Wax Wednesday
Happy Hump Day I.L.L community. A lot of folks do not understand the benefits of a quality wax job. Just like so many other elements in life, we put more emphasis on appearance & tend to have less interests in the protective & performance. We all have seen a freshly washed & waxed vehicle & instantly noticed how the wax adds a gaudy & illustrious shine. A nice coat of wax will rejuvenate any color of paint into a blissful reflective conversation piece. But there’s so much more to car wax than beauty. Lets touch on the protective attributes of a nice quality wax.
Just like a thin sheet of glass you install over the screen of you smart phone, a nice wax is just that; a thin shield of protection. It defends your paint & clear coat from UV rays, dirt, acids found bird droppings, damaging oils from fingerprints & tar & other road soots. Wax will prevent debris from attaching to the clear coat & is easily flushed away during washes. Routine washes are less time consuming & require less effort clean & even drying the vehicle.
Some people will refrain from washing their car if the weatherman says to expect rain. Go ahead & wash it. Its never a good practice to allow gunk to remain on your paint for extended periods of time. After the rain, grab you a bottle of waterless carwash since the water is beaded on your car just like the provided photo. Once the car is clean, apply a thin layer of wax or a few mists of a carnauba spray wax ChemicalGuys Butter Wet Wax. Beaded water means your paint is protected from the elements. Just be sure you are aware of how long the product last. Some waxes advertise that they are effective up to 12 months… but Id definitely reapply every other month just to ensure you are maximizing the level of protection.
Find yourselves a nice car shampoo & a high quality wax to protect your investment. Your car will look immaculate for years come. Its a win/win for you. Fully protected car with a fully unmatchable shine. The name the game is protection. The reflective benefits are the cherry on top.
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
Read The Room
One of my new favorite saying is “Read The Room!” Reading a room is simply an instant & innate way of feeling the vibe of an area you just entered. Just as your foot tells you the comfort level of a pool of water, your ability to read the room should be just as accurate & responsive. I know everyone has walked into a room & the conversation ceased or changed. Real room readers & feel the awkwardness churning & will notice the sudden behavioral changes of other occupying the room.
Reading a room is an amazing leadership quality that can be problem preventative. Imagine walking into a gas station & by reading the room you notice its being robbed before even stepping foot into danger. Paying close attention to your surroundings will allow you to remain a step ahead of any situation.
Here are a few ways to sharpen your room reading skills. Remain aware. Keeping your focus off your phone and on your complete surroundings is the first step. There is a HUGE difference from being paranoid & being cautious. Always follow your gut. When the universe is signaling to you that something is not right, always follow it and never second think or hesitate on what you feel.
A great way of practicing your room reading abilities walking into an establishment & let the universe expose to you everything you need to say. Practicing in a controlled environment is the best way to prepare you for room reading in real life scenarios. You saw in the movie Life how Ray Gibson & Claude Banks had to read the room! Keep your eyes open, stay proactive and practice READING THE ROOM so you won’t end up as nigga pie!
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
Charge It To The Game
A lot of our pockets are anorexia due to a lack of financial nutrients. Closed mouths go unfed. Fully understating that you must feed what you want to grow is vital to our existence. Not know what to ask for is also unhealthy. We miss out on so much adventures in life due to a lack of knowledge and an abundance of misinformation. Let me open your minds to something I recently discovered.
About 7 years ago I was conversing with a customer & she was informing me that she was unavailable for delivery during a certain section of the month because she was treating her family to an overseas vacation. I was blown away by the destination & by the time frame she would be away. My instant response was, “Wow, you are lucky. I wish I had money like that to treat my family in that fashion!” She chuckled at my lack of knowledge of her financial stature & told me she was going to let me in on a little secret. Free information, especially on finances will forever catch my attention. What she revealed to me was a bunch of smog if viewed through ignorant eyes but smoothly transitioned into the morning fog of a cool morning of Spring once she explained. She told me she credit card company will finance her trip & has been doing it for the past several years. “But isn’t charging a trip to a credit card incurring debt & encouraging poor spending habits?” “A credit card is like a firearm!”, she said. “Its a weapon in the wrong hands but in well trained hands, it can save your life!” Think of it like this. Remember being taught your favorite card game? You could have a winning hand but if you are ignorant to the rules, you will NEVER win.
A lot of us are unaware that we are holding a winning hand. If you already possess a credit card, check the TOS of the card to see if they incentivize usage of the card. Depending on your level of credit, a card company will offer 1-5% cash back offers on certain purchases at specific retailers. Its simple mathematic. If your card offers 1%, these companies are really giving you a buck for every $100 you charge. If you are able to get your hands on a 5% return, I bow to you & urge you to use it to your fullest! I have a card that offers 1% in store but 2% at the gas pump. Keep in mind that these purchase are on items that you use daily so we are charging items that will sit in a corner & collect dust like that treadmill you bought 3 years ago with less than 17 miles on it.
The point of the post is a particular type of card. The Travel Card. Travel cards will give you milage on every purchase. Be aware not every airline will accept every milage reward so carefully review the TOS to ensure you are maximizing your rewards. Ive seen some cards that offer 2 miles for every dollar charged. Imagine charging $300 on a good or service & gaining 600 travel miles in return. Sounds too good to be true? Really It doesn't. If you have never played the credit card game or have no knowledge that it even exists, what I’m about to reveal to you will pull asunder your broke man’s mentality & open you up to new financial freedoms.
