With all that’s going on in this crazy world, I need all the peace I can get. I want peace in my home, on my job, and wherever else I go. Now I know that isn’t always feasible, but a girl can hope. Have you ever been around people who literally make your spirit irritated? It’s really thing, trust me I know. The person seems to have no clue of their negative vibe, which annoys you even more. And if they are doing it on purpose, you just want to slap them in the face. I definitely don’t like an always negative person who wants to focus on the the bad and never has anything good to say. You’re alive! Is that not ONE thing to be happy about? Negativity has a stronghold on society.

I get that sometimes I am overly nice and I am definitely one to try to keep drama down, but those are good traits. People may try to make those things sound bad, but it takes a strong person to not knock the hell out of someone (literally the hell) or tell them all the places they can go! We probably need more people who want to keep drama down so the negativity can die. The next time someone comes to you talking mess, pop them in the mouth. NO, JUST KIDDING! I know some of you are real gangstas. But when they come talking, let them know you don’t have time. It takes one person at a time to change the world. Slap the tea out of their hand, we’re sippin’ wine to stay chill. Be sweet.

Tragedies are filling the streets every second. Mass shootings, political scams, racist leaders, kids being gunned down. The news can barely keep up with the ridiculousness of the world. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. I feel like society has lost its heart, that is, until it hits home. Then we want full coverage on how things went tragically wrong for our neighborhood and families. Will there be a beacon of hope from society where we show more sympathy for those in dire straights, or will we continue down the path of destruction? Will we stand up for right, or step over it like we do a dead body slain on the side of the street because it’s not our relative?

I recently read a comment on a social media site that asked why we were surprised at the mass shootings. I was livid! Why are we surprised?! Maybe because we don’t expect to be grocery shopping and get shot by a stray bullet that can potentially be fatal. Maybe there’s a bit of shock because it happened 15 minutes down the road from where I work and a church member works at that very store. I feel like we are becoming desensitized to tragedy. I think it’s sad that we have become numb to national leaders being in cahoots with KKK leaders. We’re letting murderers who call themselves law enforcers antagonize and kill innocent people. They are now making bullet proof backpacks for goodness sake. The day we stop being SURPRISED by bad things happening will be the day the society and even the world will be doomed. We need a change and we need it fast!

This is a total rant blog. I mean, it’s my blog and I can speak on all different matters right? I’ll answer that for myself…yes Monica! It takes a strong individual to be in the leadership role. You have to know your people and adjust accordingly. You can’t make people be something they aren’t. If they aren’t up to par in your eyes, you have to sometimes let team members go. But if you pick your team, you have to understand weaknesses and strengths of each person. If you are in leadership and have been so for awhile, you should know how each team member contributes to the forward movement of the team. You have to see how well they mesh or don’t. And you surely can’t abuse your authority or your team will dissipate faster than you can say boo!

Leaders have hard tasks, but you have to also know yourself. You can’t let emotions drive you or it will be a train wreck! You can’t take out your grievances on your team or you will be hated and cause a hell of a lot of tension. I think that a lot of people want to be in charge, but they don’t fully understand the role of a leader. You can’t be petty or try to dictate. You’re not Hitler, and if you are you’re doing it totally wrong. You have to be willing to join the team in work or you’re being lazy. You can’t delegate everything to others. Roll up your sleeves and help out! Being a leader is more than being bossy.

As I sit and listen to Tevin Campbell’s “Can We Talk” song, I shake my head in amazement. That man could sure sing! Where is he now? As a matter of fact, where are the singers who left us with all of these hit love songs? Where’s Case, Avant, and H-Town, and Jon B? What happened to SWV, En Vogue, and Brandy? We used to really try to sing just like them. Yeah we had rap, but we seemed to be much more interested in singing groups and the slow jams. Now all we have is mumble rappers and wannabe singers who can’t sing in public to save their lives.

I honestly don’t think these singers and singing groups realize how influential they were. I understand that things are subject to change, but some stuff we just need to keep. Singers now want to be rappers and rappers try to sing. It’s a mess! Just look at Tyrese who gave us all of these hits, but now wants to play hard and be called Black Ty. Naw sir, you will forever be named TYRESE and you need to stay in your lane bruh. Then rappers break out those auto tune machines to fake sing. We’re doomed in the love song department it seems.

Maybe love songs are almost obsolete because no one is really seeking love anymore. Back in the day, people had so many love songs to choose from at their weddings. Nowadays, we’ll probably have to settle for booty shaking “love songs” as we stroll down the aisle. We now have songs that praise being a side chick and having a man on the weekend. Top songs now are more like rap than ever with the lyrics being as raunchy as they can be. Even though I’m all old school, as I am more of a 60’s and 70’s Motown type girl, I still appreciated the 90’s era music. I want my Destiny’s Child and Jodeci music too. Maybe I should start my own singing group.

