
with me. The universe is not through with me yet.
(17:08):
But when it's through with me, I shall come forth.
I shall come forth. I shall come forth this pure goal.
That means that refinement will set in for you. Is
anybody feeling that with me? Can I get a hello? Somebody?
I'm feeling this thing showing up? I am, I am,
I am. The journey is what is in the dash
(17:28):
that is so vitally important. Let me bring up a
Chinese proverb on journey as well. We're here on the journey.
To get through the hardest journey, we need to take
only one step at a time, but we must keep
on stepping. Hello, to get through the hardest journey, we
need take only one step at a time, but we
(17:50):
must keep stepping, keep going, don't stop, don't never stop,
don't never stop. It's reminded me of another quote from
my beloved Harriet Tubman. Let me go ahead and pulled
out one up. I used to have this sucker memorized,
but I want to make sure that I get it
just right. All these things are connecting, Oh my god,
just connecting. To feel the connection, I'm feeling it, do
(18:10):
you so? This particular quote from the one and only,
the Great Moses of her people herself, she said, if
you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the
torches in the woods, keep going. If they're shouting after you,
keep going, don't never stop, keep going. If you want
(18:32):
to taste of freedom, keep going. That can mean so
much for so many people. From her vantage point and
being an enslaved person who escaped the horrors of slavery.
In other words, did not have to live the end
of her days. What she endured, she had to live
with for the rest of her life. But she took
(18:53):
that dash point and she changed her reality. And then
she went back into the South over and over and
over again, helping the free, her family and then other folks,
because she knew she could not rest. She was on
her mission, she was on her purpose, her destiny. That's
the job, the assignment that God gave her to do,
and she did it extraordinarily. Well, how many people do
you know they would make any sacrifice like that. She
(19:16):
was wanted, there was a bounty on her head. Do
you understand that we can't even get people in the
twenty one century to do the simplest things and they
don't have a bounty on their heads. They don't have
to worry about people a poster out there wanted dead
or alive. Imagine how blessed we are even in our
stresses and our struggles in the twenty one century because
(19:38):
we don't have the kind of problems that Madam Harriet
Tubman had. We don't have those kinds of problems. But
even in all of that, she said keep going. Her
context was about escaping slavery, but we can take a
new context to that. If you hear the dogs, keep going.
If your bills are overwhelming, you keep going. Plot playing, strategized, organized, mobilized.
(20:02):
To quote my brother Michael, render a k a killer, Mike,
keep going. If you see the torches in the woods,
people coming after you, talking trash about you on social media,
doing things to try to pull you down, baby, keep going.
I'm putting some twenty one century on sister Harriet Tubman.
If they're shouting after you, people want to align you,
(20:23):
speak ill of you, try to roll block you. Keep going,
don't ever stop. Keep going. If you want to taste
the freedom, freedom of heart, soul, body, and mind, you
must keep going. You can't ever stop. That's what this
thing is all about. That's what this life is all about.
(20:45):
We must forge something that is beautiful and magnificent, both
on the micro and the macro level. Every single move
that we make does not have to be on the
macro level. To get to the macro level, we gotta
deal with the micro. We gotta deal with ourselves. We
gotta deal with our family, our community. You know where
(21:06):
I'm going. This is the journey. Life is a journey,
and part of the journey should be pleasant. Every part
of your life journey should not be painful. If it is.
We have a problem, and guess what problems can be solved.
We can adjust, we can make change, We can do
(21:29):
a new thing. We are not bound by today's reality.
We can create a new reality. And in creating new realities,
that means we gotta put some sweat equity on this
thing to be able to do it, To create new realities,
we might have to pull in a team of folks
to help us do that. That That is where your family
(21:50):
comes in, maybe because everybody and your family ain't the one.
