Cosmic Warrior Blessings

I've been on a serious hiatus from sharing on conscious vibration. The summer was super intense - filled with travel and journeys for work, for spirit, for family, for healing. I spent lots of time at home in Nassau (Bahamas), and it was really beautiful and necessary. I also went to Guadaloupe for the Caribbean Studies Association conference, to Washington D.C. for my annual writers and artists collective S.P.A.C.E. writing retreat, and also to Detroit for the Allied Media Conference and a work retreat for curriculum building with the Hurricane Season team. Detroit was powerful and ushered in some major changes for me - cutting my locs and letting go of so much...  still processing all of that... yet and still...  My 36th year started with me knowing that it was time to let go, and it was in Detroit that I made the decision, with the help of my chosen family sistren goddesses and especially my fellow Cosmic Warrior Naima - we cut it off! What a week!  

And then I spent the rest of summer from early July to mid August at home. I feel so grateful and blessed for the time, the journeys, the learning, the sharing, the space to write and grow... and the quality time with my loved ones. Spending time at home was really affirming, rejuvenating, and healing - I soaked in the sunshine and saltwater, exfoliated in the sand, played with my nieces, spent much needed time with my family and friends, and really relaxed. There is much more to share...  But for now, I'm sharing just a taste of my many summer blessings -- some mini-reflections and successes during my dragon '12 summer. 

So two major things I'm thrilled to share that I finished this summer: 

1) my "Saltwater Healing: Myth-Memoir" literary artwork piece is being published as a chapbook with Poinciana Press and editor Sonia Farmer (hopefully by December 2012). And I also worked on the art piece some more and moved it to The Lignum Vitae Foundation on Bay Street, Downtown Nassau - where it will be featured for a while.

2) and I finished my scholarly book Resisting Paradise: Tourism, Diaspora and Sexuality in Caribbean Literature and Culture - and successfully found an academic publisher! I will be working on revisions for the next year or so - and the book should be out in 2014. I'm thrilled to have finished and be in the process of finishing these two major projects that reflect my work as a writer-activist-poet-scholar-community worker-teacher - and more specifically the two aspects of my writing life - creative work and academic work - all coming to being and fruition in this dynamic, vibrant, yet challenging year.  

I've been back stateside since mid-August - in the throws of teaching, writing, and deadlines. I got really sick my first two weeks back, and so I had to establish new rituals of self-care and healing, as I embrace more fully the solitude where I live and work. And so it may be a while before I get back to my monthly intent of sharing on the blog. I hope to get back to this public space of sharing soon, but I'm not sure when or how it will look. I have embarked on a journey of creative recovery as a full mind-body-spirit-emotional healing. And so there is much work to do, while also staying present and focused on my day to day and the work and grind of teaching and writing. 

It's now Fall time, and in the northeast the leaves are starting to change into the most beautiful colors of red, brown, orange and everything in between. I am enjoying these moments of transition that reflect spirits of change, the urgency to prepare for what lies ahead, and being open to where the universe guides me. Celebrating the harvest full moon in Aries last night with meditation and setting intentions, I focused on manifesting productivity, abundance, healing light, and completion. This full moon brings together the energies of Aries and its opposite Libra - or the "me" and the "we" - reflecting both the Warrior and the Goddess within - seeking balance between being selfish and self-less. Thinking about my own struggle with this made my full moon meditation even more striking. I celebrate my warrior self and all she has carried me through even as I embrace and move closer to my spirit calling. 

And so wanna share one of my poems - just published in the new WomanSpeak journal - issue 6 (it's a beautiful collection - get your copy through Lulu Press). 

Warrior

Angelique V. Nixon

I remember her saying that she wanted to paint

a portrait of my stretch marks

these stretch marks tell the story of long days

and longer nights

I remember the revelation of her

breath on my skin

as she mapped out her portrait

tracing each line with her tongue

we inhaled and exhaled as our bodies

came together in synergy

after, she painted each line, of my story

with reddish brown charcoal and fingers

blending and weaving, slow and high pitched moans

and the stories in between

Cover Art by Chantel E. Y. Bethel