Every man or woman who finances & maintains a household has household bills & expenses. Some have car note, utilities, cell phone bill or whatever. Take your credit card & charge as many bills on it as you can. Now take your bill money & pay your card off soon as your banking app shows the transactions have cleared & processed. For perspectives, charging a $500 car note each month for a year with a 2% return is a whopping $120 in free money. Now toss in your $300 utility bill or $200 phone bill & your $300 in groceries. The cash back or milage you’re building monies that could be play or investment money.
The purpose of the credit card gain game is to only charge the amount if you have the same amount of cash in pocket. Charging nonsensical rubbish that you may have to carry a balance over til the next month is the easiest way to lose this game. Also be leery about annual fees, over the limit fees some purchase that may not offer cash back. I don’t mind an annual fee if the return of investment is worth it. Try not to let high interest rates scare you. Interest fees are non existent if you do not carry a balance AT ALL. If you have a regular credit card, feel free to contact the bank & inquire about converting it into a card that can work for you. Make it a habit to contact them & ask about new features or offers or even exploring your options on increasing your credit limit. NEVER be shy about asking how you can fully maximize making your money work for you.
In closing, credit cards are NOT equivalent to having cash. I tell myself that my credit cards are rich uncles who will easily loan money cash anytime I need it but I have to pay them back in full by a set date. No one has every gotten rich playing the credit card game but many have been able to make this money work for them & give them that free mileage for vacation or free money for vacation that we all need to achieve spiritual fitness. I would love to hear about your realistic money making tips that I may be able to enhance my life. Feel free to leave any tips or comments below.
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
Managing Mental Health
Kaden Ingram
Happiness must be in the shape of a circle. All of the elements that I’ve been speaking of to achieve metal & spiritual fitness seem to come back around like the hands of a clock. Happiness comes in a multitude of examples. What makes me happy tends to differ from what makes you happy. But I feel we can all agree on that a stable mental health is the foundation to building a happy & healthy lifestyle.
I’m not here to pass judgment or peel away at the levels of this traumatic story. I’m just using this as an example of why our mental is critical & also share a few ways we can battle our demons. On September 11, 2021, an unstable individual lost her battle with a mental illness. Fallon Harris was a city servant of Chicago. The hustle of city living paired with the stress of a demanding job raised concerns with family & friends. A few in her close circle insisted that she sought out mental help. Ms. Fallon finally heeded those suggestions & set a session with a therapist. She took the steps to find the helps she needed but roughly 24 hours after her visit, things took a gruesome turn for the worse. Ms. Fallon became upset over a miss SD Card & shot her beloved 12 yr old son Kaden multiple times. Mr. Kaden’s wounds would seal his fate. 😭
When situations like this happen, we should not point fingers and play the Should’ve, Would've, Could've game. In hindsight we all would be more proactive & prevent circumstances like this from happening before they even surfaced but life doesn’t work that way. We all should keep our eyes open & constantly check on family that we may suspect that's losing a mental struggle. Liking a post is not checking on someone. Call them, go to their house & put eyes on them! A loved one saying they are fine could be an embedded message of “I’m not at my best but I don’t wanna bother you with my issues!”
I’m far from a doctor or specialist but I have conducted a little research of my own. What I have found is MOST (not all) mental instabilities stem from chemical imbalances. The safety way to correct any imbalance is through fasting or clean eating. Fasting allows your body to flush out the toxic chemicals that are pumped into the foods we consume. Also, consuming cleaner & organic items that are not laced with pesticides aids in decreasing the levels of impurities. Intermittent fasting along with clean eating will show you dramatic results in your mental health within 9 days or so.
A morning walk or a vigorous workout routine helps in releasing stress & frustrations & sweating out poisons. Combine these 3 things & you will feel your entire world level out. When troubleshooting why your car will not start, its imbecile to buy a new motor before checking to see if you have gas or if the battery is dead. Correcting a problem with minor tweaks will save you time, money and energy down the line. Don’t let the world tell you that being doped up on Big Pharma’s list of unknown dead-icines ☠️ is the best way to combat your mental concerns.
Lastly, expressing your feelings in a journal or blog is another inexpensive healthy approach. You will find Meditation or venting with a trusted member of your life beneficial as well. We as citizens of the Black Community MUST ensure we are all safe & well cared for. None of these systems are for us or by us so entrusting their systems to assist in our problem typically doesn’t close out in our favor. If you know of any black therapist, feel free to link them in the comment section. If you know any anyone who is losing a mental battle, do anything you can with the powers invested in you that they receive the help they require before we lose anther future leader like Mr. Ingram.
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
Gentrified: pt Two
This is the first time in ages you have felt secure walking in your environment. You feel so safe that you realized that you have been nearly sleep walking. The newly added crosswalks allow you to move without stepping into now busy streets. You ask yourself, “ Where has this gentrification been my whole life?”. As sweet as this new panorama is, something stabs your tastebuds & leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. The local soul food joint has now disappeared & a Whole Foods has taken its place. The neighborhood liquor store is not a big box chain store. Even our mom & pop corner store is now a Shell station.
You also notice that this new flow of traffic is not mere people passing through but are your new neighbors. Despite your deep love for all the modern enhancements, something just doesn’t sit well with all of the places that earned your business over the years has been replaced with chain businesses that won’t give you the same level of customer service that Neighborhood stores gifted you. With mom & pop stores, its MORE than just customer service. These store owners watched your parents grow from seeds & also was there to watch your parents raise it. They are practically family. Where is your family go? What happened to their booming businesses that once stood so strong & profitable?