This is where your extended family comes in, your friends. See,
everybody is not meant for every assignment. But you know
the types of people that you have in your life
and in what particular order and ways that they could
be helpful to help edify and lift you and also
(22:13):
push you. Because in order to get strong, in order
to be in fighting condition, you gotta work the muscles.
And that's the physical muscle, the spiritual muscle, and the
mental muscle. It must be worked so that it can
become strong. That's what this thing is all about. That
(22:35):
is what this journey is all about. And so we're
not gonna run from man. Another quote about the journey.
Life is a journey. Travel it well, Amen to that,
travel it well meaning put all of your heart, your soul,
and your mind into this thing. That's what it's about.
(22:56):
How about another one? Oh my god, this is Dolly Parton.
Can I just pause and say how much I love
me some Dolly Partons. Now. I have not much in
the country music. I got a few songs that I
that I like. I like the Gambler, That's one of
my favorite, because I just see life all up in
this thing. No when to hold them, know when to
fold him, know when to run, count your money while
you's sitting at the table, to be time enough for
(23:18):
Colton when the when the dealing is done, I mean,
we can put all kinds of stuff from And I
love Tennessee whiskey, y'all. Whoa Okay, So here we go,
Dolly Parton, the way I see it. If you want
the rainbow, you gotta put up with the ring. Can
we just pause? Can we just pause and let that,
let that, let that feel the room the way I
(23:42):
see it, Dolly partner said, if you want the rainbow,
you gotta put up with the rain. Hello, can y'all
feel my vibration right now? I hope that you can.
So this brings me the brother Frederick Douglas who talked
about certain folks who want a whole bunch of stuff,
but they don't want to go through nothing to get
it there. Very similar, very similar to what Dolly Parton
(24:03):
just says. I'm gonna bring Frederick Douglas this. I must
do this. Those who professed the favor freedom and yet
depreciate agitation are people who want crops without plowing the ground.
They want rain without the thunder and lightning. They want
the ocean without the roar of its many waters. The
(24:25):
struggle may be a moral one, or it may be
a physical one, or it may be both, but it
must be a struggle. Power can sees nothing without a demand.
It never did and it never will now. So the
part of that quote that is very relevant to what
we're talking about the journey and the struggles along the
(24:46):
journey is that if in fact you want crops, you
gotta plow the soil. That's work, That's what equity. If
in fact you want the rain. You gotta be able
to endure some thunder and lightning if you want to
reflect and the beauty and the majesty of an ocean,
you gotta put up with the roars of it. That's it. Hello,
(25:08):
This is the seminal lesson for us today as we
reflect on journey. We are all going to go through
something in this life. But we cannot have a testimony
without a test. And it is that test that will
define us, that shows truly what we are made of.
(25:34):
That's it. That's it, baby, and that's all the Ion
sending so much love and so much light to each
and every one of you. Please promise me that you
are going to be the light for somebody's darkness, and
we all have the obligation and the capacity to do
(25:54):
it again, whether it's macro or micro in the or
your life. Take care of you, do the things that
you need to do so that you can be a
blessing to yourself. First, to that own self. Be true,
because you can't help other people. You can't pour into
other people if you're not feeling and moving optimally. And
(26:17):
when you are moving optimally, promised that you're gonna be
a blessing to somebody else. There's a lot of ratchet
ship happening in this country right now. It is from
the United States Supreme Court rolling back progress, whether it's
Roe v. Wade or marriage equality, or allowing big corporations
saying that they can destroy our environment. And it's nothing
(26:38):
that the e p A Can do. To the mass shootings,
to people who cannot afford to pay their bills, they
can't afford their healthcare, they don't have healthcare, two millions
of children being in poverty, to a hundred and forty
million people either low income, very low income, or just
flat out in poverty. Right now, in this moment, there
(26:59):
is so much happening in this country and in this world,
in the pandemic and the fact that the coronavirus is
mutating over and over and over and over again, and
we mask and we don't mask, and we're stressing the
hell out. I get it, and I understand it. I
want you to know that there is still even promise
in these problems that I am laying out, and then
(27:21):
the post traumatic stress that everybody isn't doing one way
or another. But if you are among the working class,
especially the working poor, when things go wrong like they
are right now. It hurts you even in a deeper way.
