She Will Not Lose: The Indigo Trip

Troy University c/o 2017 The Ceremony  I walked into the arena and instantly felt the vibrations from the roars of families and supporters in the stands. "Pomp and Circumstance" echoed on each side of the gym as I followed the line of graduates to our seats. My eyes eagerly searched through the sea of signs, flowers, and cheering parents as I hoped to catch a glance of my family. I suddenly flashed back to my childhood and all of the activities my parents helped me embark in. I recall moments in my childhood where my parents’ time were taken by Corporate America or military deployments. As a child, I did not understand the toll that disappointment can have on a person. I had my mind set on dropping out for a term in order to find a balance in my life. I made that decision my last semester of college. This past semester was one of the toughest in my college career.  If it were not for the support and push from my parents there is no telling when I would...

It is hard to witness anyone, no matter if they are close to  you or a passing stranger swirling into a downward spiral.  The idea for some is like faint embers that still chokes at their memory.  I'm familiar with two types of helpers in the world. There are people in the world who helps to the point where they walk themselves into the shoes of the other person. This group of people are nurturers , their first reaction is to extend themselves in order to piece that broken individual back together. The second group helps with a long-handled spoon. These helpers are called directors .  A director will show you where you need to go to build yourself up. This group will give you all of the knowledge, resources, and experience that they have.  Both groups of people are obliging, no one’s heart is  any bigger than the other’s. Further, no one's method is better than the other is. They are both needed for certain situations. A difficult thing...

Can you recall a moment in your life when you were searching for   church in the wild ? In life, we have the  jungle   and we have the   church . The church is a holy building but it can be taken anywhere with you because God’s Light is everywhere.    Church is a place of worship, refuge, acceptance, and most importantly, light. The jungle is the   world.   It is where self-gain and wealth is golden, when temptation becomes second nature, a place that forces you to question everything right. The jungle is a place of  manipulation  where it veils truth and feeds   lost ones   with its own version of “fulfillment”. Solange   was not the first to tip us on the ways of the world.   The Bible   tells us in Romans 12: 2,  “ Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. ” ...

I’m sure you can recall a moment when you would walk into your living room and blurt out, “why did I come in here again?” Although it may take a few trips from room-to-room to figure out what you are missing, there is still an “oh yeah!” moment that arises. We all encounter situations that leave us questioning our initial purpose. No matter if it involves you picking another profession after college or finding another career after retirement. Marriage, parenthood, careers can have a person running in lanes that they never intended on competing in. My mother and I have a lot of things in common. For instance, we are both writers and we both grew up wanting to be Hollywood stars. As my siblings and I got older my mother became more drawn into Corporate America rather than in freelance writing. She went to college for journalism but was not able to follow through with that plan. I am now in my senior year of college and I am an aspiring writer and journalist. I bel...

How often do you say thank you or acknowledge another person with hello or smile? What is your first response when someone sneezes next to you in public? How many times have you walked into a room full of people and greeted them only to get blank stares?  When is it ok to be courteous to someone?  These are just a few self-reflection questions that I have had to ask myself about and what I thought my readers should consider. Everyone is into being social through media but not through physical contact. I am just as guilty for my social habits. I have passed by friends and not even realizing it because I was so involved in my phone.  Additionally, it seems like everyone feels entitled nowadays. It's as if you have to earn the right to be spoken to; if I do not know you then why should I ask how you are doing. I doubt that any of us were raised with these customs, so how did common courtesy disintergrate? I was born and raised in the South and southern hosp...

I have always felt strongly on the topics of social equality. My parents taught me to be open-minded. I went to a very unique elementary school. It was located next to Maxwell Airforce Base, one of the largest Air Force bases in the south, and service members from all over the world would enroll their children into the school. I made friends from places like Russia, Portugal, Costa Rica, South Africa, etc. and it taught me how to interact with these children without bias. We were all transparent to physical and cultural differences because all we were to each other were classmates and friends. As an adult, I appreciate that experience even more as I see such a large cultural divide in the most multicultural country in the world. Discrimination has been nothing new in my lifetime; everyone that I know has been discriminated against in some sort of way. Unfortunately, I have experienced class, racial, as well as, gender discrimination for most of my life. The media's platfor...

