I know why the caged bird tweets: Balancing the Scales

Balance isn’t a state. It’s a skill…in some cases the extent of that skill may be considered by some to be a gift of sorts. Living the life we do requires a strong sense of balance. Consider the physical interpretation of balance walking a line. In a sobriety test you have to prove competence by walking a path, unwavering and confidently. Any leaning, stumbling, or hesitance would be telltales of DWI. The same applies to a stable life. Balance in life is the collaboration on feeling, thinking, and doing. Those three factors are the basis on which we all exist. When in harmony with one another these facets of identity provide me with the solid foundation of self, to face off anything that may rise up against me.

Obtaining balance in my life was done the same as waiting for the stars in the sky to align…I had to be STILL. I have always been able to do anything I wanted to. That was one of my blessings. Over time I found that constant motion and action in my life was sending me in circles. I was missing the two power factors that would send me in to the right gear to excel beyond my environment. I completely underestimated the power imbued within stillness. Early one crisp December morning I found myself lying awake in Maggie’s soon to be empty apartment. I was running down the list of things I had to do when a glare from her balcony door caught my attention. The sun was creeping its way into the morning sky and I caught it red handed. In that moment the sky was perfect. I looked up and then looked to my left and saw Jak and Demond, differing just as much as they are alike. They were sleeping foot to face with one another and in some obscure way they managed to cuddle like two puppies with full bellies. I looked to my right and found Maggie asleep on her slouch couch looking like she was in a dream, wishing a nigga would, as she states.

At that moment I was feeling. Those feelings let to thoughts, and those thoughts manifested a new direction of action in my life. We all have had our share of pleasure and tasted pain. We lose more friendships than we maintain. But over this winter we locked in on what was important. While sifting through our most recent circle of friends we realized that we were changing. We are all diverse and dynamic individuals and firmly believe that one’s choice in friends reflects aspects of the individual. We saw a toxic trait in our friends that to us, served as a mirror parallel to our own selves.  As we found ourselves in yet another episode in the never ending saga that was the life of the Alpacas we realized that we had higher callings than the petty matters that come with the job of an attention seeker. I like to think that’s when the full potential of our powers manifested with us. Most people think that superheroes are all good and must conduct themselves in such a manner.

We found peace with ourselves and the routine chaos around us once we began to embrace the negativity as part of our lives and allowed it to be motivation. For every action there is an appropriate reaction.  The light at the end of the tunnel is unattainable without the darkness behind us propelling us through. The ancient Egyptians viewed knowledge as the power of the universe. If a man was able to identify his enemies as such, he held dominion over them and was able to conquer them. This is seen in the hieroglyphs in the Book of Caverns. It illustrates the first concept of Hell and how a lost soul journeys through potential torment and struggle to end up in a place of peace and contentment. Once we were able to identify the enemy amongst us it placed a crosshair upon the enemy within. All of us are people of faith and I can see how it has rooted in each of us a gift that meshes with one another and allows us to fearlessly collide with and conquer any challenge. We embrace the shadows and use them to help us focus on the light of every situation. We tip the scale to balance it out for one another .We are the Monroes.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Tweets…an introduction

The irony of my character is the fact that I have always described myself as a nonconventional superhero. With the companionship of #TheMonroes I have surpassed the limits set for a Louisiana 20-something, a minority in nearly every applicable sense …We have hoisted ourselves up by our self confirmation and aspirations to exist with the manner of someone  greater than what society has deemed appropriate for me to be. In so many ways we more than push the envelope. We ride it like a mechanical bull with gorilla glue on its saddle. The reflections of the lessons I learn and confirm daily are gifts I have been blessed with and have intentions of sharing with anyone wise enough to embrace them. These lessons are universal in theme and are to which I owe the validity of my own sanity.

I am first generation American with origins in the dead center of Mexico, through my father’s family. My mother’s family has mysterious origins that are scattered throughout the South. With the help of census data and social security indexes, I have traced my roots back to the pioneers of generations: Free colored veterans of the American Civil War and a Mysterious woman with no last name and several alleged birthplaces. I am a modern day comic book character and in recent years I have embraced the random encounters of my life as such and appreciate them for the vibrancy they allow me to exude in ways, many people say, only I can. The human mind is a superpower in itself. It has the ability, in the proper hands, to shape the world in which it exists. Some call it crazy, but I call it survival. It is in the mind where creativity begins. Development of oneself is based on the enforcement of the mind’s power over its environment. From my head came the ability that manifested a college degree, a planted foot in the performing arts as a respected interpreter of the craft, and to some social extent being the designated ‘guy to hate.’

In my brief years on this earth I have lived just the same as I love; fast and hard. In this state of mind I am racking up experiences many never live loud enough to see. I have been positioned to be the wise man within my family and the mascot of playful controversy within my social circles. While traveling the winding trail that lead me to my niche I have seen the tips of the mountain of success and tasted the stale waters of defeat that lie at its feet….I know why the caged bird tweets.