We are going to have to find a way. It's
the dash is the dash in between the birth date
and the death day. We are going to have to
(27:42):
find a way, both individually and collectively to come together
and use our energy and our synergy to make this
world a better place. I do believe. I do believe.
I do believe. I will continue to believe as I
work that there is promise in the problem and that
we can take this very moment that we are in
in human history and do a new and great and
(28:05):
powerful and beautiful thing. Are you with me, baby? I
hope you are again, sending so much love and so
much light. I want you to keep the faith and
keep the fight, and thank you so very much for
being on this. Hello, somebody journey with me. Nothing but love,
(28:28):
a little more, Mary story, Mary thing. Somebody can turn me.
I'm believe it. I'm somebody turning the universe giving us
somebody turn. Yeah, change is coming. The pain is nothing
(28:52):
trying to shoot for the stars. If you're gonna hang
for something, embrace the love for your brother and sister.
You need these the mission brush, We need the puzzle this.
It just painted up and frame it up for the
world to see. Hain't to hate you it up. Enough
is enough, it's enough making changes enough in turn of
a voice of the truth to wise words inspire the
youth to keep their eyes on the roof. It's the end.
(29:13):
Never give up, keep conquering goals to the eye intelligent silver,
wisdom is gold. Back to the end. Now it's your time.
Stay firm, don't fold to the a or you need
is the three bones. That's what Rannie said. Now I'm
gonna make sure these words from Rannie spray for all
the hair to give it your hair. She can take
him to the promised Land. I swear world pieces what
they fear. Queen's the Cleveland, Ohio. We're here, famous fat
(29:37):
turn up. Somebody, don't need to turn spanning somebody turn out,
Queen love somebody even turn times. Choose one of us?
(30:00):
Had we not? Hello? Somebody is a production of I
Heart Radio and The Black Effect Network. For more podcast
from our Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app,
(30:21):
Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Turn Everything turn Welcome to Hello Somebody, a production of
(00:28):
The Black Effect Podcast Network and I Heart Media. Where
we rage against the machine, where we raise our voices
against injustice and stand up for justice. Where we embrace
hope and joy with an optimism for a bright or
more just future. Each week I'll be dropping knowledge, whether
(00:48):
it's a solo episode from me or a hearty discussion
with esteem guests doing great things in spaces and places
of politics, entertainment, social justice, and beyond. We get real, baby,
I mean really real. We get honest, We get up
close and personal for you, Yes, you, because everybody is Somebody.
(01:15):
Before we begin, I want to give a special shout
out to my team, Thank you, Sam, Tiffany, Sam and
the team over at Good Juju Studios, Erica England, Pepper Chambers,
the Hot One, and my social media team. Here we go,
last solo of the season, Hello Somebody, Because everybody is somebody.
(01:43):
This is Nina Turner welcoming you to the show, and
if you have been listening for the last two seasons,
I want to let you know how much I appreciate you,
how much I am vibing with you, how much I
am sending all of my love to you, and if
you're listening for the very first time, welcome, Welcome to
(02:05):
Hello somebody. Please go back and watch the previous episodes.
You will not be disappointed. So I don't know how
I'm feeling today. This is the last episode of season two,
and I'm in a reflective mood. I really am, and
(02:26):
I wanted to share that with you. I am so
grateful for the opportunity to have had two blockbusters seasons
on the Black Effect Network on our heart radio. I
gotta give an extra extra extra special shout out to
the man himself, the one and only Charlemagne, the God.
