A Beautiful Mind

There is a world beyond just physical attraction. A world when conversations stimulate brain cells and leave one thirsty for more knowledge. There is a world beyond hot, sweaty bodies moving rhythmically in the dead of the night (or in the middle of the day). A world where emotions are explored and personalities are discovered.

In such a highly sexual age and highly technological age, there's something to be said about people who desire physical interactions, those who book face time...and not the app kind. There is only so much you can say about yourself with words. And then there's so much more you say with your actions, reactions, emotions, body language, and etc. 

I happen to admire persons who still want to practice the art of reading and deciphering body language. I admire and appreciate people who want to spend time talking and getting to know each other. I admire people who can have mentally stimulating conversations. Clearly there's a lot about me you don't know. I suggest get to know me before you make your assumptions, because for sure they're only making an ASS out of U and not me.

An Empress Can Dream

My friend Ashni shared a song with me and I feel like it's changed my life! Okay not really but it's been on repeat for hours on end. My neighbours are probably sick of it.

The song is Adorn by Miguel. The words just touch me. They are the words that I want a man to sing to me. "Let my love adorn you."

If I could sing I would want this as my wedding song, where my husband and I sing the song to each other. But since I can't sing I'll take him singing to me :). If I couldn't wait til my wedding day I'd want him to never sing this song to me until he was proposing. I don't care where we were, he'd just start singing the song and then go down on one knee and ask me to marry him. He'd probably give a speech about how he knew from the first day he saw me that I was the one for him, or something more creative hahaha. But in any case. If an Empress could dream, she'd dream of being proposed that way.

"These lips can't wait to taste your skin. And these eyes can't wait to see your grin. Just let my love, let my love adorn you. You gotta know, you gotta know that I adore you. Baby these fits, will always protect you. And this mind will never neglect you..."

These lines are so beautiful. How can you not want someone ask to let their love adorn you?

Keep Your Eyes On The Prize

I lose focus easily. I will admit to it. I get distracted extremely easily. A number of times I begin something, full of vigour and excitement. A breeze passes with a different tune and I want to drop everything to follow that new tune. Clearly that's not going to get me very far in life. I'll be dancing around like a crazy person with no sense of direction.

There's quite a bit on my mind right now, much of which I can't just spill the beans about, but what I will say is I'm fighting to remain focused. My mind and heart have a way of tricking me into thinking the new breeze is where I want to be, but my gut is saying "You know what happens when you lose focus...eventually you get hurt and/or disappointed and come back to that original tune. So why stray in the first place?" Which is true. I'm trying to look at the big picture and not at any one tiny speck, for fear that I let that speck overpower the actual picture.

Remain focused on your prize. If you feel yourself slipping take a moment to rethink all the emotions involved. Is this the right thing for me to do? Should I continue on my current path or should I change? Answer honestly and take your time to answer. Once the decision is made, hop to it!

-The Empress

Who Inspires You Part 4

If you're a dancer you know what it does to you. It's a community like no other. People who play certain sports have a similar sense of community and vibe like dancers do. Although I love sports I've never truly experienced their community like I've experienced the dancing community. Through dance I have met some amazing people, people who have enriched my life, helped me grow and pushed me further.

There are a few of my dancer family members who inspire me, but there is one in particular I want to mention. She has been one of the greatest supports, fans, encourager, and non-blood sisters to me. She continually pushes me on to be my greatest. We get into a lil trouble here and there, but well behaved women rarely make history, right? She's a firecracker, sassy, classy, honest and funny. Her spunk and attitude will get her far and will continue to motivate and inspire many other people specifically women and girls to reach beyond the stars.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm talking about one of my two Canadian besties, Ms "I'm Gonna Be Famous You Know" Ashni Ramsammy! I have done a previous post on her but I felt the need to add her to this list of people who inspire me. Ashni (and her family) have always encouraged me to do what I really love to do - DANCE! She's been the one constantly reminding me that I should not settle for one when I can have it all. She is living proof to me that if you want something badly enough and believe that it should be yours it will.

So to my little radio superstar I raise a glass and say FIRE ONE!

Thanks for being so amazingly inspirational to me.

-The Empress

You Can Do It All

The times have changed. A career is not something stagnant. You can do it all with your life and it's quite alright.

I feel like I've been wired and trained to follow the teachings of the previous generation in that after you leave school, you get a job and have a career. You focus on one thing and that's it. Everything else is secondary. But deep down inside this does not resonate very well with me. I feel like I'm leaving something behind when I focus on one and not consider all.

