nefeterius & the gift of the m a g i c h!

"Faction before blood." Hmmmmmm...Rather - faction and b l o o d. 

We do all, we are Divergent:

a b n e g a t i o n
e r u d i t e 
d a u n t l e s s 
a m i t y 
c a n d o r

Kudos to Veronica Roth for these f a b u l o u s words! Haven't seen the movie yet, but just finished the book. s m a r t world building!

Here's another faction...the m a g i c h! My brand new word for a sect that I don't see referenced often.

magich
[maj-eech]

noun, plural ma-gich-es

f. la magich
m. le magich

1. your MAma's GIrlfriend's CHildren.
2. magical serendipitous fantasy parallel universe subliminal bond.
3. the offspring(s) of your play aunt.

Treesia, my older magich, attended UNT.

When you were young, you played with these m a g i c h e s , while your mothers shared "tea".

I assume the mamas talked shop, traded recipes, reviewed articles and books. They probably chatted about their loves and passions. Maybe they debated education, politics, religion, diets and parenting styles. Surely, they consulted and advised on fashions, fads and all issues personal. 

I know they talked about us.

I know because I am a mother, and I have girlfriend tea. And we talk.

"What's the t e a, Girl?"

Our tea is not always as traditional as an old school version. 

If I see a f a n t a s t i c blog on "how to talk to your daughter about her body", I immediately text it to all of my mama girlfriends. We discuss and v o w to affirm our children like the article suggests. We begin to talk with our girls differently creating a similar experience for our children. 

This c o l l e c t i v e parenting consciousness can even be a side comment in tea conversation. 

"Martial Arts had such a positive impact on Is." 

Weeks after this tea comment, I enrolled my son into a martial arts program. 

This co-creation comes in a m y r i a d of forms.

There are many influences outside of your family of origin that deeply affect your upbringing. I will boldly say that we are possibly more alike in experience with our magiches than many other people on the planet. The same b o o k s lined our shelves, the same television programs were watched, the same foods plated our dinner tables, we may have even shared a holiday or a day trip or two - because our mamas were friends.

For some reason this relationship escaped my heart's magnitude until a few days ago. I couldn't define who I lost to onlookers. My speech shattered. I couldn't quite explain my connection to this love. 

Now I have the word, the words.

I lost a s u b l i m e and fabulous magich. This world lost Nefeterius Akeli McPherson.

You see, I'm the older magich, the Big Tee, at least that is what Ms. Martha, our nanny called me. 

She was Little Tee.

Then along came a Baby Tee. I love you, Tamara.

I'm not quite sure how it all m a g i c h a l l y worked with me being eldest, but Little Tee has always been in my periphery - a validation across the aisle.

If you have magiches...

You don't even know why you know all about these people's lives. It would make much more sense if they were actually a limb on your genealogical t r e e, or if you had chosen the relationship on your own.When we talked as adults we didn't have to 'catch up' on on-goings and recent events - not because of social media or gossip, but because our mamas already told us. 

We participated in a lot of the same experiences, probably at the orchestration of our dear mothers. They all get to take j o y and ownership of 'their' childrens' successes, the mama group also share pain together with 'their' childrens' losses.

They become theirs, we become theirs. Sarabis holding down Pride Rock.

J'aime mes magiches. 

My mom called last week to tell me, Little Tee only had hours to live. A quake shocked my soul. I don't know a world without her. We arranged for the Fabulous Mo Creole to escort Mama Rose three hours away to quickly be at her l o n g time friend's side. Thank you, Mo Creole! 

I wanted to play it super somber, and super cool. I wanted to hold a supportive s l a s h comforting role. Then I heard my anthem for the week...

Turn Down! For What?

I listened, prayed, kicked, screamed, cried and laughed a bit. I questioned the fairness of all things g o o d. Then my pen hit the paper and I drafted the w o r d list that I rattled off at her wake of all the things we were able to share by having mamas that were d e a r friends.