(02:49):
I want to thank him so much for his vision
and for him seeking out talent from across the spectrum
is generational political affiliation, no political affiliation, and especially for
how he lives women. I mean, he started off this joint,
this network. He started off with some incredibly strong and
(03:13):
courageous black women. And you know what it means a
whole lot to black women when black men lift us
and promote us and push us. We should be lifting
and pushing and promoting one another. And it is not
about whether or not we always agree on every little
or every big thing. It is a sense of solidarity,
a sense of love, a sense of friendship, or sense
(03:34):
of camaraderie. And I'm gonna tell you something, Charlotte may
love you, baby. I want to thank President Bishop who
runs the Black Effect Network, Dolly for just all of
her encouragement, support, tutoring, you know, just guiding and leading,
and she took this network to the next level. And
(03:58):
I just appreciate her and tire Black Effect Network team,
to my team, my Extra Special Team, to sim to Tiffany,
to Ryan, Oh my God, Pepper Erica number love for y'all.
This has been an incredible, incredible journey and I could
(04:22):
not be more pleased with what we have done and
the vibes that we have been able to put out
into the universe that will continue to whipple well beyond
the two seasons of Hello Somebody. The entire team passed
and present Sam and his team on good Juju shouting
(04:47):
y'all out too, Baby, the sisters Tina and Joel shouting
you out to Oh my God. There have been so
many people who have impacted Hello Somebody, both in his
gener us, his phase and even at this moment as
we've become a little more seasoned. I mean two year
olds still pretty young. But I just want to thank
each and everyone, and to the listeners, to people have
(05:10):
been with me, to those on Patreon as well, thank
you so much for all of your support. It is
just a reminder that none of us can do any
great thing without each other. There will be people whose spearhead,
who lead, But when it comes down to it, if
it's something great, if it's something magnificent, especially if it's
(05:31):
something transformative, didn't happen by one individual, there are always
other people involved in all of this. So just thank
you so very much for being a part of Hello somebody.
So I was talking about the journey. I don't know
that word journey is is on my heart today, so
I do want to focus in on it and I
(05:52):
want you to come with me on this journey as
we focus in on journey. And you all know, especially
those of you have been following me for a very
on time, even beyond Hello Somebody, you do know that
quotes are my love language. Oh I love some good quotes,
(06:13):
and so one quote that comes to mind for me
right now as I'm reflecting on this particular leg of
the journey is from Ralph Waldo Emerson, and he said
the following, It's not the destination, it's the journey. I
want you to wrap your mind around that, just for
(06:34):
a minute. It's not the destination, is the journey. In
other words, it's not the place that we're gonna end up,
but it is how we get there, what it took
for us to get there, every single step along the
way to get there, that is what is most important.
(06:56):
It's not the destination, it's the journey. You know, life
is not a destination. It is a journey, and we're
gonna have ups and downs and and turn arounds and
things that delight us and excite us, and also things
that disappoint us and cause us great confusion. But it
(07:17):
is absolutely in all of that, embedded and married and
weaved into all of that is an outcome that we
did not necessarily expect, and in those outcomes come the victory.
(07:40):
It's not a straight line. It is bumpy as hell.
How many of you can think about or or just
think about it. Let me just affirm that. Think about
moments in your life where you thought you wanted one outcome,
but another one happened, and even in that outcome, ultimately
(08:01):
things worked out. Have you had moments like that? Just
think really hard, Just pause for a minute and think
about the multiple times that you were going in one
direction the universe happened and it took you in another direction.
And even if that alternative direction that you were not
(08:22):
expecting to go on was not the most pleasant and delightful,
when it was all over, when all was said and done,
is it true that most of the time, not all
the time, not of the time, but most of the
time things worked out just fine. There are sometimes where
(08:45):
ship is just fucked up and there's no way around that. Granted,
got it. There are some things that cannot be explained away,
prayed away, you know. And I'm a praying woman, I
get it. But there are sometimes where stuff is just
so messed up, so ridiculous, that it's gonna take a
(09:07):
whole lot to move that mountain. Got that too, ultimately, Ultimately,
ultimately on most things that happened to us in our life,
even the most unpleasant circumstances, with a few exceptions, because
there are things that happen in life that is so
left up. I'm trying not to curse too much, y'all know,
I speak a second language. And that is it. I
(09:28):
am very proficient in that language. And it's not French.
