Black Love

Meagan Good to Appear in ‘Black Love’ Documentary on OWN

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MEAGAN GOOD - BLACK LOVE - OWN

The Franklins Share Their Black Love Story

Meagan Good and hubby DeVon Franklin are set to appear in an upcoming documentary titled Black Love, set to air via the OWN channel on August 16th. The network will run four one-hour episodes, which aim to highlight love stories within the black community. “Black Love dives into how love begins, while showing the reality of what life-long love looks like,” reads the press release OWN issued for the show. “Using honest, emotional and sometimes cringe-worthy stories, the series offers proof that while love can happen for everyone, it isn’t a cakewalk.”
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The Phenomenon of Soul Ties

Kara Warner 4 Comments

Soul Ties (140x140)

For the past two weeks, I have been researching and reading up on the phenomenon of soul ties for a presentation I’ve been asked to give on relationships. The teachings of soul ties are beneficial to anyone who has ever felt abandoned, neglected, angry, bitter, and/or confused while involved in an intimate relationship. To be honest, I’ve been following the phenomenon of soul ties for several years and have been able to contribute many of my struggles to the ties that I have developed, with men, over the years.
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Busted Fantasy

Yolanda Kirby 4 Comments

MY BUSTED FANTASY

Have you ever had a relationship, on any level, with someone that meant the world to you? Someone that you would just do anything for, they were the epitome of friendship, love, or whatever the case may be. You wanted this person in your life, for whatever purpose, and you thanked God for the joy they brought! Then one day you woke up, and prayed you would never have to see that person again?

My sophomore year of high school the most amazingly handsome man I’ve ever seen, even to this day, walked into my class. James was so beautiful he literally looked like someone drew him. I didn’t think that kind of beauty was even possible. It must have shown on my face because he locked eyes with me, and gave me the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen…even to this day.

I can still remember that feeling. I remember the day very clearly. It took maybe a month for me to see his personality did not match that beautiful face and smile. His inside was as ugly as they come. I can also remember the day I looked at him, and he was no longer “Denzel”…he was “Flava Flav”….that’s at best. He had done nothing to me personally, but I’d seen his interactions with others. I heard his conversations. His willingness to always put other’s down, or have a good laugh at their expense. It was unappealing. That’s when I truly learned and experienced the meaning: If you’re ugly inside…you’re ugly outside.

I recently had a similar experience. My head was completely wrapped in a man that I thought was just amazing. I remember our second date, and I thought God was blessing me ridiculously for being faithful in my walk with Him. I came home, and pulled out my “man list” of everything I wanted in a mate. This guy matched most of my list, and caused me to add a few things I had not thought of. That was exciting because my list was long. God said be specific in your prayers…I was very specific. I’d been praying over this list for a couple of years, and this man was God saying to me “Here is your list…and then some!” Amen!

Well, obviously, I was wrong. We never even made it to friend. It was circumstance. Though the guy himself was gone, without provocation warning or discussion I might add, the fantasy of him was still there. Since I did not know at the time what kind of man he truly was, I was left with a busted fantasy. For a couple of months I mourned what I thought was the loss of the guy, but what was actually the loss of the fantasy.

Several months later, after I finally let that fantasy go but still held a bag full of anger, I encountered him again. He said things were different, and he was no longer carrying the “baggage” which caused our getting to know each other to come to a screeching halt. I no longer carried the fantasy of him and my heart now belongs to another, so I thought it would be good to actually get to know this man he could turn out to be my very best friend. I, personally, believe people come into your life for a reason. I have a difficult time believing, not that it’s not true or doesn’t happen, but I can’t buy some people come just to cause misery. I can’t believe MY God would allow that. Since I didn’t get a lesson or a blessing the first time, and he came back, surly I’d get “something”. God brought him for a reason…either I needed him, or he needed me. Our story wasn’t done. In retrospect, it’s amazing how little apprehension I had about letting this guy back, but my fantasy allowed me to step out on faith.

Admittedly, I threw myself into the thought of a friendship far more than I should have. I put a lot of energy into attempting to get to know this man. I’ve always been a really good judge of character, and after the fiasco the first time, I had to redeem myself. I don’t usually misjudge people this badly. The wool doesn’t get pulled over my eyes easily. I saw by the third week nothing had changed. I knew three weeks in he still had that “baggage”. I knew that even though I was only looking for friendship, he was still holding onto some type of resentment towards me. It was a pretty horrible experience, but I am no quitter. I could not let my fantasy, or my months of mourning, be in vain. Anything worth having is worth working at….right? That may be true, but at some point you have to realize what you’re working so hard at, may not be worth having. Friendship should flow smooth, it should come easily. When you have someone that is fighting you, intentionally or not, every step and insisting everything you say or do means you want them it can be a little frustrating. I finally had to admit to myself, there can be a fine line between not giving up, and being stupid. My toe was tipping that line.

