Love Note #1: Let Yourself Be Great
Hello Beloved,
This week’s love note was inspired by an article I saw online featuring women's basketball coach, Sydney Carter. Coach Carter played for the WNBA and she currently is the basketball coach for the Division 1 Texas A&M team.
At first I thought it was a celebratory piece, until I realized it was a critique of her Nikki Minaj bubble gum pink leather pants that she wore court side at a recent game.
Now I admit, I thought it unique.
Most athletic coaches tend to be in some version of athletic gear or suit and tie (yea – um so there’s a gender thing clearly) but Coach Carter breaks this norm.
She makes a statement and I think that is the point. Every game she styles herself, posts on social media a court side shot that from my perspective is her joy of expression – in her clothes and doing what she loves.
It was social media so you can already imagine what the comments were like.
It saddened me because this is exactly the kind of thing that undermines people’s confidence and stifles creativity, and in this case undermines someone’s contribution.
The incessant emphasis on looking a certain way, behaving a certain way sometimes operates like a silent virus of the psyche that creates self-image dysmorphia.
But then I saw this one comment by a user on Twitter that read, “Let Black Women Be Great” and I thought…That’s exactly it!
So simple yet moving - Let this woman, this Black woman be great.
Here is a woman celebrating her life. Doing what she loves, how she wants to. She is self-designing her life in her way.
After all they are her feet – if she can handle stilettos up and down the court - that garners deep admiration from me! (as I eye the Birkenstocks I will put on shortly to head out to the farmers market!)
Her being great, inspires me to look upon my own life and dare to be bolder in my choices.
My invitation for us this week is:
Be Bolder
And my question to muse and/or journal about is:
What is holding you back? Where are you containing your “pink pant” expression? And equally important…Why?
Reflect gently and…
Let love guide the way,
Angela