I have a Youtube playlist where I read aloud from 19th Century American literary texts, and I thought I’d share those here. In addition to reading the texts, I add my own commentary and analysis. I hope you enjoy them.
Author: Roshaunda D. Cade, Ph.D.
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What are you creating?
Recently I talked a bit about living LELA (Life, Education, Literacy, and Arts).
Today I’m exploring arts.
By arts, I mean your creative endeavors. I’m always thinking of something to make and buying supplies. And then hoarding the supplies and not making things. But I’ve digressed.
Today I ministered one of the new dances I mentioned when I discussed learning. It ws both a creative endeavor and a blessed experience.
So what about you? What are you creating today?
To commit yourself to reading and/or wtiting today, like this post.
To encourage someone else to join in, share this post.
And please drop a comment to let me know what you did and how doing so changed you.
I can’t wait to hear from you! -
What are you reading and writing?
Recently I talked a bit about living LELA (Life, Education, Literacy, and Arts).
Today I’m exploring literacy.
I’m always in the middle of reading and writing something. Or more accurately, several somethings. So I’ll just focus on one thing today – reading.
I’ve been reading The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict for about a month now. I’m enjoying it. It’s very interesting.
Sidebar – I stopped writing to look up a link to the book. I was having a difficult time trying to figure out how to describe the book by saying something more descriptive than “It’s about Heddy Lamar,” so I was either looking for inspiration or a link to share with you. I noticed in some sites the author was listed as Heather Terrell, not Marie Benedict, so I did some investigating.
Marie Benedict is a pen name for Heather Terrell. I had no idea, so I’m excited to learn this. I’ve previously read and enjoyed a book by Marie Benedict, which was a contributing factor in picking up this book. Now I have two author names to keep in mind as I find books to read.
And while I have learned more about the author, I still don’t have a better way to describe the novel than by saying, “It’s about Heddy Lamar.”
So what about you? What are you reading and writing today?
To commit yourself to reading and/or wtiting today, like this post.
To encourage someone else to join in, share this post.
And please drop a comment to let me know what you did and how doing so changed you.
I can’t wait to hear from you! -
What are you learning?
Yesterday I talked a bit about living LELA (Life, Education, Literacy, and Arts).
Today I’m honing in on learning.
I have a couple of dance ministry opportunities coming up, so I’m going to work on learning the dances today. I won’t have them perfected today (if ever, to be honest), but I am going to put in some time with them, and that’s what learning is all about.
What about you? What are you learning today?
To commit yourself to learning something today, like this post.
To encourage someone else to join in, share this post.
And please drop a comment to let me know what you did and how doing so changed you.
I can’t wait to hear from you! -
Living the LELA Life
The LELA in LELA House stands for Life, Education, Literacy, and Arts. LELA House is a space to pursue and practice your LELA.
Life – By life, I mean your relationship with God, your relationship with yourself, and your relationship with others. God created each of us with a unique design and specific purposes to transform our communities. Pursuing and practicing your life might look like reading and studying your bible, meditating on scripture, journaling, practicing self-care (whatever that looks like for you), and being intentional about the roles you play in life and your relationships.
Education – By education, I mean your learning. What are you learning? How are you growing? You don’t have to be in school to learn and grow (even though being in school is great). Striving to learn and try new things and gain skills throughout life benefits you and those around you. And who knows – you may just stumble upon something you absolutely love.
Literacy – By literacy, I mean your reading and writing. What are you reading? What are you writing? How are you making time for these activities in your life? What are you missing out on when you don’t? What will you gain when you do?
Arts – By arts, I mean your creativity. What are you creating? How are you interacting with the beautiful world God created? What is the work of your hands? Pursuing and practicing your creativity might look like a lot of things including dancing, singing, baking, crafting, sewing, gardening, writing, composing, playing an instrument, painting, choreographing, doodling, arranging flowers, styling hair, doing nails, and on and on.
So today, I’m going to focus on pursuing and practicing my life (the first L in LELA). I am going to meditate on Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) – “ For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
Please join me in pursuing and practicing your life today. – whatever that looks like for you.
To join in, like this post.
To encourage someone else to join in, share this post.
And please drop a comment to let me know what you did and how doing so changed you.
I can’t wait to hear from you!
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Why do I have so many chins?
