Singing My Life With the Words ...

"I don't wanna write this down/

I wanna tell you how I feel right now."

-Mos Def

My first thoughts in a minute. I won't pretend they will be deep or coherent. Or shy away from being sentence fragments. This is like riding a bike again. Haven't forgotten. But, I might ride a little wobbly. Lol.

It's been a year in the experiment I call my dalliance with corporate America. And, it wasn't until tonight when I watched Dave Chappelle's Block Party for the first time (super late, I know, don't judge me), that I remembered I had a soul. Lol. Okay, I'm prone to sarcasm and hyperbole. But humor me.

This Block Party show reminds me that I miss:

Music. People. Living the life organic. The East Coast. The authenticity of the human spirit. "Strumming our pain with [our] fingers/ Singing [our] lives with [our] words." The Roots. Talib. Miss Erykah. Miss Jill. The East Coast. Reciting the fact that everyone has a story. In Brooklyn. In DC. In Philly. And, everywhere, God shapes the children of Ishmael as he does those of Isaac. He gives us a piece of himself through music. Through creativity of thought. Through clarity of mind.

For a second, I paused from the work I took home. And my soul, for the first time in a very long time, became full. Mr. Kweli rapped it best.

"This [evening]/
I woke up/
Feelin brand new and/
I jumped up/
Feelin' my highs/
And my lows/
And my soul/
And my goals/
Just to stop [frontin', pretendin']
And I've been thinkin'/
I got my reasons
Just to get ...
Just to get ...
Just to get ...

By."

. . . You will see more of me soon ;-)

-M. Elle