Thank you, Farmer Guy, Manchild, Daughter and Puppy G i n g e r for escorting me across Texas for this magichal trip.

Thank you, Enterprise for surprisingly renting me a car with a n g e l West Virginia plates.

These 'honest' gifts that we received as w o r d s - 

Because of our mama's friendship, we do...

Mothers
Friends, Girlfriends, Grace and Graceful. 
Lipstick and Smiles. 
Positivity and Kindness. 
Education and Degrees. More Education and Degrees. 
Children and Community. 
Social and Activism.
Flowers, Beauty and Travel.
Parties and Celebrations
Sweets and Food. 
Black. 
Volunteer and Intern. 
Cheer and Mascots (Cardinals, Mustangs and Eagles). 
Piano Lessons and Fashion. 
Justice and Integrity. 
Thank yous and Gratitude. 
Work. 
Life, Death.
and Tea.


And so it is.

See Tee's b e a u t i f u l inspirational story and fund Cancer Sucks.

Click here: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/cancer-sucks-a-cheer-up-story 


l o v e   

 

g r a t i t u d e g a m e

Life is filled with mundane tasks. Waiting in traffic, riding on transit, stuffing envelopes, sanding hula hoops, chopping veggies and so on. 

Over here we practice word focus, and a good wood focus is g r a t i t u d e. When you focus on gratitude and breathe other words pop alive. Words that can make you weep. 

My thankful thoughts moved me to tears once while stuffing envelopes for a ginormous mail out. With each envelope I thought a thought of something that I give thanks. Somehow I landed off of the path of usual: health, family members, employment, and landed smack dab into experiences. Like eating lox in New York, baked beans in Boston, beignets in New Orleans then I took a turn to a Picasso museum in Switzerland. 

My chest welled. I am fortunate. Blessed, and highly favored. 

Start by counting tiles the next time you find yourself in the mundane and you need a life lift. Tiles are everywhere- on the floor, ceilings and walls. Give each tile a name of an article that you give thanks. So delicious!

Life IS fabulous!

l o v e

Where can you play the g r a t i t u d e game?

f r e e food!

What in the world do we do with q u i n o a or k a l e?

Find out for freeeeeeeeeeeeee!

food words to b r i g h t e n your day- from now until Sunday!

http://www.amazon.com/Walnut-ebook/dp/B0050PJJR0

love

See you this Saturday at #authorday Midland Downtown Farmers' Market!

word p o w e r

I started teaching in Fifth Ward, Texas. My life modeled any movie that you have ever seen when the new teacher goes into a rough neighborhood to begin their public school profession-- only a 1000 times worse. I cried every day.

I cried not because my students behaved badly. I cried because I had students that didn’t have food. I had students that didn’t have shelter. I had students that couldn’t make it to school because they needed to care for their children. I had present students who had absent parents.

I cried because in my self-contained mulch-disciplined remedial classroom- I no longer believed that education was as important as my professors told me. I wasn’t prepared.

One day during those first months I saw an interview of Maya Angelou. Ms. Angelou talked about the importance of words. The words we said stuck to the walls of the rooms in which they were uttered. I remember thinking words could make almost anything better. If I can’t teach my students, I can at least share wonderful words with my students, and maybe I won’t cry. 

There were no instructions. I made words a game. When one exited our classroom- they had to say a positive word. The kids made extra rules as we went along. 

You couldn’t say the same word twice. You couldn’t repeat a word someone else had said that day. Except for me I could say what I wanted and 99% of the time- my word was fabulous. I realized that words had taken on a life of its own. 

My male students got pretty competitive. Some of my students would enter the classroom knowing what their word for the day would be. Even better-- if the word were more obscure with lots of letters. 

We were learning words, sharing words, and loving it.

I hadn’t even realized that I didn’t cry after work anymore. I did realize something more interesting-- the question. 

What’s the question?