I am part of a writing group that meets on Zoom. We all live in different states, so our regular Zoom meetings are a great way to keep in touch, encourage each other, and get some writing done.
The other day, after we had set the timer for our writing, I found myself not writing. I didn’t have anything to say about anything. I looked at my friends writing and being productive, and I looked at myself on screen and noticed that I have a bunch of chins. So I wrote about it. I ended up writing a poem.
Why Do I Have So Many Chins
Why do I have so many chins, so many chins, so many chins? Why do I have so many chins? It’s a sign of a life well-lived.
I’ve birthed babies and businesses and read some good books.
In my younger days I got too many looks
I’ve lounged and I’ve lazed
and frittered and wasted
I can’t even count all the pies I have tasted
I’ve loved and I’ve climbed
I’ve been rich; I’ve been broke
I never, not once, have taken a smoke
I’ve sat by the bedsides of my sick children and dying mom
I’ve taught and I’ve learned and got stood up at prom
I’ve sung and I’ve danced
I’ve even trapezed
I once got stopped by Austrian police.
I’ve cried and comforted
Been torn down and built up
And in everything, God fills up my cup
Why do I have so many chins, so many chins, so many chins? Why do I have so many chins? It’s a sign of a life well-lived.
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No Sound
Y’all. My last 2 recorded readings didn’t have sound. I don’t know why. I’m not doing anything differently than I have in the past. I’m looking into it.
I just wanted to update you, in case you were wondering what is going on with the lapse in readings.
Have no fear, I have more 19th Century literature by and about black people for you. Satan is just trying to hold a sistah back, and we are having none of that.
Until next time.
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On Being Crazy by W.E.B. DuBois
I have a Youtube playlist where I read aloud from 19th Century American literary texts, and I thought I’d share those here. In addition to reading the texts, I add my own commentary and analysis. I hope you enjoy them.
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Behind the Scenes by Elizabeth Keckley, Ch 15g
I have a Youtube playlist where I read aloud from 19th Century American literary texts, and I thought I’d share those here. In addition to reading the texts, I add my own commentary and analysis. I hope you enjoy them.
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Pocket Coaching
As I’m a certified life coach, it comes a surprise to no one that I’ve worked long-term with a life coach. I may be biased, but I believe everyone needs someone they can talk out their quandaries with and set a plot forward for growth and momentum.
I loved our biweekly Zoom calls, but what I didn’t love was the time between the calls. Now, for full disclosure, my ride-or-die life coach let me email him between sessions, and I did just that on occasion. But I didn’t want to overstep. Time is valuable, and I didn’t feel good encroaching on his time without compensating him for it.
So during those in between times, I tried to remember questions I wanted to ask in our next session. I thought about prioritizing them, even, but mostly I just forgot.
Sometimes during those in between times I needed a word of encouragement or some help brainstorming an idea. Sometimes I got what I needed in other ways; sometimes I floundered.
Also during those in between times I struggled to hold myself accountable to what I said I would do.
To be direct, life coaching is not about enabling or becoming a crutch for people, so I had my own work to do during those in between times. And I did it. Not always elegantly, but progress and growth happened.
But I wondered what it would be like if I could just have a coach in my back pocket whenever I wanted to reach out – not necessarily for a long-term commitment.
Then I wondered what it would be like, as an overwhelmed educator, and as a woman, and as a black woman, and as a woman who is now of a certain age, and as a wife, and as a mom, and as a writer, to have someone who looked like me and could relate to my multifaceted day-to-day life just hanging out in my back pocket whenever I was ready to reach out.
And I thought that would be really cool.
So I would like to be that for you.
Pocket Coaching is 30 days of unlimited email coaching that allows you to reach out in your own way and in your own time. Maybe you need some ideas for practicing self-care. Maybe you’re working on a piece of writing and need an extra set of eyes. Maybe you’d like to rewrite your life story. Maybe you’d like some book suggestions for current challenges and changes in your life. Maybe you need some daily devotionals. Maybe you need a word of encouragement.
Think of Pocket Coaching as in-the-moment support, like what we provide to our students and colleagues every single day.
Except now it’s for you.
30 days of Pocket Coaching just might change your life. Sign up at the link below.
https://www.coachaccountable.com/offering/PYClF7cExmOmKXWrAuees4F7cUwRZsU