As your stroll comes to an end, you make it back to your front door. Theres no place like home but you are really becoming disturbed about what’s happened to your home. As you open your door, you discover a notice informing you of a rate increase of your rent. The cost of the renovations has been passed on the citizens. Deeper into the correspondence it states that starting on the 1st of next month, your rent has been doubled & if you don’t want to or can’t afford the cost of living price hikes, that you must vacate.
Gentrification is like a beautiful layer of make up. From surface view, everting is pretty impressive. But soon as you dig deeper, you learn of its ugly truth. The easiest way to remove poor people is to drop the pros of gentrification right into their lap. This is happening at alarming rates all over the country. This is a form of systematic form of racism. Either pay the price for a decent lifestyle or get your ass out. So many inner city areas are hidden gold minds with hidden treasures. A lot of these environments are special because of us working with what we have to make what we want. Our artist are called vandals. Everything we do to make our living situations sufficient has been labeled as “ghetto” & demonized.
Necessity is the mother of invention. Our ancestors were tossed parts of the pig that whites refused to eat . They were crafty enough to invent means out of parts they were given. Same here. We were forced into their smog filled & polluted inner city areas & made the best out out of them Once they saw how we survived by making tasty meals out of pig’s feet & intestines, they wanted to take them back & call it fine dining. We made hood home & now they are coming back for what they initially do not want. So please don’t fall victim of the pretty paint job of gentrification because its accompanied by an ugly price. And that price will cost you more than sanitary tender.
☮️🌡 Family
Gentrified: pt One
Imagine receiving a letter from city officials about exciting new neighborhood enhancements that are coming to your area. This correspondence vaguely details the upcoming improvements. They speak of repaving roads & sidewalks, planting new grass & shrubs & installing more lights for safety & security. Fresh paint is said to cover the once graffiti filled walls & the vacant buildings are to be newly occupied with healthier eating choices. Once the construction, new life is being pumped into the neighborhood & these are exciting times for everyone. It appears that the city finally took time out of their day to add a face lift to the “hood” and improve everyone’s quality of living.
You decide to take a stroll around the block once the work is nearly completed. You notice every abandoned building has been magically transformed into a new place of business that offers new goods & services thats never been available before. They even introduced better waste management systems so the air has a cleaner smell. Refreshing thoughts flood your mind as you complete your walk. Everyone seems so ecstatic about the new developments. Everything is so clean, well lit, safe and renewed. We will get back to the stroll in a moment.
The gentrification process is a visually lovely thing. All of the fixing up raises value in our neighborhoods & increases the quality of life for us. Safer neighborhoods equates to safer schools for our youth & better schools creates an increase of salaries to pay more qualified teachers and staff. This always creates lower crime rates & means more tourist & visitors will feel safe when they come to spend money with the newly born businesses in the area. This gentrification thing is like the citizenry of our hood as hit the lottery. What could be better than a community being gentrified?
Protect Your Investment
I was always told that if you buy cheap, you buy twice. Despite the investment, its up to you to protect it. I remember when smartphones became a glass bricks. The average price was north of $700 but some people refused to shell $40 on a decent form of protection. When you skimp out on proper protection for your investment, you always regret it in the end.
Lets say you decide to purchase a new vehicle. Are you willing & able to acquire & maintain adequate protection? Protecting it not only in form of insurance. Are you able to keep up with oil changes & or mechanical obligations? Will you keep it washed & waxed to ensure your paint & clear coat will look its best as long as possible. Today we will be focusing on protecting your car’s exterior & preserving its beauty.
Cars are usually parked on the dealer’s lots for months on end. The porters may spray idle inventory on a weekly basis but spraying water on a car is not fully caring for it. Even after the purchasing process is completed & your new investment is sent over for delivery, its still isn’t given a proper cleaning. This is how so many new cars (especially ones with darker paints) end up with scratches & swirls before you even leave the lot. Most people’s first instinct when they arrive home with a new car is to share their purchase on social media. Yes, there’s nothing wrong with being proud of your new toy but protecting it from all angles should be first. Heres a few things you should do. I’ll go into deeper detail in a later post.
First you want to make sure you have the proper utensils & productions. You will need a source of water, a ph balanced car shampoo, scratch free microfiber towels, a glaze & then a wax to seal the deal. Other items you may need down the line is a clay bar & a polisher. Now that we know what we need, heres a small break down of what each item does.
The water source: used to spray off loose dirt & debris.
Car shampoo is formulated be to a cleanser & a lubricant to safely lift dirt without scratches
A quality microfiber towel will quickly dry your vehicle & lift any remaining debris
A clay bar will extract soot & other contaminants trapped in your clear coat that the naked eye can’t see
The glaze is formulated to bond to the clear coat & give your paint an unearthly shine
Waxes are used to seal in the glaze & seal out future dirt. After a good wax, later washes are faster
Over the next few months I’ll be posting more in-depth information on proper car wash methods & other content on protecting your investment. Stay tunes ILL Fam!
Prepping While Black
A wiseman once said if you stay ready then there’s no need for having to get ready. This is exactly the epitome of prepping; or being prepared. I have been through several pandemics during my time on this planet but I have never witnessed how quickly & easily that our normal world could be torn asunder. We never know when another lockdown or marshal law could be implemented & we lose all of our freedoms. This is why we prep! But what is prepping while black?