As I sit at one of my favorite restaurants feeling defeated by the day, I think about how much we live for the weekend. I know it’s not just me because I look down my timeline and I see old and young people waiting and wishing for a glimpse of hope from Friday. Someone once told me to stop living for the weekend because it was as if we were wishing our lives away. It’s very true, but I just think it’s a habit. I also think it’s apart of what our jobs are and how strenuous the careers are on us.

Most of us are at jobs that wouldn’t be considered our dream jobs. A lot of people actually hate their jobs and are only there because the bills won’t pay themselves. It’s very sad that most will never have a job that truly fulfills us. My dad has been on his job for over 20 years. How?! I’ve never worked at a company for more than 3 years. It’s as if I’m never really satisfied and I’m ready for the next big thing, hoping it’s the game changer.

I don’t know if it’s the millennial in me, or the jobs nowadays aren’t like they used to be. Maybe it’s the Toxic work environments? Maybe this generation just loves the idea of searching and wanting more. Not that I live for the search of more, but I definitely realize that I deserve better. One day I’ll have a job that doesn’t make me wish my life away. Or maybe that’s just how society works. Either way, it’s the weekend and I’m going to enjoy it until dreadful Monday comes. Be Sweet.

I recently had the most awesome meeting with a friend who specializes in helping others find their purpose. I love that she’s so genuine and comes from a biblical standpoint on how she conducts the meeting. After we discussed all the goals, plans, and dreams, we wrote them down with dates. They always say a goal with a date makes it real, so I came up with dates for the month of August. After all was said and done, my friend asked me who was my accountability partner. I chuckled and said I was my accountability partner, even though I knew I clearly sucked at being it thus far. It got me to thinking that maybe I needed to switch it up.

Sometimes we get so busy that we forget that we made promises to ourselves. We can remember everything we promised other people, but we fall short when staying true to ourselves. That’s why it’s important to write down our dreams, goals, and visions so that we can remember we need to work towards them. I have decided to hang my goals with dates by my bed on my vision board. I also want my friends to work together in being accountability partners. Whoever we spend a lot of time with may be the ones to remind us of our goals. But I do know you have to be careful with who you tell your dreams to. Some may not believe in you, so you have to make sure that you can work towards it on your own if necessary.

If you want something bad enough, you will work towards it. But sometimes it does take an extra push, especially when you have so much on your plate. We all work, some have children, others have spouses, so it can be a task to work towards something new. But if you want different, you have to be willing to do something different. If you can’t find an accountability partner amongst your group of friends, you have to ask yourself a question. Are they truly your friends if they don’t want to see you succeed? Hopefully that won’t be your case and you can soar to the top and complete your goal list in no time.

Have you ever wondered why companies get celebrities to represent their product or brand? It’s because we have deemed them credible simply because they are well known. Leonardo DiCaprio can get on a commercial and talk positively about a new bottled water that comes from the ice of glaciers and we will be in the stores the next day looking for it because he played in Titanic. Being a celebrity automatically makes you a role model, even though they would rather not be. We look to celebrities for what to wear, how to act, and what to buy. These influential people are shaping our minds about so many different things that it can be quite scary because not all things they do are on the up and up.

Recently, female rapper named Cardi B met with Senator Bernie Sanders for political reasons. I bet none of us would have ever imagined that meeting. A high energy, ghetto talking, raunchy lyric having Cardi B met with a high powered man who is running for president of the nation. This is why we can’t count people out by the things they have done or how they carry themselves. I literally HATE the way she talks, but I admire the heck out of her for trying to be a positive influence. It takes a strong and wise person to know when to use your platform as a way to shed light on the issues of the country. She even stated on social media that she is fighting for “economic, racial, and social justice for all.” Good job Ms. Cardi!

We too can be like Cardi B if we really want to see change in this country. We may not have a huge influence like she has, but we can start small with our own communities and cities. She goes on to say that she thinks that young people can be of assistance in transforming this country if we work together. We have to ask ourselves are we change agents or are we just going to sit back and let things go down? Get involved, stay aware, vote, shed light on issues, stand up for right. You don’t have to be a famous person to bring awareness to things that need to be fixed. We need to get beyond thinking outside of the box and remove the box altogether.