I've received an amazing amount of support and encouragement from friends and their families about my skills and/or talent as a dancer. It's refreshing to have people tell you you should pursue that dream. I must admit if I were to, I'm not sure where to start and I'm scared. But what's a little fear? There's nothing wrong with fulfilling that dream of being on stage dancing my heart out. So I should go for it, right?

If you've read my previous post Dreams and Aspirations you're probably thinking she just wants to conquer the world! And that is exactly what it is!! I feel like I should be allowed to pursue all my passions, not just the more "academically inclined" ones.

It's a difficult decision to make, what to do and when to do it, but you can do it all if you truly want to. Prioritize and be realistic. That's the part I'm working on now.

Thanks for reading.

-The Empress

Dreams and Aspirations

Last night I posed a question to a few people: "What would you do if you knew you could not fail?" The best answer I got was everything! I chuckled because that makes the most sense realistically. I was asked the question and answered being a professional dancer. I went to sleep and assumed I'd never really think about that question again. I was wrong. I woke up this morning and for some reason it was still lurking on my mind. So I ask myself the question again

What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

The answer bubbling within my boyo (my nickname for gut) was different to what I answered last night. This is what I would do:

I would merge my interest and passion - the environment and education (respectively). A lot of what I do is centred around going back to Saint Lucia (eventually) and applying it there. I envision people asking me what I do, and I respond "I am Environmental Education Officer," or something along those lines. My position would be to create educational programming with various businesses and organisations to get children (and the wider community) involved and educated about environmental issues. The children are the future and if they do not possess the mindset necessary to make change we are destined to fail. I would create innovative and exciting activities for various age ranges, use existing environmental groups within the school system and have a nation wide event where students get to be creative and share their experiences while developing skills to help them excel.

I would have such a wide range of activities that a large cross section of children will be reached and a greater impact would be made. For the more academically inclined students a debating competition with environmental topics that are centred around our environmental issues - the effects of climate change on our small island developing state, coral reefs, deforestation and loss of biodiversity to name a few. These topics will not only be strictly environmentally based, but will encompass other areas relevant to our sustenance. Aspects of development, business and industry can and will also be incorporated into the discussions. For the more hands on learners they would be given the opportunity to create and/or design environmentally friendly products or services. Other activities would stem around responsibility, reciprocity, relationship and respect - The Four Rs of Indigenous Cultures. If we can instil these values in our youth then we can restore true national pride.

This is just the tip of the iceberg in regards to what I would do. I get so excited just thinking and talking about this. THIS is what I need to do with my life. I need to find out how I can do it.


Now I pose the question to you "What would you do if you knew you could not fail?" Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading
-The Empress

Where do the fish go?

This was an assignment I had to write for my Environmental Communications course. I figured it would be good to share some of my work with you. Feedback would be greatly appreciated. I have no title for this piece.

Coral reefs are living environments and home to many fishes. According to a study published in the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 67% of fishes moved to healthier coral when their coral home dies. This new coral home is usually close to their original home.

The study tested how long it takes the fishes to move to a healthier spot once the coral dies and how many of them will move.

Three scientists from Australia found that there are three factors that determine whether the fish move. They are the health of the original coral home, whether a new home is available and if that new home has other fishes they can breed with. Competition from other fishes is a big factor that causes the fish not to move.

Corals are very tiny, colourful marine animals. They live close together in colonies and have a hard skeleton made from the same material as seashells.

Fish love happy coral. Hurricanes, changes in the sea temperature and other things like pollution make the coral unhappy. Coral bleaching happens when the unhappy coral move away and leave behind the white skeleton. Coral bleaching does not happen all at once on the whole reef. It happens in patches. The coral never moves back if the conditions remain the same or get worse. When this happens the reef is said to be dead.

Disturbances to coral reefs can happen naturally. Human activities can also cause disturbances to coral reefs.

Human caused disturbances are adding to the effects of natural disturbances. This is threatening the lives of many animals and plants as well as how the environment is working.

The study found that coral bleaching did not affect the fish. They remained at the bleached reef.

Although the fish chose to stay at the bleached reefs, their dark or colourful bodies against the white reef make them easily seen.

A dead reef keeps its structure, but it still does not have everything fish need to live there. When the coral dies another tiny plant called algae moves unto the skeleton and starts growing. This new plant does not support the fish and makes it harder for the fish to find hiding spots from other fish that want to eat it. Once the reef died the fish moved to another reef.