Prepping while black is the fact that other communities have been prepping for years & have a huge head start over us. Its not a race so I beg you not to let their advantage discourage you. Preparing while Black is ensuring you have enough nonperishable foods, water, ammunition & other survival supplies for every soul in your household. Other supplies you may need is rope, a nice knife, batteries , flashlights, first aid kits, material for building makeshift shelters and even matches & campfire supplies. If money allows & you have a place to store it, a generator is essential. This is the what of prepping but what about the why’s?
Reports have been made that if the power grid ever becomes disabled, over 60% of the population would die off within the first few days. So many of our people are depended on refrigerated medications & without the ability to keep those prescriptions preserved will surely shorten your days. This is why is vital to live a healthy, medicine free life if at al possible. Another chunk of us will perish from being too depended on western living. The average person isn’t able to walk from the house to the car without feeling the effects of heat exhaustion so imagine going weeks without air conditioning & running water. The way Americans over eat is pretty gluttonous. We get cranky between snacks so how do you expect to survive going days without a full meal? This is where training your body to fast & reduce pointless snacking will aid you mist.
I will be revising this topic every few months. If you chose to start prepping, keep in mind a few tips that the pros suggest. Try to store 1 gallon of water for each family member per day. Try to store non perishable foods in a cool, dry place & try to get foods that are lower in salt. Keep in mind the more salt you eat the more water your body may crave. The key here is to preserve as much as possible for as long as possible. You can find MRE (meals ready to eat) packets from your local Walmart or Academy. You can also find other camping supplies on Amazon that will fit anyones budgets. A water purifying straw or pitcher is also important if you are forced to leave home & are unable to carry the weight of water jugs.
So what happens if you are forced out of your home. This is where a bug out bag comes into play. A bug out bag is simply a bag that houses the bare necessities designed for quick departure. It should have a few days of food supply, a water purifying device, some sort of weapon & campfire starting supplies.
We are dwelling in uncertain times & don’t ever feel we as Americans are immune to 3rd world situations. Even a simple storm can take out the power grid & if/when it happens, I want all my citizens & ILL family to be BLACK & PREPARED! Be prepared for the worse but expect the best.
☮️&🤎🌡Family
Weight Problem vs Wait Problem
We have been viciously lied to. Since I was in grade school, the atrocious deception that we need 3 square meals a day to lead a strong & healthy life was tossed around. I’m not going down the alley of if that misinformation was intentional or not. But I do find it mystifying that an entire government entity would train & condition us to over eat. Everything on this planet has a limit. Watch what happens when you put too much air in a tire or pump too much gas in your car. Too many of anything; good or bad; makes you an addict. Over eating leads to obesity & obesity leads to inflammation & inflammation leads to 90% of illnesses we face. Diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure & cholesterol just to name a few. Once these aliments arise, Big Pharma has you by the throat & force feeds you poisons to help live with your new acquired sickness instead of giving you proper guidance on how to make it to a cure.
The late, great Robin Harris said it best when he spoke of us over eating. He said our WEIGHT problems come from us not being able to WAIT to eat. Fasting solves 95% of life’s issues if practiced or an extended time frame. The results are tremendous even if you so an intermittent fast. First & foremost, fasting builds a sense of accomplishment. It takes extreme disciple to reverse any habit but to transpose the conditioning of pointless snacking is something to be proud of. When your stomach sends that notification that its time to eat, preoccupy yourself with an alternate activity such as reading or working out. Increasing your water intake is another way of settling your stomach. The key here is to train your stomach that your mind is the pilot that controls the plane.
Just as we empty out or pockets on laundry, we have to free our bodies too. Fasting allows your to release all waste from your body while allowing your digestive system to rest. Once your digestive system is resting, its able to reconstruct its self & heal from year & years of poor eating habits & rid itself of other toxins & poisons like pesticides that our foods we treated with. Even ingredients used to preserve our food makes them harder to break down & digest. It takes more stomach acids to aid this process & over time, the acids used to benefit digesting starts digesting you. Once again too much of ANYTHING beneficial can pose negative effects.
If you are battling with your scale, waiting to eat is one of the first steps you should consider taking. Fasting allows you to work off the weight without adding more. We all know our bodies need nutrients for a healthy survival but almost all of us have enough nutrients stored around of bellies to last a few week. No one in the history of the world has died from fasting but plenty have perished from feasting. Along with weight loss, fasting automatically enhances your quality of life. You are able to rest more soundly because your body is at peace & not using energy digesting. Your body has less waste & toxins so your hair & skin is healthier. Now that your body is healing, this is the ideal time to feed your mind. Pick up a good book & read about fasting. I’m no doctor so please so your own research. But I would like to recommend the next book on my reading list.
You hold the keys to the best pharmaceutical company on the planet & everything on the shelf is free! Try fasting Eating the proper foods will improve your mental power, physical appearance, for prevention of illness, curing of ailments and prolonging life. The longer you are on this planet, the more time you have to work on self mastery.
Vast As The Ocean
Back in 2013 I decided to turn my passion from a hobby into a means of income. Vast As The Ocean Photography LLC was born. I found doing photography calming as some find relaxation in fishing. A lot of research & self teaching went into this. I was researching what camera features I needed, best lenses, how to edit, what program to edit in. Lets not even get into lighting & cost of running a website & social media advertising.
