Happy Friday Night Love and Light to you! Welcome to another winning week of awesome!
Roughly 8 years ago, I wrote a book. It didn’t start out that I wanted to. I used to keep journals religiously, and in one of my red journals I had written down a few paragraphs of an idea I had of some stuff that was swimming around in my head. On one random day I barely remember, I read those paragraphs to a friend and that friend practically begged me to sit down and write the book. I had exactly ZERO idea what to do. I mean, do I create an outline? Do I plan it out just so? Do I put a whole bunch of post-it notes of ideas on an empty wall in my house?! I was racking my brain and probably losing brain cells tryina figure out HOW I would write a book from the idea I had already.
And then something amazing happened. I stopped thinking about HOW I would do it and stayed my focus on writing it. Sometimes the how is actually irrelevant. Sometimes you just need to know the WHAT. So I sat my buns down to write. And then something else amazing happened, I liked what I was writing. In fact, I liked it so much, I was haunted by it. I would stay up all night writing because the ideas would literally pour out of me. Every break I had during the day, I would write. It was like I was possessed (and petrified) by the story because I would carry my laptop around with me like the FBI, MI6, the CIA and MIB was coming for it. Around every corner I was waiting on K and J and the rest with their mind erase device to take my laptop and… Seriously. I swore I had written some universal secret bombshell and it needed to be protected at all costs until I finished it. It was an insane time, I’ll tell you. But after all was said and done, I had written my first book and I’m not afraid to admit that it scared the SHIIIIIIIT out of me.
I’ve been told that if the stuff you’re up to doesn’t scare you to death, you’re doing the wrong stuff. I’ll also say, being scared to death by anything at all is sooooo overrated. Who needs that much cortisol when life exists already?
For my part, I wrote a book. Roughly 8 years ago. But I was so afraid of it, it took me until last year to fully finish, polish and publish the darned thing. It was a whole thing. I wasn’t even entirely sure WHY I wanted to publish the book, except that I had written it already. I was like, nobody is going to read this thing. Funny thing about fear. It will minx you into believing about a thrillion reasons why you can’t do something when all you really need is one reason why you can. It took me a really long time to get there. Even when the main theme of Book 1 was: Oshharu Mairahu Nura Osho. In Tuahstai that means, Fear Lights a Man’s Way to Darkness. Womp. Oh yeah, I created a new language and errythang.
So. One day when everything in my life was going exactly wrong, I decided to face my fear. I decided to whittle down every one of the thrillion reasons why I couldn’t publish my book and just focus on the one reason why I could. Because I could. And maybe also because I wrote it and it was good. And maybe also, l may touch a life or three. I decided to believe in Kai, if I couldn’t believe in myself. She came into my life for a reason and took over everything. Maybe she would resonate with more people than just me. And if she didn’t, at least she exists. What’s so dope about this journey is that just by believing in Kai and her possibilities, she in turn helped me to believe in me and my own possibilities. It turns out, facing my fear AND my openness to the possibilities therein, literally changed everything. People all over the world have read Book 1 and I can’t even begin to tell you how rich of an experience I’ve had since June 19, 2013. This happened:
Envy McKee is that visionary for whom there is no gray area. You either love her or not. Either way, it’s of little consequence, she will always continue to follow her path with or without you. She’s not your average bear; and life is her picnic basket. Whether she is on radio, television, or just hanging out with family and friends, McKee is consistent in her core values and beliefs, spreading the gospel of universal consciousness as if she was John the Baptist reincarnate. So, it’s no surprise that The Stellar Trilogy is far removed from the predictable modern day African American literary genre. Dubbed a “Soul-fi”, the Trilogy seems to be a cross between ‘Angels and Demons’ and ‘The Matrix’. Each chapter challenges us to reconsider the zeitgeist of human thought, and invites us to question the intergenerational archetypes of our collective beliefs. The interaction and self-actualization of the characters are so central to today’s growing movement of modern enlightenment, it has the potential to shape future imagination and thought.
Everything in this book is worth reading, if nothing more than for the refreshing idealisms and the fierce, descriptive elegance of McKee’s prose. It is a story of self-discovery, beauty, triumph and wonder-despite all odds. It’s deep…it’s funny…it’s weird and refreshing, scary and unusual. It’s definitely a journey you won’t soon forget. ~Michael Quintero-Moore, Backline Magazine
*Faints*
There’s more to this story, of course. It would take me a week to fit it all in this supposedly short post. I mean, somewhere in this story I became an Independent Conscious Media producer and publisher, with two published works and a whole heap of a lot of drama under my belt since I published Book 1 last year. And the good news is, since finishing Book 2, I can literally see the movies play out with all of the rich characters and visuals, plus the spin off series starring the characters we meet in the second book. At some point during the writing of Book 2, I saw it all. I realized that I was writing the back story of a new kind of superhero and she and her amazing family would literally change everything.
The greatest news I’ll say, is that I am looking back on my journey in awe that my passion project from 8 years ago is a living and breathing thing manifest in the world right now. I created a brown girl superhero and she’s flipping awesome. If you haven’t already, I can’t wait for you to meet Kai. If you have met her, I can’t wait for you to read the next part of her amazing story. AND, I’m almost losing my mind because I can’t wait to start working on the final installment of this trilogy. This is what facing your fears is about. It can propel you to places and experiences you never even dreamed and I’m just getting started.
The very next time we get together in this forum, Book 2 will be liberated! Yay! I’ll also say, with some amount of emphasis, face your fears. Breathe into them and watch the magic your life becomes. You’ll never know what’s possible until you explore your possibilities.
It’s enough to make you want to celebrate, doesn’t it?! If you’d like to #ComeGetFreeWithMe, there’s a picture below this post that will give you all the details of my Liberation Fete for Book 2: Awake. I’d love to toast with you, cause after ALL the stuff I’ve been through this year (8 years), A brown girl superhero needs a DRANK.
So. That’s what I learned this week. I do hope it helps something. Thank you for reading this (!!!) Remember always to #RuleYoSelf with L.O.V.E. Have a Happy Awesome Weekend! Love you madly!
Osho Lovianhal,
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