Funny how today I encourage people to be intentional in planning next steps when most of the major developments in my life seemed to have evolved and were not intentionally pursued.
From an early age, I enjoyed writing, composing and or analyzing stories. As a teenager and young adult writing was my therapy and savior. I wrote when I was happy, I wrote more when I was sad and I wrote alot to de-stress! I wrote poems, short stories, letters and Journal entries! I wrote at anytime of night or day and I wrote anywhere!
Some writings had to be trashed, some were shared, but most were left unedited, raw and strewn around!
Fast forward, some thirty-five, forty years later, I’m getting ready to celebrate my fiftieth birthday. Well if you know me...you’d know that the most important day of any year is my birthday, and must be celebrated, acknowledged and/or be a vacation day.
So here I am 2013, four months to my birthday and suddenly realizing that this was a major milestone, (after all, my own father only lived to be forty-five) I pondered what I’d do to mark this major achievement. Well, as an entertainer I had been busy celebrating Jamaica’s year long 50th year independence celebrations, when a light bulb went on!!
The thought came to me...Why not compile fifty of my pieces from the writings of the past thirty plus years, in celebration of Jamaica’s 50th year of independence and for my fiftieth birthday! Wallah...so off I went, a race against the clock, to have my legacy piece ready on time. And just like that, a table top edition poetry book entitled “Ode to Miss Lou...From the Soul of Dr Sue” was borne. It is a three part book designed as an educational resource to familiarize the reader to the Jamaican vernacular, introduce topics to generate discussion, as well as heart and soul introspective pieces.
The production of the poetry book led to an increase in my event performances. It was also a major resource for my scheduled radio program ‘Culture Corner with Dr Sue’. This radio program, geared at a predominantly Jamaican audience, gave rise to more writings, as I would spontaneously create pieces during the program to reflect a specific occasion or event at the request of listeners. Some months later, as I gathered all the scraps of paper on which I had written, preparing to discard of them, the light bulb went on again!
Why don’t I compile these pieces and create another book!? And so done, my second book of poems ‘I am Jamaica’ was borne. This book speaks to Jamaica’s culture and customs and is ideal for those wanting to go down memory lane.
Well...two down, one to go...
I had actually started writing my Memoir, when my mother passed away suddenly! As I have done over the years, I managed my grief by writing. I put my memoir on hold and decided to chronicle the life of my mother, through the stories shared by others at her Memorials. This all gave birth to my third book ‘Living a HIP Life...Humble, Intentional and Prepared.
This narrative captures a life journey filled with wisdom, faith and will. It will help us and our loved ones celebrate and appreciate the newness that can be brought about physically, spiritually and relationally when we strive to live a Humble, Intentional and Prepared Life!
And with that I say...keep writing, keep storing, keep sharing! You may not aspire to be an author, but sometimes our lives are simply divinely purposed and in the moment of maturation you’ll be prepared!
The books are available at:
Apple iTune Store, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and DrSueAndU.com
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