The most offensive thing you could tell a photographer is that their camera takes good pictures. Thats just like telling a baker that his oven makes great cakes. The camera is just a tool & what your level of creativity does with that tool is what makes the magic. The Point of this post is to share some of my most impressive work with my ILL community.
Can You Deal With Damaged Goods?
While grocery shopping oneday, I ran across a can of goods that sat lonely on a shelf with a few minor cosmetic imperfections. The dents were highly noticeable & the label was tattered a bit but there was something intriguing & interesting about this can. I picked it up to take a full inventory of its suffrage only to find out that the damages ran deeper than I initially suspected. A red discount tag was attached to the can. Its always beneficial to take advantage of a price cut but in this particular case, I could care less about saving a few nickels on an abused can. I was baffled on how someone could bypass on a wonderful commodity just because it came with a few deformities & disfigurements. I was not curious about the discount for my entire inquisitiveness was focused on the can. Its contents were still preserved & the nutritional value remained fresh. If the insides are unscathed & fresh, why do we put so much emphasis on appearance & presentation.
No one on the face of this planet is perfect. We all come with damages. Think about all the amazing people we shallowly missed out on when we do not take time to get to know someone. It takes an attentive leader to deal with a damaged person. Iron sharpens iron but on the flip side of the coin, hurt people hurt people. Listening to one’s story on how they became damaged is the first step to helping. Lead them an ear. Allow them to get their side of their experience off their chest. Get a full understanding on the cause of the damage. Knowing the backstory benefits both parties.
When dealing with defaced cans, be sure to handle them with care. I’ve seen too many of us reach for a rose & pull back a hand full of thorns. A dented container can puncture if not handled cautiously. Keep your total attention on the ways you handle them. Half of us get so focused on the trees that we miss the forest. The other half get so concerned with hacking away at diseased branches & never dawns on them to inspect the root. The root is always the starting point to lead them to the healing path. Who care if the damages are internal or external. The key to a healthy mental life is to seek professional help. You can lead a horse to water but you can not influence it to drink. But how can a professional benefit you if you don’t have faith in them & you don’t attend treatments. Its up to us to monitor the damaged & build confirmation that a professional’s care can help them construct acceptance on the damages that can not be repaired. The key ingredient is learning to living with the damages we can not change, repair the ones we can & putting less emphasis on the DAMAGES & fully focus on the GOOD!
☮️ I.L.L family 🌡
The Extraction
I’m composing this while in unappreciable pain. We all have experienced the type of pain that reminds you something is wrong as much as you try to keep your mind free of it. Teeth play an important role in our survival. The foods we consume to nourish our temples are initially crushed by teeth. This is the beginning steps of digestion process. Just like friends, each tooth has a dash of diversity to distinguish themselves uniquely from one another. Having a particular purpose, each tooth works singular to form a system, or a team if you will, to complete the objective. But what happens when 1 tooth is unable to do his job without causing you pain? Pain is pain despite it being intentional or accidental. As leaders, we are designed to withstand a hint of discomfort but when that irritation becomes unbearable, it may be time to come to terms & face reality by making an irreversible decision. The Extraction.
I was always told that pain is our weakness leaving the body. Once we pinpoint which tooth is the culprit, we have to ask him to leave or physically have him removed. Who wants be subjected to more pain while already in pain? Believe it or not but some pain is beautiful when you view it through your 3rd eye. Teeth are vital for eating & forming speech. Extracting something from your world that you need WILL be painful…but the beauty of this discomfort is it will only cause pain 1 time…unlike the continuous hurt you have been experiencing.
Temporary self inflicted pain is better received than the on going torture from an uncontrolled source. If the element is needed or not; if its disrupting your peace & happiness, by all means it MUST go. For the surface dwellers, I am solely taking about teeth. For my true leaders who understand double entendres, plays on word and seekers of deeper meaning, I’m solely talking about life. So if you do have that job that’s disrupting your comfort or that friend/family member who no longer wants to be part of the unit, its time to extract them from your essence for the sake of your painfree sanity. Remember, seeing that pain being uprooted will indeed hurt. BUT it will only hurt once. Once that torment has been ripped out, its time begin with the process of purification to reinforce everything that I preach here. I want the I.L.L community to lead pain free, productive lives & smooth rides on the path of spiritual fitness.
☮️
Dependability
A few years after high school I heard this song called “They Forced My Hand" by Cormega & Tragedy. The song started off with a bar that was engraved into my brain since the day I heard it. "A man is either condemned or exalted by his words!". To truly understand the meaning of those words you'd have to truly OVERSTAND the definitions of condemn & exalt! This brings us back to a previous post that touched on the Power of Words. Imagine having words so valuable that your audience had no choice to exalt you? Or imagine having words so pointless that folks condemn you as soon as you open your mouth. The only thing a Black Man has in his life is his word. Back in the day our word was our bond! When we made an agreement, we gave our word & sealed it with a handshake.
Dependability is major asset to have associated with you name. As leaders, we have to be dependable & have the power & resources to show up & show out. Look at yourself in the mirror & evaluate your dependability. Its totally NOT ok to let people down. Once we make an agreement & give our word, we HAVE to make those complete those vows to keep our word untarnished. I try to stay away from the word promise because promises are made to be broken. But when you make a vow with a person, that vow is impenetrable.
Honoring a vow to a child is a major stepping stone in instilling loyalty & ethics into their heart. You not only disservice your credibility by displaying a lack of dependability but you could tear asunder the fabrics of a child's innocences. The object here is to EXALT our future leaders & show them now valuable our word is & show them that word is way more priceless than a credit score. So what if a bank won't deal with you but if your own community doesn't see value in your vows, you have committed an act of High Treason.
