Falling in Love is Easy, Staying in Love is a Challenge

Photo Credit: http://www.inc.com/michael-gerber/fall-in-love-with-your-business-again.html

Do you remember the first time you met your first love? Do you remember how it made you feel? You get those butterflies in your stomach when your eyes meet. Those moments were endless.

I remember when I first met mine. I was in the fourth grade at Givhans Elementary School. My teacher, Mrs. Burgess said, “Crystal, you’re a great writer. Would you like to join the newsletter staff?”

I agreed. I was a staff writer of my first publication. It was only four pages, but I loved it. I was a reporter. I wrote about events and interviewed teachers. I was in love with writing, and I felt like it shared the same type of love in return.

I always knew it was going to be a part of my life in some way shape or form. However, as I got older, I had to realize that although my love for writing was great and we shared many wonderful memories together, I needed to focus on some other ventures. After spending years after college working different jobs, I found myself back where I started like a teenage girl seeing her crush for the first time. My writing and I developed into a deeper relationship. Not only was I writing articles, but I was writing press releases and blogging. I was PHREA. My writing understood me even when nobody else did. Just when I think I had it all figured out, the biggest curve ball got thrown and hit me hard. It has changed my entire focus.

Photo Credit: www.goodreads.com

Now I feel like I’m back in the same position where I was after graduation, changing focus because of the roles and responsibilities of a grown up. I can feel myself losing my relationship again, but I don’t want to. However, the times I should be spending writing, researching, or planning, I am job searching or updating my resume.

So as a way to continue to write and stay in love with my purpose, I decided to balance my focus on writing and job searching. I created a personal challenge to keep me on track to my purpose, my passion, and my love for writing. It’s called the #31DaystoPHREAdom on Always PHREA. It will still include the PHREAdom Leaders, but I also want to feature information that relates closely to my audience.

I need your help in order to accomplish the challenge. I want to hear from you. Have you found your purpose? What do you do to stay focused on it when life throws you adversities?

<3 Starkey

A Pipe Dream just needs a little bit of Draino



First, I would like to apologize for not writing as frequently as I would like to, but I've had a pretty interesting schedule lately. It's okay because I know everything that I am doing right now is falling within my purpose. This post relates to being purposeful and turning dreams into reality. I hope you enjoy it, my fellow PHREAdom Followers!

A pipe dream isn't really a pipe dream, but rather a dream that just needs a little bit of Draino to flush it out into the world. A pipe dream, as defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is merely a fantasy of a plan, hope, or story. My personal thought is that it is only a pipe dream if you just let that idea sit and you do nothing with it. This is similar to its origin of a pipe dream where individuals hallucinated while smoking opium back in the 19th century. Individuals got high on an idea, but once the high was gone so was the idea.



McLyte at boule



The idea of following through with a plan or hope may seem difficult and fear could take over, but one may never know how easy it could've been if he or she never developed and expanded on the idea. It takes faith and trust. For instance, I am reminded of our great leaders of the past and present like Dr. Martin Luther King or President Barack Obama, who if they had not pushed their dreams forward some things may not have changed. What if Dr. King did not push the issue of equal rights nor shared his powerful "I Have a Dream" speech because of one too many road blocks? Or better yet, what if President Obama gave up on his dream of becoming the President of the United States? They both pushed those dreams forward and made a difference in the lives of others. Our dreams may not be as big as theirs, but it can still be impactful.

My soror, McLyte said we must "dream with a purpose" at the National Education Fund Luncheon during Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.'s Boule in New Orleans, La.

Therefore, if we dream with a purpose and work hard at it then it may become a reality. Don't sell yourself short because what may seem like a pipe dream to some may be an extraordinary purposeful vision that requires a little bit of Draino to push it out.

<3 Starkey

It's been a long time...

I can't believe this is my first official post on my own blog, Always PHREA! It's been a long time coming, but I'm so excited about the endless possibilities of this journey that I am about to embark on as I rediscover and fall back in love with PHREA. I'm sure all of my Twitter followers wonder what is PHREA? It's actually pronounced free. It's an acronym which means Passion, Hope, Respect, Empowerment and Ambition. I actually detailed my journey in the About PHREA tab for those who want to know more about it.

This past week, I've experienced changes and opportunities in my life that will shape and mold my future to something beyond amazing. I knew those changes and opportunities came from God. I felt that it was His way of telling me to take that leap of faith and follow my purpose which is PHREA. So on this early Thursday morning, I'm doing just that. I'm letting you all into my world of PHREA. I want to encourage you to become a PHREAdom member and follow my blog. I pray that while reading about my endless possibilities, you will in return be able to do the same. Discover your endless possibility.

I want to thank my PHREAdom believers. You all kept pushing and encouraging me to get back to my PURPOSE of writing. I'm so thankful to have individuals like you in my life. Therefore, this is for you, you and especially YOU!