poetry

Cornrows n Quilted Skirts

Cornrows n Quilted Skirts
That part of you that shines
Hair in the wind
A smile to the sky
Laying down your strife
Throwing off those heels
Sand between the toes
No doobie for you
But you’ll hug the trees
No longer the hustle
The nine to five
Just say good bye
Cornrows n Quilted skirts
A natural high
Arms out like wings
The heart finally sings
You’re Woodstock revived
Oh Lord, you’re one of them
But you don’t care
Just happy life no longer hurts
Cornrows n Quilted Skirts

Inspirational

Blacktop Rivers

blacktop river poem pic

I had to leave the point of where I was

Left in the thoughts of hell was pretty rough

I had taken many roads before that wasn’t too wise

Only to end up full circle, what a surprise

Back to square one and I couldn’t get away

From the child in me that wanted to stay

Good bye to the ways of the woe

As I float on down this windy road

 

The blacktop rivers

The rivers..the blacktop rivers

Seek and you shall find

The freedom of your mind

The blacktop rivers release the blind

Get on the road of discovery

The blacktop rivers of clarity

Letting it go..letting it go

Set your mind free

 

Blacktop Rivers where my mind goes free

Movin’ to my dream, the road beneath my feet

Pressing forward without touchin’ the ground

Letting the wind brush past me, my thoughts with no sound

 

I’m just letting my mind go free

On the blacktop rivers to the powers that be

The blacktop rivers where no one can stop me

I’m just letting my mind go free

 

Blacktop Rivers where my mind goes free

Movin’ to my dream, the road beneath my feet

Pressin’ forward without touchin’ the ground

Letting the wind brush past me, my thoughts with no sound

 

I’m just letting my mind go free

On the blacktop rivers to the powers that be

The blacktop rivers where no one can stop me

I’m just letting my mind go free

 

On the blacktop rivers to the powers that be

 

Copyright Stefanie Boggs-Johnson

 

Alive East Bay Magazine

Goalbusters

I write monthly articles for Alive East Bay Magazine. My goal is to provide positive information, resources and hope for special needs awareness and inclusion. I hope you enjoy November’s edition. ❤

Goalbusters


Goalbusters

Breaking through barriers is never easy. There will be individuals who will support your endeavors and have your back, and there will be others who belittle your goals and dreams. Then there are those on the same path as you. You join the flock and decide not to give up after all. You keep going for that goal.

That is what AYSO VIP League did for my perspective of finding a sport for children within the special needs community. A soccer organization that offers competitive sports for the mainstream and a non-competitive sport for those diagnosed with special needs (VIP), my husband and I signed up our ten-year-old daughter. We were not disappointed.

The season recently ended and, after having the enjoyment of watching my daughter’s confidence flourish on the field, I was so impressed. It was so positive and touching to watch how the VIP coaches and mainstream coaches collaborated in each game. Assigned as “buddies,” the team of mainstream kids patiently interacted with the VIP team. I watched inclusion and a balance of competitiveness of which the opposing team adjusted, based on the skill level of my daughter’s team. It was an hour of easygoing enjoyment where no mama or papa bear showed their fangs on the sidelines. The players played, the parents watched, and the coaches coached.

It was because of the coaches that these moments were able to occur with passion, focus and consistency—all of it done on a volunteer basis. The coaches, past and present, exemplified action that came from their hearts. As I recently sat with them enjoying a spaghetti dinner at the VIP Soccerfest costume party, I was amazed at how long they all have been dedicated to providing an inclusive sport for a special group of young individuals.

The fearless leader of my daughter’s team, “Goalbusters,” Peter Gaughan (aka Coach Pete) has volunteered with the AYSO VIP league for 21 years with some of those years as Director for the league. His spunky “let’s do this!” attitude was apparent to me the moment I meant him. To find out how long he has been giving his time and energy only added to my respect for him. His coaching assistant, Cecilia Romero-Chavez, became involved after moving from Richmond to Pleasant Hill and began looking for sports activities for her son. Through her “Googling,” she became part of AYSO VIP in 2006 and is currently the Division Coordinator. They are a duo that follows through with emails, practices and games. Also in attendance at the league’s Halloween celebration was Steve Forbes, who began volunteering in 1997. Even though he no longer volunteers as a coach, there he was attending this event for these special kids out of pure admiration for the division and all it stands for—inclusion. I truly felt surrounded by sincere human beings.

If you are a parent of a child diagnosed with a special need and are in doubt of which way to turn or how to find a compatible environment, just know that you are not alone in feeling overwhelmed or in despair. Uplifting, helpful, and inspiring resources are available in many different forms. Achieving milestones are possible for people of all abilities. There is a flock ready to include you to help you bust through any barriers and reach the goal. I know this to be true because my family and I started out with so much fear and despair. Now, ten years later, we get to witness our daughter “bust” out of any restrictive assumptions that society prematurely places, and she is achieving more goals than we ever could have imagined. Every child is born with VIP status but AYSO helped remind my daughter’s teammates that they are all “Goalbusters.”

Thank you AYSO VIP league coaches and volunteers. I hope my gratitude in this article is the fuel that keeps reminding all of you that your devoted actions do make a difference. It is your efforts that reminds me that there is always a flock that I can call upon. As Coach Pete would say at the end of every game, “Who you gonna call?”, I happily answer along with my daughter “Goalbusters!”

For more information about AYSO VIP League, please visit https://ayso.org/play/vip/

Inspirational

Mirror Talk: Proportion

Psalms 90:15 Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery

You must start believing that you deserve the gladness that God is placing in your path. The joy that you receive is in proportion to the release of the need to blame others for the misery that occurred in your life. The more you believe that you are responsible for your life, the more you make room for the good to exist in your life. Not willing to take responsibility for your life only means that you choose to hold on to your perceived limitations. When you ask God to provide some joy in your life, you must face the root of your former misery–the belief that you aren’t deserving of the good that is ready to be sent your way.

Give up living in a state of mind that is comfortable with misery. Make room for the internal work of building the belief system that you add value because you exist. People that have entered your life and overlooked your worth is not the same as God overlooking your worth. His unconditional energy will flow through you in equal measure that you release the conditional, negative energy that you have carried for far too long. Start believing you deserve it in order to manifest it.

Start believing God when He tells you how He views you as valuable. Do not go by the memories of the tangible (people, places or things) and current circumstances that support the old belief system of which you grew accustomed. Realize the habit you have of keeping certain people and patterns in your life that help you remain in a spinning circle of excuses. Once you begin to release those negative patterns, they will be replaced with an endless supply of growth and joy. The more you believe that you don’t deserve a prosperous life, the more God is ready to show you that He believes you do, since the moment He created you. The proportion of love and goodness is equal to these blocks which must be removed. Release so that you may increase-in Him.

#MirrorTalk #Proportion