This is pure unaudoterated English, Spanish and maybe some French.
But no, never will I say, excuse my French, excuse
the multiple languages that I speak. When it comes to custin,
I am very proficient in it. I revel in it.
(09:49):
I'm not running forward from it. And nobody is perfect.
And if I didn't curse, you know, then I would
be basically perfect. So I must confess I I do curse,
and I enjoy it, and I want the cussing folks
out there kind of getting their man, not the prol
clutching folks, but the people who know. Sometimes a good
(10:10):
cuss word or words clears everything right up. I'm thinking
about I don't know what movie it is, because I
do see life through movies and songs and quotes. Can
I get somebody who can relate to me on that?
But it was some scene where somebody said, because I'm
totally I can't even remember what damn movie it is,
But basically the line was, ain't nobody cuts you out today?
(10:34):
Clearly because the way you're comporting yourself, ain't nobody cuts
you out? Today sometimes people need a good cussing out. Hello, hello,
somebody on that. All right, let me get back to
the journey. I mean, this is part of the journey too.
But if you really just just oh, just take a moment.
I'm feeling this thing. I got a certain vibe this morning.
(10:55):
If you really really go deep and you just think
about it for a moment, didn't it work out? Did
it work out? And it worked out and things are
going to continue to work out even in our darkest moments.
I am one of those who do believe that there
(11:16):
is promise in the problem. So let me go back
to Ralph Waldo Emerson. It's not the destination, it's the journey,
and I want you to vibe and feel. I want
you to feel that journey. That you're wrong. Take stock
in where you are in your life right now and
(11:38):
figure out what's your journey in this stage of your life.
Let me go to another quote, life is a journey.
It's not where you end up, but it's how you
got there. See that's a perfect marriage between what Ralph
Waldo Emerson said as well, life is a journey. We're
gonna affirm that it's not where you end up. But
(11:58):
it's how you got there that is so important. What
we do in between time and the meantime? How did
we get there? Did we get there strong? Did we
get there sassy, where we pushed over the line? Did
we get there angrily? Did we take in every single
message and pulse that was out there communicating with us?
(12:22):
How did we get there? That is important too. Here
we have another quote. Y'all know, I'm stuck on journey
right now, Nickton namdio. I hope I pronounced that right.
But this is what Nickton said. The journey of life
is not about the destination, but about exploration. You see
(12:43):
how all these different quotes about the journey, I've read
three so far, they all have something in common. It
is the steps that we took to get to said destination.
That is what this thing is really all about. It
is what is in between. You know. Somebody once said
(13:07):
that life from birth to death, because we all were
birthed into this world and we all have that ultimate
date with destiny. I mean, that's the ultimate. That is
something that connects all of us, no matter how we identify,
we were born and we will die at some point.
And I'm not saying that to bring you down. But
(13:28):
that's that's what all people have in common, no matter
your economic strata, how you identify religion, no religion, born date,
death date, born into the world date, leave this earth date.
We all got that in common. But it is what
we do at the dash moment, that in between the
(13:49):
born day and the death day, what happens in between,
that's where the match is. That's where the power is.
It's right there, and we all can decide whether or
not we're gonna begin again. Every single day is a
new opportunity to begin again and again and again and
again and again and again and again and again. And
(14:11):
I want you to block out the mole folds. Them
mo folds over there, no matter where they are, block
them out, because every player is gonna have a hater
or two or three, or my circumstances thousands. Block out
the haters because most of the times, most haters wish
(14:33):
they were you. And I am not referring to people
who have some constructive criticism. I have air quotes, but
I'm talking about people who always dipping in, always got
something negative to say, They never have anything positive to say. See,
those people are miserable, and you know the same misery
loves company. They're trying to bring you down with them.