After months of talking I finally saw him face to face again, and I instantly had a flash of James. He looked totally different. I knew by the conversations that he wasn’t the same guy I remembered, but seeing him was a different story. A wave of sadness filled my body, because my heart wanted to desperately believe what my mind knew months ago wasn’t true, that this man was not the fantasy I thought. Not at all saying he is a bad guy, with a horrible spirit like James, just that he wasn’t what I thought. He is broken. I am whole. Broken people bring misery, because they are miserable. I don’t think it is their intention, at least I hope not, but it just turns out that way. I don’t think it was his intention to pick unnecessary fights with me. I don’t think it was his intention to always misread what I said, and react horribly to it. I don’t think it was his intention to constantly blame me for ridiculous things. I don’t think it was his intention to be such a horrible communicator. Again, at least I hope not.

What I realize now is when you are broken you tend to think that everyone is like the person you became broken for. When you come out of a relationship of pain, fighting, and misery you expect everyone to be like that. You expect everyone to have the intention to cause you grief. You will take a simple statement, and turn it into an insult. Knowing this I thought I could “fix” him (I know, I know stay with me). I put in so much effort because I wanted to show this man, everyone doesn’t leave. I wanted to show him there are women that will show infinite patience, and that misery is really a choice. I was going to show him blessings that he didn’t know existed. Be his sunshine, after the rain. You can choose to invest time in a relationship that is really just a dead cause, or you can open your eyes to accept the blessings that God is sending you and be thankful.

In the process of trying to show him that, I realized I was doing the same thing. I was becoming so involved in trying to develop this friendship with someone who didn’t want to know me, I was becoming miserable. My friends and coworkers were becoming upset, because they saw it was happening all over again. I lost my “glow”. I have a constant smile on my face, I was losing it again. You can’t fix broken people…if they know they are broken or not…the only thing that can fix that is time, and a willingness to want it fixed. I’ve found that when someone is whole, and they get with someone that is broken, the opposite usually occurs and they become broken themselves. It is a chain reaction. The problem is a lot of people don’t even know they’re broken, and they continuously bring other people into their broken situation, and cause them misery. Then have the nerve to blame them.

I feel really sad for him now because in the process of writing this, I realize he is living with a busted “fantasy” of his own. He has his own baggage that will be a lot harder for him to get rid of. One of my favorite sayings is “The first time you do something it’s a mistake….the second time it’s a choice.” When I welcomed him back into my life that was my choice, and I deserved the misery I got from it. I own it. I wanted to repair the busted fantasy I had been holding onto for months. It didn’t turn out nearly as I had hoped, but it did turn out how I had expected. No regrets. A lot of sadness, but new hope that God is working on the man of my list, and when he comes he will be complete and he will be whole.

So, I say to any sister that is unaware, if you know a man is not “right” or you are in a bad relationship hoping it will get better…assess. Ask yourself, how will you feel if you invest another year of your life, in a miserable situation, and it doesn’t get any better? If you think you will be okay with that…stay, work on it. If you think you will be even angrier that you wasted that time…get out now. Life is too short to spend a day being unhappy. I ask that if you do decide to stay, just make sure the person you’re staying with is willing to do the work too. A relationship, on any level, will never work if both parties aren’t in it. If you can’t build a friendship a relationship will never work. Your companion has to be your best friend. Does he know what a real friend is? A friend will not cut and leave you because things aren’t going the way they want. A friend can have an argument, and work it out. A friend doesn’t twist everything you say into a personal attack on them. A friend is patient. A friend is kind. A friend knows how to forgive AND forget, because forgiving without forgetting is a grudge. It will cause problems to keep occurring. A friend will talk to you, and work things out. A friend will not leave you holding baggage. A friend will not send you a letter, divorce papers, or just disappear without warning or discussion. A friend will always be there to listen to you, and a friend knows how to apologize. Is this man your friend? If he is…you have a chance. If he isn’t get out now, God/Allah/Buddha or the universe in general has something way better for you.