The Honeybee's Lifestyle

Category: LIFESTYLE

  • What I Know For Sure

    What I Know For Sure

    Hello Honeybees,
    Today I am blessed to celebrate my 53rd trip around the sun.
    I thought I would take this moment to share a few things that, as Oprah would say, I KNOW FOR SURE. Let me add that these are things that I know for sure in my life. These are my experiences that came by way of some hardheaded bought lessons.

     

    What I know for sure:
    • You are never to old to learn
    • Surround yourself with people that care about your heart
    • You are NOT always right
    • Age does not mean mature
    • Having someone that truly loves you matters
    • You need people in your life, life is lonely and boring without others
    • You have been hurt but you have to learn to trust again (easier said than done but worth it)
    • You can enjoy life AND save for a rainy day
    • You need to travel the world to broaden your horizons
    • Your city is what you make it, Aint It Mane!

    • Everyone will not like you & that’s okay
    • Your home should be a place of peace
    • Your perfect kids are not perfect
    • Your perfect spouse is not perfect
    • Keeping folks out of your business reduces gossip
    • You can start over

    Photos by Christine Phillips
    • Bad times don’t last always & neither do the good times. Learn from both
    • Listen to your body
    • Your timeline is your timeline, stop comparing yourself to others
    • You can be in a room full of people and still be lonely
    • At the same time alone does not mean lonely
    • You can kick yourself or you can kick but!! The choice is yours

    I hope that you enjoyed my list. What is something about life that you know for sure?

    Beewisdom- You catch more flies with honey, be nice to people.
  • Q2

    Q2

    Hello Honeybees

    We are at the midpoint of 2020 and boy a lot happened in the second quarter. The first quarter for me was about Lent, hanging out, girlfriend time and thinking that by now the world would be back to normal. As we now know the world is anything but normal. 

    Protest

    Q2 brought us the stark reality of everything that is COVID-19. We went from dining out to curb side pick up. From everyone HAD to go into the office to everyone NOW working from home without an end date. From in person meetings to ZOOM, which I am SO OVER at this point. From washing your hands to washing your hands AND wear a mask AND stay 6 ft apart. To add more craziness people are actually refusing to wear a mask. How much more outrageous can we get? Well, keep reading.

    On top of a global pandemic we also have to fight racism but this time on a much different level. It’s not like Black people haven’t been fighting but we haven’t, in my opinion, seen this level of activism since the Civil Rights Movement. We are STILL fighting for basic human rights, like….walking in the park, jogging down the street, going to the store, SLEEPING IN OUR OWN BED without losing our lives. We wish we had a true leader to help guide us through this period but unfortunately we are on our own. In November…..VOTE!! VOTE!!! VOTE!!!

    Personal

    On a personal note I stepped outside my comfort zone…. I started wearing my natural hair and I did a Facebook live. 

    Quick hair story. I started transitioning in late 2018 by wearing braids. I wanted to “go natural” for years but was scared. Scared of what my natural hair would look like and how others might perceive it. Well I got over the what others might think part real quick and embraced my now fro. If you don’t like my fro then that’s on you. Blog post about this coming soon.

    The Facebook live was for Beautiful Spirited Women, an organization that empowers, support and build confidence in young women. Up to this point I had never done a live. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been on live television several times and that didn’t bother me. For some reason Facebook live scared me but it didn’t stop me. It was a wonderful experience of me sharing my blogging journey. I’m ready for another one….Who’s next?

    Purchases 

    I’ve shared some of my quarantine purchases here but for Q2 I made an effort to support Black women owned businesses. I received my first CurlBox. CurlBox is a natural hair product subscription founded my Myleik Teele. I purchased local honey from The Tea Bar by DIVINITY, got my Juneteenth tshirt from Ivy Storehouse and a new print from She is This.

     

    As we head into Q3 and my birthday let’s all embrace that the world that we once knew is no longer a thing. The world is changing. People are sick & tired of being sick and tired. If you don’t know who said that….Google it!

     

    How was your Q2?

    Beewisdom- BLACK LIVES MATTER

  • It’s Not All Downhill From Here

    Hello Honeybees,

    You know how you can hear a song and it triggers certain memories? That song can take you back to a certain place, a special moment or time spent with special people. I have books that trigger certain memories too, some books I’ll reread not just because of the memories but because of the lasting effects that they have on my life. Every year I read Purpose Driven Life, and since discovering The Alchemist I had added it to the list. 

    I remember my first Zane read, my first Brenda Jackson read, my first J. California Cooper read, my first Toni Morrison read and my first Terry McMillan read. I remember what was happening in life at the time that I immersed myself in these books. The time that I sat aside to actually slow down and sit down with a book in hand and lose myself in the pages.

    Well, Terry McMillan’s It’s Not All Downhill From Here is the book for the current stage of my life. It’s about love, marriage, divorce, friendship, money, growing older, parenting, aging parents,loss and more. It’s the Waiting To Exhale for the 50 plus group. Chronicling the friendship of 5 women as they navigate this thing called life. You will find yourself in one or more of these characters. I think that I’m a combination of the main character Loretha and her girl Ko. Each lady has her own life circumstances and issues to deal with but they do it together. They each have their own flaws but hey who is perfect? We see how you can do your best as a parent but once your children are adults, especially adults, you have to let them fall. 

    We see the value in friendships, good friendships. The value in taking care of your body, at some point you won’t be able to drop it like Thee Stallion. If you do drop it you might need someone to help you up. We see the value in making good financial decisions that will enable you to leave a legacy for your loved ones. We learn that you are never too old and it is never too late for love. You are never too old for second chances and life is not all downhill no matter how many trips around the sun.

    I give this book 5 out of 5 honeypots. So grab a copy and a cocktail and read it with your girls. You will not regret it.

    For a while now I have been trying to think of a way to launch a series aimed at how life and your body changes as you get older. This book is the launch pad for that series. Still working on a name but it’s coming. Each month I will tackle a different topic. The first one next month (my birthday month) will be about menopause. Leave me a comment below with your menopause questions. Don’t worry I won’t be answering them based on my knowledge. I have some help from some experts.  

     

    Beewisdom-“Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength.” – Betty Friedan