From time to time, I share my personal revelations and life lessons on Instagram or Facebook. Recently when I shared one, a friend encouraged me to blog about it and share my truth here on Afrobella.com. That inspired this new series, Last Week’s Lesson. I hope others can learn from my experiences! I used to…
inspiration
10 Things I Learned Last Year to Make 2014 Awesome
2013 was a year of new experiences and opportunities I couldn’t have anticipated before. I found myself going to places I’ve never been, dealing with issues from my past that I hadn’t dealt with in years, and having to rise to the occasion to represent on levels that I never dreamed of. I did a…
What Beyoncé’s New Album Release Taught Me
In case you took a social media break over the weekend and missed the explosion, Beyoncé released a new album when absolutely nobody was expecting it. 17 songs. 14 videos. And all she did was post a sneak preview video on Instagram and say “surprise!” She sold 450,000+ in the first day. Her latest release…
How To Live A Life More Like Nelson Mandela’s
On December 5, 2013, the world lost Nelson Mandela. At age 95, he had lived an incredibly full life and news of his ailing dominated headlines this year, so hearing that Mandela had passed made me feel a strange mixture of sadness and acceptance. As Bishop Desmond Tutu expressed, “we are relieved that his…
Real Advice For Nigella Lawson And For So Many Women Just Like Her
The recent photos of Nigella Lawson being publicly assaulted by her husband, advertising magnate and multimillionaire art collector Charles Saatchi, hurt my heart and made me feel sick to my stomach. Seeing these images of this man’s hand wrapped around her throat, flicking her nose in obvious, familiar disrespect and degradation made so many questions…
Ten Realizations About Being In Your Thirties
Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of my friends freaking out about turning 30, or being 30. This year I turned 34, so I think I have a little perspective to share. Not a lot, just a little. Just enough to tell all of you to stop freaking out about turning 30, or being…
My Biggest Fitness Inspirations
CBS Sunday Morning is one of my favorite shows, and I set my DVR so I can watch it AND sleep in every weekend. It’s such a great show that covers so many topics. This last Sunday, there was a feature on ubiquitous fitness personality Jillian Michaels (click to watch it if you want to)….
Life Lessons From Jane Pratt
I’ve spoken about my influences here on the blog before, and I’ve mentioned it in my TEDx talk too — one of my biggest early writing influences was Sassy Magazine. My classmate’s cousin would send down her well thumbed, slightly tattered copies in care packages alongside mixtapes featuring artists I’d never heard of at…
Thank You, Miu Miu and Ava DuVernay
The need for more diversity in fashion is so frequently glaring and so very frequently written about. Sometimes it seems like things are deliberately destined to never change. And every now and then there’s a shining breakthrough, that you hope heralds a new day in fashion and beauty and fills your heart with optimism…
On Courage. Inside my TEDxPortOfSpain Experience
Towards the end of 2012, I was asked to come back home to Trinidad, to give a talk at TEDxPortOfSpain. I had to deliver a 15 to 18 minute speech on courage. And it was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done. It was one of the most liberating experiences I’ve ever had. This…