Don't go. You don't have to go. That's one journey
(14:56):
you don't have to go on. And don't absorb. You
know the difference between whether or not someone is telling
you something to ultimately help your growth, or whether somebody
is telling you something the funk with you to mess
with you, to bring you down. And they are people
like that, So block them people out and stay with
(15:20):
the folks who are committed and dedicated to your ultimate
will being. That's it. And the types of people are
committed and connected to your well being. Don't have to
be yes people. But you know the difference. Because love
should not hurt. That does not mean that it won't
be unbearable sometimes, but it shouldn't cause you pain over
(15:42):
and over and over and over and over and over again.
And there are different stages and different types of love.
Romantic love, the love that we have for our children
or our relatives, to love, this universal love that we
have for the world, people and animals in the ecosystem itself.
(16:05):
Many many different types and stages of love. There's a
song in the African American Christian tradition love lifted me.
That's what love is about. It's about the lift. But
before we get to the lift, there may be some struggle.
(16:26):
And struggle is okay because it is part of life.
Diamonds go through the fire. Baby Gold, I shall come forth.
I shall come forth as pure gold. Please be patient
with me. That's another song. I'm on my I'm feeling
my spiritual mina. It's a song. Please be patient with me.
(16:46):
God is not through with me yet. When God gets
through with me, I shall come forth. I shall come
forth as pure gold. Now, I know everybody doesn't believe
in God. Who's listening to me? And that's okay to you.
Do what you do. Boo. I'm just doing what I'm doing.
But that song came to mind. Please be patient with me.
God is not through with me yet. Please be patient
with me. The universe is not through with me yet.
(17:08):
But when it's through with me, I shall come forth.
I shall come forth. I shall come forth this pure goal.
That means that refinement will set in for you. Is
anybody feeling that with me? Can I get a hello? Somebody?
I'm feeling this thing showing up? I am, I am,
I am. The journey is what is in the dash
(17:28):
that is so vitally important. Let me bring up a
Chinese proverb on journey as well. We're here on the journey.
To get through the hardest journey, we need to take
only one step at a time, but we must keep
on stepping. Hello, to get through the hardest journey, we
need take only one step at a time, but we
(17:50):
must keep stepping, keep going, don't stop, don't never stop,
don't never stop. It's reminded me of another quote from
my beloved Harriet Tubman. Let me go ahead and pulled
out one up. I used to have this sucker memorized,
but I want to make sure that I get it
just right. All these things are connecting, Oh my god,
just connecting. To feel the connection, I'm feeling it, do
(18:10):
you so? This particular quote from the one and only,
the Great Moses of her people herself, she said, if
you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the
torches in the woods, keep going. If they're shouting after you,
keep going, don't never stop, keep going. If you want
(18:32):
to taste of freedom, keep going. That can mean so
much for so many people. From her vantage point and
being an enslaved person who escaped the horrors of slavery.
In other words, did not have to live the end
of her days. What she endured, she had to live
with for the rest of her life. But she took
(18:53):
that dash point and she changed her reality. And then
she went back into the South over and over and
over again, helping the free, her family and then other folks,
because she knew she could not rest. She was on
her mission, she was on her purpose, her destiny. That's
the job, the assignment that God gave her to do,
and she did it extraordinarily. Well, how many people do
you know they would make any sacrifice like that. She
(19:16):
was wanted, there was a bounty on her head. Do
you understand that we can't even get people in the
twenty one century to do the simplest things and they
don't have a bounty on their heads. They don't have
to worry about people a poster out there wanted dead
or alive. Imagine how blessed we are even in our
stresses and our struggles in the twenty one century because
(19:38):
we don't have the kind of problems that Madam Harriet
Tubman had. We don't have those kinds of problems. But
even in all of that, she said keep going. Her
context was about escaping slavery, but we can take a
new context to that. If you hear the dogs, keep going.