Actions truly speak louder than words but those 2 go to hand in hand. Don't shoot the breeze about it if you know you can't be about it. We depend on our vehicles to get us from point A to B. How would you feel if your car decided that today his word was NOT going to be his bond & the braking system chose not to be dependable?Going back on a vow is un-royal & reckless. Don't be that guy (or gal) who fails on a commitment & have people condemn you for the rest of your being. Be that King or Queen who get exalted when we make liable obligations. Its an oxymoron to be an undependable leader! Keep your dependability polished like it was a badge of honor. 🏅 Be Your Brother's Keeper!
Infinite Love & Loyalty to the ILL Community
Black Preservation
Its no secret that society has 2 different rulebooks. When it comes to preserving our communities, we have to be extra careful how we move. I never grew up around firearms & I’m kind of embarrassed to say that I was in my late 30’s when I was introduce to them. It’s better to have protection & not need it than to need it & not have it. Firearms are an inanimate item that are practically harmless until in the hands of a hero or a zero. They can either be a tool or a weapon. It just depends on the handler. Guns do not get bored & just got off for shits & giggles. When danger arises or when you are faced with a life-threatening event, a gun in the right hands can equalize the situation. Imagine 63 yr old Lola being attacked by a 300 lbs male. Theres no way Lola can take down this threat with her bare hands. Her Smith & Wesson gives her a fighting chance to live to see the next day.
Gun laws vary from state to state but in Texas, you do not need a license to purchase a firearm. Just waltz down to your local gun store or sporting goods store & simply buy it. But with this type of power needs to come an equal amount of responsibility. Here are 3 essential tips that will help you become a safe gun owner.
Learn your state’s ever changing laws
Learn the 4 basic firearm rules
Get Insurance.
An easy way to get caught up is by not knowing your state’s gun laws. In some states you can not transport a loaded firearm & in some states you can carry it loaded but forbidden to use hollow points.You can stand your ground in some & have a duty to retreat in some. A lot of law abiding citizen become criminals over night by possessing a high capacity magazine that was just legal to retain just 24 hours ago. Also, be careful when reading laws. The legal jargon can be overwhelming & can be easily misconstrued. There are tons of resources out there to help filter the fluffy from the info.
Now that you’ve purchased your shiny new toy, you have to know how to handle it.I advise you learn the 4 basic gun rules (not laws) before you lock & load it at the range. Treat EVERY firearm as if its loaded. Never point your weapon at anyone or anything you are not willing to destroy. Even when its empty & you are cleaning it, NEVER jokingly point a gun at anyone. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to use it. You can easily find videos online on the proper way to handle a firearm. Lastly, know your intended target & what’s beyond it. If ever in a self defense situation & you strike an innocent bystander while stopping a threat, you are fully responsible & liable face anything that comes after that. This is why is very important that we train. Training will allow you to expect the best but will have you prepared for the worse if it ever comes your way.
Just as with any type of insurance, you do not need it til its time to need it.In the event you have to use your weapon in self defense, companies like USCCA are there. They have partnered with lawyers in every state to handle everything while you get through this difficult situation. They will cover your bail, court costs, loss wages from your job & even firearm replacement. I know I don’t have $2M sitting around. Along with those hosts of features, you get tons of video training from some of the best instructors in the Industry.
We all pray that we never have to protect for family & neighborhoods with deadly force. But sometimes we have to pick guns up in order for a threat to put theirs down. In some cases, brandishing a weapon can put a threat to rest. There are also less lethal ways to fight off an enemy. Your hands or even pepper spray are great alternatives.At the endow the day, we all just want to make it home to our loved ones & preserve our live so we can continue to make memories with the people we love.
Be Sure Of The Purpose
A few posts ago, I touched on a critical topic of healthcare & the importance of knowing what you are going up against before you battle “The System”! Towards the end of that entry I purposely shifted the focus from John Q to John Henry. If you are not able to identify John Henry, I’ll give you a brief rundown of who he was & why his story is engraved on the walls of my heart.
John Henry was a freed slave that ended up working on the railroad during the industrial revolution. Being a freed slave back then is very similar to a released inmate. No where to go while not having any skills to find adequate employment. Working the railroads were dangerous & was very strenuously. John lost so many friends while working due to heat, collapsing caves & lack of oxygen from mining in a deep coal shaft. Work condition were poor but John carried on knowing he had to provide for his family.
While building the railroad, there lay a mighty obstruction in the planned path. It was impossible to lay tracks over a mountain & the foreman felt it was illogical to build around it so the only other way was to go through it. As the project began, a salesman from the city approached the foreman & told him of his amazing invention he manifested that could melt through stone & complete the task well before its projected completion date. The salesman also ensure the foreman that this investment could efficiently replace human workers while drastically cutting costs.The foreman was all in but John & the other railroad workers would be rendered unemployed if the foreman purchased the machine. John stood firm & said he was not going down without a brawl.
John stretched as he offered to compete against the machine. The salesman laughed because he knew no human alive could war with a digging apparatus & reign supreme. The competition was on & both John & the machine started laying tracks while digging through the internals of the mountain. Long story short, the digging contraption over heated & burst into flames. Everyone (with the exception of the salesman) was ecstatic over John’s victory. While in the mists of John’s celebratory moment, he clinched his chest & was having difficulty breathing. Everything that John fought to get off his shoulders was now heavily weighing on his chest. As everyone ran to help John, he collapsed & died in the very spot he gain his iconic victory.