“Ms. White, what are you on?” Different variations of that question are posed to me weekly, with my most favorite being, “Ms. White, why are you sooooooooooo happy?"

Words! I’m on words. I was on words and I didn’t even know it.

In an inner-city classroom there was the occasion of a student being arrested. I made the promise early on that I would not entertain any part of that dynamic. We could still be cool, but I would not write letters to you or on your behalf or visit you if you got yourself into a situation. Then one of my favorites did just that got himself into a situation.

Weeks went by and I still missed this student. It was odd that he had not returned, because in my experience, at that point, they always returned-- sometimes even the following day. One day his mother came to visit me. I was ready to give my speech- I will not be writing any letters, nor will I be visiting your son. I was not ready to hear what she said.

You see, this student told his mother- that while he was in solitary confinement the w o r d s saved his life. When his situation got too unbearable to think about, he would repeat the positive words from class over and over and over again. Until he felt better.

She came to my classroom to thank me.

We continued to say the exit positive words. We learned tons that year. This was quite pivotal in my career as an educator. Administrators from the school district would visit my classroom, and leave happier than when they arrived.

Ms. White why are you so happy?

Here’s the lesson. You ready? Are you listening? Words ARE things, and I have proof. 

Would you answer yes to the statement, “Every sentence has a noun?” “And what is a noun?”

Thank you. Person, place or thing. I would include an idea, But tomato, tomahto. I have a sentence. Words are fabulous.  What’s the noun in that sentence? Words. And is it a person, place, or a thing?

When I was researching for this last class, I came across a research article online by Jenna Pope. She reported that, “seventy years ago, a study was done on the value of positive words. The test subjects were a group of nuns who were entering the same convent. The nuns were all close in age, subjected to a similar environment, conditions, and diseases as they were cloistered, living together, separate from the rest of the world.

Each nun was asked to write an essay describing her life before she entered the convent. Each positive word, such as "good," "contentment," and "happiness," was given a plus one. Each negative word, such as "sad," "unhappy," and "difficult," was given a minus one. Then the essays were tabulated and assigned a score.

The essays were then divided into four groups, based on their number of positive and negative words. The most negative essays were in the bottom group, and the most positive essays were in the top group. The essays in between were either closer to the top or bottom based on the number of their positive and negative words.

Seventy years later, the nun study was revisited. All of the nuns in the bottom three groups were dead, but EVERY SINGLE NUN in the top group was alive, in her 90's, and still going strong!

That evidence kind of disproves the childhood rhyme of, ‘Sticks and Stones my break my bones, but words will never hurt me.’ Not only can they possibly hurt you, but they might just kill you or they can help you to live a happier and longer life.  Yes, it is my belief that a word can change your life.

You can use a single word to change your day. It won’t take money, or another person. Just a word. I guarantee this.

When you want to strengthen a relationship or uplift someone that is down- give a compliment. 

When you desire to change how you’re feeling- Name that feeling, pick an opposite word and focus on it. Find things that remind you of that word.

I give you words. Use them wisely.

My words for you on this day.

Joy

Yolo

Resilience

Energy

And Fabulous.

we c h o o s e you

Desire. At p i c t u r e l e s s, we dive into our dreams. Could a word, just one word, change a day? Bring a little lift to the dreary? We don’t doubt that discovering delightful d words is a pretty darn quick way to fulfilling our greatest desire: bringing delectable dancing deep within our reader’s hearts and minds.

m a s t e r p i e c e

Marketing MANIA! With the miniscule overhead and the microscopic production cost of p i c t u r e l e s s, we can invest mega amounts of time and energy into our marketing and education! Plus! We get a fantastic margin with Amazon! What magic! Some of the current plans include:   apps, greeting cards, postcards, flash cards, jewelry, temporary tattoos, wristbands, Twitter madness, Facebook insanity, mugs, t-shirts, mousepads, screensavers, posters and last but not least, customized alphabet books—we already get multiple requests daily for these! Magnificent madness!