If your bills are overwhelming, you keep going. Plot playing, strategized, organized, mobilized.
(20:02):
To quote my brother Michael, render a k a killer, Mike,
keep going. If you see the torches in the woods,
people coming after you, talking trash about you on social media,
doing things to try to pull you down, baby, keep going.
I'm putting some twenty one century on sister Harriet Tubman.
If they're shouting after you, people want to align you,
(20:23):
speak ill of you, try to roll block you. Keep going,
don't ever stop. Keep going. If you want to taste
the freedom, freedom of heart, soul, body, and mind, you
must keep going. You can't ever stop. That's what this
thing is all about. That's what this life is all about.
(20:45):
We must forge something that is beautiful and magnificent, both
on the micro and the macro level. Every single move
that we make does not have to be on the
macro level. To get to the macro level, we gotta
deal with the micro. We gotta deal with ourselves. We
gotta deal with our family, our community. You know where
(21:06):
I'm going. This is the journey. Life is a journey,
and part of the journey should be pleasant. Every part
of your life journey should not be painful. If it is.
We have a problem, and guess what problems can be solved.
We can adjust, we can make change, We can do
(21:29):
a new thing. We are not bound by today's reality.
We can create a new reality. And in creating new realities,
that means we gotta put some sweat equity on this
thing to be able to do it, To create new realities,
we might have to pull in a team of folks
to help us do that. That That is where your family
(21:50):
comes in, maybe because everybody and your family ain't the one.
This is where your extended family comes in, your friends. See,
everybody is not meant for every assignment. But you know
the types of people that you have in your life
and in what particular order and ways that they could
be helpful to help edify and lift you and also
(22:13):
push you. Because in order to get strong, in order
to be in fighting condition, you gotta work the muscles.
And that's the physical muscle, the spiritual muscle, and the
mental muscle. It must be worked so that it can
become strong. That's what this thing is all about. That
(22:35):
is what this journey is all about. And so we're
not gonna run from man. Another quote about the journey.
Life is a journey. Travel it well, Amen to that,
travel it well meaning put all of your heart, your soul,
and your mind into this thing. That's what it's about.
(22:56):
How about another one? Oh my god, this is Dolly Parton.
Can I just pause and say how much I love
me some Dolly Partons. Now. I have not much in
the country music. I got a few songs that I
that I like. I like the Gambler, That's one of
my favorite, because I just see life all up in
this thing. No when to hold them, know when to
fold him, know when to run, count your money while
you's sitting at the table, to be time enough for
(23:18):
Colton when the when the dealing is done, I mean,
we can put all kinds of stuff from And I
love Tennessee whiskey, y'all. Whoa Okay, So here we go,
Dolly Parton, the way I see it. If you want
the rainbow, you gotta put up with the ring. Can
we just pause? Can we just pause and let that,
let that, let that feel the room the way I
(23:42):
see it, Dolly partner said, if you want the rainbow,
you gotta put up with the rain. Hello, can y'all
feel my vibration right now? I hope that you can.
So this brings me the brother Frederick Douglas who talked
about certain folks who want a whole bunch of stuff,
but they don't want to go through nothing to get
it there. Very similar, very similar to what Dolly Parton
(24:03):
just says. I'm gonna bring Frederick Douglas this. I must
do this. Those who professed the favor freedom and yet
depreciate agitation are people who want crops without plowing the ground.
They want rain without the thunder and lightning. They want
the ocean without the roar of its many waters. The
(24:25):
struggle may be a moral one, or it may be
a physical one, or it may be both, but it
must be a struggle. Power can sees nothing without a demand.