The story of John Henry is about a Black Man who went to war with the system in hopes to secure his friends , coworkers and family had sustainable income. John looked the system in the face & told it that he woulnt’t stop until his people were in better positions. John & his “Go hard or go home” ambitiousness fueled his drive for victory. Some may argue that John’s achievement was in vain & the payoff wasn’t worth his life. But Id have to wholeheartedly disagree. A man with nothing to die for doesn’t have anything worthy to live. for. We will all face the day when we have to stare down a system & get combative with it. But be selective on the battles you pick. Is the payout worth it? Does the reward outweigh the risk?
Are you guys telling your people how you feel about them while you can? After John won the battle, he still wasn’t able to make it home. The system has multiple moving part so be cautious when challenging it. John paid the ultimate price against the system. If you find yourself in John’s shoes, reach out to friends for helpful resources. Try not to face this demon alone. As a community, it’s vital that we pull together like each component of the network & intricately work together to exhaust the system. We all have a little John Henry in our blood. Despite the task, big or small, always give it your all & once you have given it your all, dig a little deeper and go a little harder. When you hit your last wind, John will be there to carry you across the finish line.
Peace I.L.L Community
Count Your Blessing & Not My Change
Happy Sunday to the I.L.L. Community. I have a question. Why can’t some of us mind the business that pays us? Instead of focusing on what’s real & nothing else, we burn so many gallons of energy concentating on stuff that isnt our concern. My mom used to listen to this song called Sweep Around Your Own Front Door before you try to sweep around mines. I vomit when I see articles titled “20 Rappers That Went Broke!”. So what? Stop counting my coins & count your blessings.
One reason the financially challenged remain challenged is because their focus is targeted on the wrong bullseye. Don’t whisper behind my back & tell your circle of misery that I’m living beyond my means when in reality I’m living beyond YOUR means. An adult that’s focused on their business has a plate full to sort through without concerning themselves with what’s on the next. man’s platter. I’m too fascinated on maintaining my source of income so I can continue leading the lifestyle I love. I could care less who has paper plates on their vehicle & how much you spend on shoes. What you consume doesn’t make me potty.
W can’t take our monetary earnings with us when we leave this planet so when you see me blowing my money, don’t count my change, count your blessings!
Can Da Homie Get A Visit?
Human being are extremely sociable creatures. Studies have proven that when surrounded by like minded individuals, we tend to flourish & level up. Theres an old saying that says 2 heads are better than one. Even the most anti-social being has a handful of friends that they love being in their company. So now that we’ve established that we all love to socialize, CAN DA HOMIE GET A VISIT!?
When was the last time you checked on your people? I’m not talking about a text message or assuming they are good because they recently posted on social media. Even during a phone call & they tell you they are fine, don’t always take their verbal confirmation as validity. Give da homie a visit. Pull up on them! Place your eyes on them. Put hands on them. Take a total inventory on all of your friends & family & see for yourself that they are truly fine.
We all have our demons we battle with so when a homie shuts themselves off from you, don’t be so quick to charge it to the “I hear you” card. They may be silently calling for a visit. That’s our problem. We have been conditioned to accept everything at face value instead of escavating beneath the surface in search of the true meaning. Remember Kings & Queens that silence is a POWERFUL voice.
I beg each & every one of you to take 30 minutes out of your week & pull up on a homie. I’m referring to homies that are incarcerated & the homies that are free. We have family in nursing homes or shut in a home that could use a visit. Actions express at a louder volume than words. A lot of people will stand in a 2 hour line at a amusement park to bestride a 60 second ride but won’t drive 2 hours to give a homie a 5 minute visit. Go see your people & inspect them for actions that validate they are fine & do not put so much faith in words. Sticks & stones break bones but words never hurt… unless they are words on a tombstone. Don’t wait to visit the homie in his last resting place. You will never achieve spiritual peace with holding on to words & hugs you should have given your homie while he was here to reciprocate the gesture.
Childhood Lessons
All my life I’ve always gravitated towards a meaning. If a song, book, cartoon or movie had a moral, I’m all in. Our everyday lives are transactional. You give an eating establishment money & they give you food in return. You give your employer time & they reciprocate a check. When you open a book & open your mental gates, in return you may receive a life long lesson. In order to be presented with these teachings, we must first clear our mind of the clutter & make room to store it safely in the depths of our minds but also in a location where we can easily access it later.
Enter the Little Red Hen. I was in grade school when I first heard of this hustling hen. While it may have been entertain to my adolescent counterparts, I truly acknowledged what was happening because I saw it happen in real time through my eyes. If you are not familiar with the story, the Little Red Hen lived in a small house with her family. Going forward I’ll refer to her as Henny. Henny worked hard to maintain her household like so many of us Kings & Queens do. She cooked & clean while her relatives took advantage of her kindness. Dwelling with her non assisting household did not break Henny. She knew her drive push her through the current task & well past the next one. Her kindness was THEIR weakness.