Certain fish rely on certain types of coral colonies. If the fish is to move successfully and live, it needs its preferred coral colony to move along.

While some new fish came from the dead reef to a healthier one, some from the healthy reef left. The total number of fish did not change which means that no fish died because of the death of the reef.

Each school of fish has a hierarchal system. The new fish cause the fish at the bottom of the system to move out.

The presence of other fishes at healthy coral reefs stopped some fishes from moving to a new reef. It’s like a high school cafeteria. The new kid wants somewhere to sit and each his lunch. He tries to find a table which has other people so he doesn’t sit alone. Each table he approaches gives him the look of death so he goes back. It’s the same thing with the fishes.

Fish from the dead reef approach the new reef in the hopes of finding a new home. Fish from the healthy reef chase them away.

The fish from the healthy reef may feel threatened by the new fish, and because of this they chase them away. The new fish may be more aggressive or social dominating. If they are, food, space and mating partners may be affected.

When choosing a new reef fishes look for “good neighbours.” A good neighbour is one which the fish can breed with.

Fish preferred having other fish they could mate with over a healthy reef. Of the 64% of fish that were successful in finding a new reef, all except for 2 chose a reef with good neighbours. Some of the fish travelled far to find a new reef with good neighbours.

Fish choose reefs with good neighbour not only because they can mate with them but for additional protection against predators.

The scientists concluded that an important factor in regards to the movement of fish was the presence of other fish it could mate with. Conversely, competition for food, shelter and mating partners did not hinder the movement of fish. Fish also moved out from dead coral before the structure of it was gone. 

A Moment For Me

I thought I would be able to handle it, but as time creeps up I'm beginning to change my mind.

I thought I could handle seeing all my friends graduate in June and not have my time in the light that season, but as each one is done with assignments and exams it makes me sadder and sadder that I won't truly be able to share in their victory. I can't say to myself, one more exam and this is it! I'm done! No. Instead I have smile to say congratulations and hope that they don't hear the "Lucky *scoff*" under my breath.

It's not that I am resentful of their victory and success. It's not that I didn't put myself where I am. It's just that I don't get to do my victory dance just yet. I don't get my moment of glory where I hug my friends wearing my green gown, holding my flowers and chocolates and other congratulatory gifts.

And yes this is motivation to keep pushing because my time is almost here, just not yet. But it still would have felt great to say "Yes! WE are done" with my friends.

-The Empress.

Expectations

"Expectations lead to Disappointments"

How many times have you heard this saying or a variation of it? I know I've been saying it a lot lately to remind myself of an error I made and hopefully won't make again. I expected that something would be one way instead of going into the situation with an open mind and rolling with the breeze. My high expectations were quite different to what the situation had prepared. I was quite disappointed. And instead of letting go as soon as I found out I still trying to see if I could manipulate the situation to make it as close to what I wanted as possible. My manipulative efforts were in vain. And hence even more disappointment was created.

Don't get me wrong, there are some things that happen in life that we need to have an idea of how we want things to turn out - a job interview, moving to a new city, an exam, that kind of thing. There are others that we need to go with flow whether we're in charge or not. Enjoy the moment and be free. When we try to control everything we end up in trouble or disappointed.


Go forth and be free. Explore life and the joys within it.

-The Empress

Who Inspires You? Part Three

There are people that come into your life for a purpose. When their time is done, they leave. You remember the lessons they taught you and live a better life.

There are other people that are in your life for years. From the day you meet them til the day you die, they remain in your life and are a good source of inspiration among other things to you.

This next inspiration to me has been in and out of my life, due to distance, for some years now. I met her in my first year of high school and ever since we've been friends. Sometimes I really wonder how she deals with me, my mood swings, impulsive behaviour and randomness. A few weeks back I sat with her and a few other people and listened to her speak. When she spoke it was like deja vu. It was so eloquent it reminded me of the our "good ole days."

My friend Gemma Edwin inspires me to be educated, knowledgeable, well versed and open minded. It's amazing the way a conversation between the two of us unfolds. A simple topic such as grocery shopping turns into a three hour conversation on capitalism, organic food, ethics and globalization. It truly is wonderful to have a friend who encourages your own growth and curiosity.

So to Gemma I raise my green bottle and say FIRE ONE!

Thanks for being such an inspiration to me!

-The Empress