It never did and it never will now. So the
part of that quote that is very relevant to what
we're talking about the journey and the struggles along the
(24:46):
journey is that if in fact you want crops, you
gotta plow the soil. That's work, That's what equity. If
in fact you want the rain. You gotta be able
to endure some thunder and lightning if you want to
reflect and the beauty and the majesty of an ocean,
you gotta put up with the roars of it. That's it. Hello,
(25:08):
This is the seminal lesson for us today as we
reflect on journey. We are all going to go through
something in this life. But we cannot have a testimony
without a test. And it is that test that will
define us, that shows truly what we are made of.
(25:34):
That's it. That's it, baby, and that's all the Ion
sending so much love and so much light to each
and every one of you. Please promise me that you
are going to be the light for somebody's darkness, and
we all have the obligation and the capacity to do
(25:54):
it again, whether it's macro or micro in the or
your life. Take care of you, do the things that
you need to do so that you can be a
blessing to yourself. First, to that own self. Be true,
because you can't help other people. You can't pour into
other people if you're not feeling and moving optimally. And
(26:17):
when you are moving optimally, promised that you're gonna be
a blessing to somebody else. There's a lot of ratchet
ship happening in this country right now. It is from
the United States Supreme Court rolling back progress, whether it's
Roe v. Wade or marriage equality, or allowing big corporations
saying that they can destroy our environment. And it's nothing
(26:38):
that the e p A Can do. To the mass shootings,
to people who cannot afford to pay their bills, they
can't afford their healthcare, they don't have healthcare, two millions
of children being in poverty, to a hundred and forty
million people either low income, very low income, or just
flat out in poverty. Right now, in this moment, there
(26:59):
is so much happening in this country and in this world,
in the pandemic and the fact that the coronavirus is
mutating over and over and over and over again, and
we mask and we don't mask, and we're stressing the
hell out. I get it, and I understand it. I
want you to know that there is still even promise
in these problems that I am laying out, and then
(27:21):
the post traumatic stress that everybody isn't doing one way
or another. But if you are among the working class,
especially the working poor, when things go wrong like they
are right now. It hurts you even in a deeper way.
We are going to have to find a way. It's
the dash is the dash in between the birth date
and the death day. We are going to have to
(27:42):
find a way, both individually and collectively to come together
and use our energy and our synergy to make this
world a better place. I do believe. I do believe.
I do believe. I will continue to believe as I
work that there is promise in the problem and that
we can take this very moment that we are in
in human history and do a new and great and
(28:05):
powerful and beautiful thing. Are you with me, baby? I
hope you are again, sending so much love and so
much light. I want you to keep the faith and
keep the fight, and thank you so very much for
being on this. Hello, somebody journey with me. Nothing but love,
(28:28):
a little more, Mary story, Mary thing. Somebody can turn me.
I'm believe it. I'm somebody turning the universe giving us
somebody turn. Yeah, change is coming. The pain is nothing
(28:52):
trying to shoot for the stars. If you're gonna hang
for something, embrace the love for your brother and sister.
You need these the mission brush, We need the puzzle this.
It just painted up and frame it up for the
world to see. Hain't to hate you it up. Enough
is enough, it's enough making changes enough in turn of
a voice of the truth to wise words inspire the
youth to keep their eyes on the roof. It's the end.
(29:13):
Never give up, keep conquering goals to the eye intelligent silver,
wisdom is gold. Back to the end. Now it's your time.
Stay firm, don't fold to the a or you need
is the three bones. That's what Rannie said. Now I'm
gonna make sure these words from Rannie spray for all
the hair to give it your hair. She can take
him to the promised Land. I swear world pieces what
they fear. Queen's the Cleveland, Ohio. We're here, famous fat
(29:37):
turn up. Somebody, don't need to turn spanning somebody turn out,
Queen love somebody even turn times. Choose one of us?
(30:00):
Had we not? Hello? Somebody is a production of I
Heart Radio and The Black Effect Network. For more podcast
from our Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app,
(30:21):
Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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