Vivacious

Occupation:
Temple University Student aspiring to become a Clinical Psychologist

Quote:
" If I can help somebody in this life, then my living is not in vain."

Title:
Assistant to the Program Directors

Member Since:
2009

I’ve lived a pretty good life, at least for the first twenty years of it. Part I was inclusive of a good childhood. I was the one expected to be great with a blossoming career and a path of success that was guaranteed. I question whose measure of success was I being compared to? I rode the wave until it crashed against the shores of reality. In the blink of an eye, my life had dramatically changed. Happiness soon turned to depression. The single life turned into single motherhood.

After the pain and hurt of failed relationships, dead-end jobs, a failed marriage and trust issues, I knew that a change was imminent. Part II of my life had been laden with challenge after challenge so I was determined to make sure that I was better equipped to handle the unforeseen.

There’s a saying that “into each life a little rain must fall”……I have taken that quote and applied it to my life in a unique fashion. All of the trials and tribulations can be attributed to the torrential downpours I’ve experienced. I also know that rain is a requirement for God’s creations to grow and flourish. In order to appreciate and understand that God has allowed certain setbacks in my life to prepare me for the setups of success is a lesson that I’m still learning.

Mirrors have a way of making you conscious of the reflection that you see. Some people have lots of mirrors in their homes because they love to peek at their reflections. Mirrors can show you what you desire to see in a physical context, but a mirror can never provide a reflection of your soul. For so many years I’ve been allowing others to paint a picture of who they thought I was and that is the reflection that I’ve painted for myself over time. Sometimes those images have been splashed with hues of success; other times the depictions have been seen as shattered glass. Nonetheless, I’ve spent so much time consumed with what I was expected to be or who I was viewed as, that I lost my own identity and self-assurance in the process. If I only had the ability to create a mirror that supported the view into my soul. The mirrors that I am talking about aren’t necessarily the ones that hang on a wall. They can be special people that are brought into your life, like a sister.

I’ve never had biological sisters of my own, but I have daughters and my own mother has several sisters. I’ve been able to draw inspiration from their experiences, but always longed for an experience of my very own. Something was still missing in my life even though I had friends, but I just didn’t know what it was or how to obtain what I was searching for.

The Black Butterflies organization came into my life at a critical turning point. Not only was I drawn to it like a moth to a flame because of its mission of achieving true sisterhood on paper, but I have witnessed the intense love and adoration that the sisters have for one another. That bond is like no other so I knew that this was the umbrella that I needed to shelter me from the storms of life and the mirrors that would reflect what was really in my heart all along.

I’m looking forward to a lifetime of love with my sisters. I plan to be a strong tower for those whose foundations have crumbled yet I also look forward to the bonding between one another that can’t even be separated by death.