Anger is addictive and I do not think people realize how easy it is to slip into the traps of negativity. It is not impossible to be positive through troubling times. Antagonism is a constricting sign of distress. Anger is reflected differently in people. According to www.psychguides.com , there are different forms of anger, which include: Chronic anger  – prolonged, cause of other mental disorders Passive anger – sneering sarcasm  Overwhelmed anger – caused by stress Self-inflicted anger – caused by feelings of guilt Judgmental anger – directed towards others Volatile anger – violent anger From experience, I grew up watching family members carry anger throughout their entire adult lives. They carry the weight of rage from their childhood and into parenthood. I have witnessed their own children growing up and avoiding their parent when they were no longer forced to be in that type of environment. It is natural to be upset but when anger becomes your pe...

Sometimes what we want is not what we actually need. In some circumstances, our desires are harmful and the course of our Indigo Trip tend to divert our path from that indulgence. It can be painful and disappointing when you are not able to obtain your wants. Self-interest can distort the bigger picture, which maps out your destiny. There are components in life that seems like they are guaranteed (love, health, wealth). Your journey takes you on different courses making these guarantees appear to be far-fetched. Do not be fooled because things did not go as you planned.  I can remember a complete stranger telling me to never follow my heart; instead, I should follow my gut. I do not focus too much on the location of my faith and intuition because I know that light is within me. I had to learn how to trust fate, rather than trusting my own fallacies and fictional scenarios. There has been times where I would pray day and night for the opportunity to reach what I thought I...

Life is challenging but we are not put here to live in struggle. Struggle is nothing more than life lessons. There is absolutely nothing wrong with failure, we can't always come on top. When a person makes a mistake, experience teaches us. Perfection does not exist in man. There is no good in holding disappointment within yourself because everyone messes up. We are accountable for our life choices and the actions that we take, however, we can not harbor our mistakes. Consequences can be harsh but with forgiveness we have a gateway to a fresh start. For example, it is hard to live up to certain people's expectations. I have disappointed quite a few people because of the choices that I made. Self-condemnation was one of the heaviest crosses that I grew up having to bare. I could not bring myself to asking for forgiveness, nor practicing how to forgive myself. I realized that withholding my mistakes, left me stagnant. I was stuck in denial and I made it more difficult ...

Colors have such a strong significance in our lives.  In fact, color affects our interpretation of what we see and further, how closely tied they are to our emotions . We have the ability to see the world's vibrancy but we also have colorful intuition that can either hold us back or welcome us. It is our choice to decide how to react to how we see colors. We are all shaded and colored beautifully, from our skin, to our eyes, to the nail polish ladies pick out at the nail salon.  When you sit and think about color, it is amazing how it drives our society. During the pivotal periods in our history that breathed life into the injustices behind Jim Crowe in the South, the Holocaust in Europe, and the Atlantic Slave Trade, color has controlled the framework of communities. Case in point, one of the most powerful countries in the world shows division based on an individual’s understanding of color. Moreover, territories  have been set   in cities and neighborhoods...

Welcome back to the Indigo Trip! Although it has been over a year since I've had this page, a lot of people still ask me what the indigo trip means. I tell them that it is really your own interpretation of spirituality. One of my favorite color is indigo, not only because of its deep, midnight tone, but for the beautiful meaning behind the word. Indigo represents deep concentration, intuition, devotion, and wisdom. I want to share my indigo (spiritual) journey and include my triumphs and tragedies. I want to point out how everything occuring in the world is interconnected physically and spiritually.  My posts can be found using the hashtag #jlabblog via Twitter and Facebook. Entries will be uploaded weekly, please continue to share and spread good energies. Enjoy the Trip! De'Laurenz