I got the horses in the back…naw I don’t, but it caught your attention. Like why in the heck would she have horses in the back? I can be the first to admit that being a music lover, a song sometimes has to grow on me. The first time I heard the “Old Town Road” song by Lil Nas X, I had to look down at the channel because I was totally confused how some country rap playing on the hip hop station. First off, I was thinking what was country rap and why was this a thing. Secondly, just why? It was the weirdest thing and it only lasted for a short period. I hated it! When it came on, I would roll my eyes and quickly change the channel. Then out of the blue, I began to like the catchy song.

It makes me think about how people come up with things that we’re not familiar with and don’t accept right off, but then it becomes this huge sensation. It’s like a person who has a very innovative idea, but because it’s beyond our comprehension, we shut it down. This is a story that made me force myself to think outside of the box. If all inventions and ideas were exactly the same, they would be boring and unsuccessful. I’m glad this young man took us out of our element and now “can’t nobody tell me nothing.” It just goes to show that we need to stay open minded to new things because anything is possible.

The other message that I got from this is that we should never let anyone hold us back from success. Who would think that a young black man would have a country rap song break the records for the Billboards? Nobody, myself included. I laughed it off when I first heard it and now look at me writing a whole blog about his success. In my face! We’re very quick to make fun of other people’s dreams, but they aren’t ours to see through. We are judgmental and ready to dismiss, but who are we to tell a person that their dreams aren’t attainable? Remember this exact song when we get to thinking we should have a say on the dreams and goals of others. Be Sweet.

Isn’t it funny how most of us probably don’t watch Keeping Up With The Kardashian’s, yet we’re keeping up in real life? Their family has so much going on that it’s hard not to be even a little bit intrigued. These people are literally famous from a freakin’ sex tape and they kept up with the scheme and made it their come up. Granted the family name was known beforehand, but no one can say this family doesn’t hustle. This brings me to the topic of why anyone would mess with this family full of crazy women, especially their mom. Watching the show alone shows you how much drama they have in house.

We are all aware of how they ripped Jordyn Woods a new one after she allegedly had a moment with Khloe’s man. It was said that she was crazy for doing such a thing to break ties with the family that helped her career take off. She even had Jada Pinkett-Smith to come to her rescue and was ridiculed by many. That was a messy fiasco! But clearly not messy enough because Jordyn was spotted with yet another of Khloe’s guys recently. Seems like she doesn’t know when to leave well enough alone.

At this point, I think Jordyn enjoys playing with fire. That’s okay and all, but it’s different when you’re in the limelight and people are dragging your name. I’m sure there are very few people who are viewing this in a positive light. Maybe she has a personal vendetta against Khloe or she’s doing it to stay relevant. Who knows! Famous people do believe that any publicity is good publicity. But it does make you think where her head is in all of this. You have no shame because even after apologizing you go and hang out with another one of her old men. Yes, he’s free game, but why would you want to be seen as that type of girl? She’s too pretty to be behaving like this. Guess we’ll have to stay tuned to learn more.

Summer, summer summertime. Let’s just sit back and unwind. Those were the words to Will Smith’s song from years ago. Back in the day, we used to think summer was a time to chill out, have backyard barbecues, pool parties, and vacation. The vibe for summer when I was growing up was laid back and having clean fun with family and friends. The family took a vacation most summers to places that were popular and we just allowed ourselves to relax and our minds were at ease. Over time, the generations change things, but not always for the good. The mindset of my generation and the ones after the millennials is something on a different level. Summer means something totally different it seems.

Rap music has been influencing people for a while now, but the rap today paints a picture that we have to be wild to have fun. Take for instance the City Girls and Megan Thee Stallion, who are pretty decent female rappers. Their music is very catchy and I can admit that I will move to their beats, but most time I try not to listen to the words. It’s like the words turn me all the way off because it’s very different from how I live my life. Now, I’m not the overly religious or an old lady who is condemning anybody, but the words to these songs are even more raunchy than back in the day. This has lead ladies to this hot girl summer theme.

When I think of a hot girl summer, I immediately think of a fast tail promiscuous girl. The term hot girl over the years has not meant anything good, and frankly it still doesn’t. Playing men, taking their money, and sleeping with several guys will have you HOT for sure. I wish we would get back to some of the old ways or at least clean it up a little. Like maybe instead of having sex all summer with randoms and partying every weekend, we can hang out more with friends or family. We could have girls trips, sleepovers at hotels, pool parties, brunch it up, accountability partners, book club meetings, vision board parties, family reunions, or wine tastings. We still have time to level up for the end of summer and have a good time with the ones we love. Don’t let your hot girl summer lead to a cold winter. Be Sweet.