Henny was working out in the yard one day & found some wheat. She asked her family if anyone wanted to help harvest it and bring it on the house. Of course, no one wanted to help. Henny knew her family all so well so she found a hidden pleasure asking if anyone would assist her knowing the results of her requests. She asked if anyone wanted to help converting the wheat into flour & they all declined. The chuckled as she ask them to help mix the fresh flour with milk, eggs and sugar & beat it into batter for she foresaw the outcome. Once the batter was poured into a baking pan & placed in the over at 350º for 35 minutes, the entire household came running with plates in hands, feeling they were entitled to get a slice of the cake. Just as they refused to help put in work, Henny refused to break bread with them. Henny enjoyed every crumb of that cake she worked so hard to prepare. She knew she needed that cake for nourishment to refuel her soul so she could move on to the next task at hand. The End!
Revisiting this childhood tale as an adult really showed me a LOT of lessons. What all did you take from this story now that you are more mature & have seen life? You don’t work, you don’t eat? Don’t break bread with enemies? Family will treat you worse than a stranger? Watch your enemies close & your friends even closer? If you can’t determine who your enemy is, investigate your friends? And lastly, grind for your wheat & you will enjoy your cake!
Infinite Love & Love to the ILL Community. Until next time…
Healthcare Horrors
Today is the big day. You have been working, grinding & saving up to make this major purchase. Despite it being mid July, it feels like Christmas Day. As you step on the car lot, you can see the luster of her paint from a distance. The salesman hands you the keys for the test drive & your excitement is higher than the sticker price attached to the window. She’s equipped with all the features you know & love. The fragrance of leather takes over your nose. As you press the push button, a sweet melody of engine purr fill the air. What you are feeling is love at first touch. Now that the test drive is done, it’s time to handle the paper part of the deal. The order form is completed & you side it back to him along with the downpayment. Everything is ready to go until you he tells you, “I’m sorry but we can’t get you approved for that one BUT we can get you into something else!”
Something similar happened to John Q in 2002. His cheerful son had a serious ailment that landed him in the hospital.Nothing to fear right? Mr. Q is a hard working, tax paying, law abiding citizen that has the best health care that is offered. He’s paying for insurance so let them handle it. If you havnt’t seen that stellar film, I advise you to watch it. If you have seen it, we all know how far insurance got Mr. Q.
The reason this topic is so near & dear to my heart is because I recently went through a similar fiasco. Insurance doesn't want to cover the very medicines you need for survival. It was always a hoop to jump through. When they did locate a medicine the insurance would cover, it had to be mailed to your house in a 3 month supply so that took the price from post insurance amount times 3. Trying to fight red tape & loop holes is an ample amount of unwanted stress. Its normal to become emotionally bankrupt & have feelings of “its cheaper to die than to live!” As you know, we are here to assist you in keeping your worries low & your hopes high. Here are a few suggestions.
GoodRX is a God sent site that a lot of people recommend. They offer SOME medication at a discounted rate. While they were the selling what I needed for the same price, others have truly benefitted from them. Another avenue is contacting the manufacturer. When pharmaceutical companies purchase drugs from the factory, the prices end up UBER inflated because everyone has their hand in the pot. But contacting the maker directly, you may be able to get a discounted rate while saying ixnay to the middle man.
We have to stay vigilant while dealing with the America “healthcare” system. So many of us walk in for minor procedures or common ailments but ended up being rolled out in a bag. Supporting information is out there that our women die at alarming higher rates than white women. Dealing with this system is just like dealing with any other man made system. We are virtually playing a dangerous game that the systematic operators make the rules. They know you asthma & will ask you to run a marathon for a puff of medicine. You see what happed to John Henry (and John Q) after battling “the system”! John Henry won the fight against systematic unjust but he lost the war when he died from exhaustion.
Peace community. Stay ILL until we meet again.
Air Bed & Breakfast: My 1st Stay
Decor from The Jasmine House
We can all agree that a nice getaway from reality is a great way to strengthen our mental health. Picking the perfect place to stay is just as important as the vacation itself. A few weeks ago I touched on the topic to book a traditional hotel or take the modern approach & Airbnb it. I will admit that my post may have been seasoned with a dash of bias. I say that because pre-post, I did not have any experience with the Airbnb avenue. As I wrap up my last few hours of my vacation I will fill you in on my first modern abode experience.
To maximize the value of your Airbnb stay, always book with people who have been labeled as a Super Host. Super host tend to have great reviews & act with a servants heart. If you have an excellent host, there’s a higher probability that you will have a pleasant stay. Be sure to read as many reviews as possible. The reviews will give you clues about the safety of location, cleanliness of the house, what other goods & services that are near by & other hints of how good the stay will be. Keep in mind that a review is just an opinion & what was good to one customer may be a terrible experience for you.
A few negative sides to this type of accommodation is that everything relies on the host. The house will only be as cleans as the host. A lot of times your host will work a full time job so if you need extra towels or something, this would have to wait til they are off work. You do not get around the clock service like a hotel offers. Keep in mind that if you make it to your bnb & are not completely satisfied with it, you have to contract your host & Airbnb's customer service. With a hotel, they can easily switch you to another suite.
Another downside to the Airbnb experience is comfort. My host’s living quarters were on the opposite side of a wall. I didn’t hear much & assume she doesn’t have kids but it kind of didn’t digest well with me that a complete stranger was under the same roof. And lastly, my room was a bit cooler than I felt it should have been. The thermostat was on her side of the house. She did have a window unit AC, a heater and a few fans to help with getting conformable.
My overall experience with my Super Host was an amazing one. Will I ever use this service again? Yes! Now that I have a little insight on what to expect, I know my future Airbnb accommodations will be just as nice.