It Is Only When You Want To Quit...

That your purpose shines through...

I don't know if I would really want to say that I was about to quit, but I can say that I certainly faltered recently.

In February, I went to a Black History Book Festival to sell my books and though I had a great time, as the days passed, I began to chicken out on going to my next event. This past Saturday was Artomatic419 in Downtown Toledo and while at the BHBF in February, I was invited to be a vendor for Afromatic at Artomatic419. Well, about three weeks ago, I decided that I no longer wanted to go; my nerves were just too shaky and I allowed fear to overcome me.

One night, in the first week of April, I happened to come across a FaceBook post that the organizer (Megan) had shared. After a bit of clicking around, I decided to search for a fellow author to see if she were still going. As I found her name, my eyes ended up landing on the name two beneath hers: Author La Kata E.K.! Needless to say that my decision had already been made for me...

Ultimately, though, I'm glad that I went ahead and went all the same. I sold a few books and passed out a lot of cards and whatnot; I even made a new connection because while I was there, I was approached and asked to be a "featured reader" at a future event by one of the event's co-founders! Naturally, I said "YES" without even caring if I had anything already on my schedule for that day!. Later on, I was approached by one of the gentlemen involved with the M.A.D.D. Poets Society (Nikyle D. Fitzgerald II) and was pretty much told that I was going to read one of my poems on stage later that afternoon. I had met him back at the BHBF  while I was being "socially awkward" and I'm sure he picked up on the fact that if he had asked me to read, I might've kindly declined so it only made sense to approach me differently this time. I suppose, anyway. It didn't bother me any because surprisingly to him when we crossed paths this time, I was a lot more self assured and certainly a lot less "socially awkward" and I'm pleased to say that I carried a strong presence when I went up on the stage and read "Lord, It's Me". 

All in all, I'm glad that I didn't allow my fear to overcome me and stop me from doing what I love doing the most. Though the path has been a long one, I'm glad that I continued to travel it...