Today, I’ve been thinking about how so much in life, especially in this day and age, is transactional. And that led the way to thinking about how sometimes we use religion and even our faith in transactional manners.

Never when things are good, right? Always when things get rough, when there is discord, a natural disaster, illness. Then we become the best [insert your religious denomination here].

You ever come across something and then want to slap yourself for not knowing about it earlier? That’s how I felt after hearing about InsideRx.

My dearest Frog Princess,

It is the summer of your 9th year and the summer of my initiation as an olorisha.

The other night, I felt an overwhelming sense of love for you and I just had to jot these words down. The feeling has not left me.

We talked a little about ACE’s a while back. Adverse Childhood Experiences happen. Let’s talk about breaking the cycle…

Some days (especially during my Iyaworaje) I have struggled with my perception my own productivity. With what has gotten done at work. With what I didn’t take care of at home. With my office looking a mess. With the garage not yet being purged. I struggle.

“If you expect the world to be fair with you because you are fair, you’re fooling yourself. That’s like expecting the lion not to eat you because you didn’t eat him.” – Paulo Coelho

I’ve been thinking about this quote for a while now. So many conversations are leading me to discussions about what we endure or are choosing to no longer endure.

I wrote that quote out during one particular discussion regarding the reasons why women stick things out. This is an overarching topic and I’m not just speaking about relationships.

I'm 3 months into my year. From the outside looking in, not much has changed. But on the inside, there is an almost daily shift that happens.

This has felt like sacred time. For introspection, for earnings, for truly becoming aligned with the highest and best version of myself. Sounds frou frou, right? I still cuss so, there's that.

I've been most thankful for the times I'm going about my business and a certain thought strikes me that leads me to a whole revelation about a person or situation that I hadn't previously thought of. 

The funny thing about the 21st century is that we’re finding more and more definitions for things that have always existed. I think that, in the long run, this will help us put so much of our lives into a better perspective.

Take the term ACEs. I first heard the term Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, while working at MomsRising in the context of our Early Learning work. I was intrigued by this subject, so when I had a chance to take part in a meeting about ACEs with the Centers for Disease Control, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and a few of my fave influencers, I jumped at the chance.

Advocating for myself took years of practice. I’m now great at it and have also had to do it for others. It’s time to teach the Frog Princess the same. As women, we often aren’t encouraged to do this, though. Especially when it comes to matters of sex. So, let’s talk about it. Do you know what PrEP is?