It’s easy sometimes to get so consumed by the ‘every day’ parts of life – work, responsibilities, relationships – that you end up putting your passions, those things that truly make you happy, on the back-burner.
 
I am passionate about many things, and helping people become better communicators is one of them. But what really makes me happy is when I make the stories swirling around in my head come to life on paper. I was a story writing machine when I was little, but as I got older the stories were few and far between. “I don’t have time to write,” I’d say, but I still yearned to create.
 

There have only been four blog posts since then, unfortunately.
 
October 2017 put a lot of things into perspective for me, but first, a little context.
 
Earlier this year, Divya of AmarnaniXO created a Facebook group to bring Grenada’s Blog Community together to a space where we could share advice and opportunities, encouragement and motivation. Over the past year, this group of Spice Bloggers has held meet ups, been invited to cover the Pure Grenada Music Festival and the Grenada Chocolate Festival, and been an awesome support group.
 
Sometime in September, fellow Spice Blogger Kered extended an invitation to the group to cover the OMNoire Glow Up Wellness Retreat, the first of its kind in Grenada. OMNoire is a wellness social community for multi-cultural women focused on living well from the inside out. Through their events, retreats and online platform, the OMNoire experience aims to cultivate strength, growth and positive manifestation in the lives of their community members. So, just in time for the start of the retreat on October 5th, more than 50 women descended upon Grenada for a weekend of rejuvenation, meditation, yoga, and defining purpose.
 
I typically wouldn’t have volunteered for such an event; retreats of that nature aren’t my thing, but I’ve been on a mission this year to embrace new experiences, whatever form they take. (This may or may not have been prompted by my niece’s current obsession with Daniel Tiger and the song “You’ve got to try new things because it might taste gooooood.”)  So, I volunteered for the Friday night dinner event ‘Dine &Define’ at the Aquarium Restaurant.
 
Over dinner and some drinks, more than 60 women engaged in conversation, shared experiences and listened to talks by Michele Davenport, Kered Clement, and Necole Kane.
 
Michele Davenport, Founder and CEO of Mosaic Coaching shared her insight on the power of our words and thoughts, encouraging us to choose words that empower us. Necole Kane, social media influencer, recounted the journey that led her to where she is now — Founder and Editor-in-Chief of xonecole.com. But the talk that resonated with me the most was Kered’s, as she told her story of letting go of limiting beliefs. Kered wouldn’t be where she is today had she believed all the people who said she couldn’t. I needed to hear that story, and the sage words from her 104 year old grandmother:

“Don’t let anyone put you under the table and stand up on it.” 

 
The evening also featured a panel discussion which brought OmNoire co-founders Amber Forrester and Christina Rice, and La Shell Wooten, mental health therapist and life coach, together with Michele, Necole and Kered to talk about creating a life you love. Each speaker left us with words to ponder, but it was La Shell’s quote that, even though I’d heard it before, seemed the most poignant:

“For those who believe, no explanation is necessary. For those who don’t, no explanation will do.” 

 
Thank you Kered and the OmNoire team for the opportunity to dine and define! Here are a few photos:

So remember when I spoke about October putting things into perspective? Well, I took a week off from work to do what I love at a writing intensive workshop designed to produce culturally relevant storybooks for Grenadian children.
 
Take a look at video to learn more about the amazing initiative to increase childhood literacy and promote reading spearheaded by Grenada Schools Inc.