Growing Old is Dying Young

Darlings!

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of my fabulous blog "The Emancipation of Mimi" and can I say the relationship I have to this blog has been a love affair. I cannot express to you how much I've enjoyed blogging this past year, and how through time it has developed into something I didn't expect it to be. It has been a complete expression of myself, my values, and my feelings and it is amazing how much support I have gained from my family, friends, fellow bloggers, and twitter followers. If you would have told me a year ago I'd still being doing this I wouldn't have believed you, but it's amazing how things that come so natural to me (writing) seem to have a lasting impression in my life. In the year since I've started this blog I've become an aunt, my sister/bestie moved to Louisianna, I've become a published writer, shaved my head (that was fun), was engaged (that was hilarious), got fired from a job (not so funny), kicked ass in school, became a godmother, had break ups, had make ups, and all in between... (Darlings the list goes on and on) What difference a year makes! But through it all I am reminded why I became a blogger.

Why I Started This Blog:

I should have been blogging since the summer of 2009, but it was out of fear and laziness that kept me back. Before last year, I was coasting through life thinking things were going to eventually work out for me (long story short). It wasn't until the death of my mentor and friend, Courtney Fine (an up and coming Hollywood actress and musician) that I started to put my life in perspective and became responsible for my life and talents. This woman was and still is (my angel up in Heaven) one of my biggest supporters. She pulled strings to get me in meetings with big names (I won't mention who) in L.A. and being the self-absorbed brat I was I let her down and didn't take up any offers to get my foot in the door. The week before she died she contacted me, wanting to have lunch and of course I said yes. When I hadn't heard from her I facebooked her, received no reply, and the following day her brother posted on her wall that she was dead. This happened March of last year, Darlings, and let me tell you the amount of shame that coursed through my entire being was unbearable. I had taken this beautiful woman, who had believed in my visions, my talents, and basically everything about me, for granted. And there wasn't anything I could do at that point to say I was sorry for letting her down. In a moment of grief I reflected on the kind of woman Courtney was. She was fierce, strong-willed, and didn't take "no" for an answer. She was UNSTOPPABLE in going for things that she wanted and EMANCIPATED (free) from people's perception of who she was and what they thought she should do. In my homage to her, I decided in that moment to become the things that I most admired in Courtney. I stopped bullshitting my life away, and became responsible for who I was to myself and to others. This blog is a testament of that. It has been an outlet for good, and an outlet to get other people to get their lives rolling as well. It isn't brain surgery Darlings, but it isn't simple either to be responsible for your life. Moral of the story... Don't wait for tragedy to interject in your life for it to have meaning. Everything you want, desire, and deserve is available to you now. It's for you to go after it or not.

The Emancipation of Mimi is under construction and the mission of this blog will transform. I love clothes, I love fashion, and I love materialistic things (Duh!) but I'm more than that and so are you all. The transformation has already begun (the changes in topics), but not the way I've envisioned it to be. Changes are coming, Darlings! So stay along for the ride. To my family, THANK YOU for pushing me. To my friends, THANK YOU for giving me inspiration, and to all my readers, THANK YOU for your support. I'm very proud of myself, but I will be even more proud a year from now, blogging for y'all. Love you guys!

Mimi...


A Year of Emancipation:

I'm As Free As My Hair...

Darlings!

I hate dilemma and confusion in my life, so when I find myself stuck within it I know I'm out of integrity with myself. I have a confession...

For the past month I've had an overpowering urge to chop off all my hair. For me this is highly unusual. In my journey to go natural I can't help but think the best way to start is from scratch, but what is stopping me is the possible backlash I'll get from my family, peers, and society in general. As a young woman, I'm starting to realize the emotional connection us women have to hair. It's a staple part in defining our sexuality, and not having it has us feeling naked. Although I consider myself to be a pretty bold bitch, despite this crave to "big chop," I'm afraid I may not be able to feed this hunger. Who knows? Maybe? Maybe not? The hair is not so much the problem. It's the ability to face society's view of a woman with short hair. I find myself asking questions like "Do I care what people think about me? If so, why?" And "Will I still be attractive to men?" "I wonder how my family will feel?" "Will they still love me?" (of course they will, but will they understand?) "What if my head is too big?" It's a dilemma Darlings! And it sucks, because I thought I was brave, and I believed I was someone who didn't adhere to the world's view of beauty. I guess time will tell on this one. We'll have to see what lesson I learn from this. Below are pics of women who have chopped it all off.

Cuz We Like To Party

Darlings!

Every now and then it's okay to cut up and act a goddamn fool! I love a party with good liquor, good food, and most importantly with good people. I rarely go out and party, but when I do I do it right, and yesterday was so much fun for me. I spent time at the park with my entire family during the day and partied with friends at night. It never hurts, darlings, to give yourself a break. To feel free singing into the early morning amongst other drunkards. To be young is a blessing, but to waste it worrying and stressing is a curse. A good time never hurt anybody, right? And to those who think wrong a hangover doesn't count! Enjoy the pictures, darlings! Love Mimi :)

Au Naturale

Darlings!

I'm dedicating this short post to give you a small taste of my personal life. I've recently made the decision to join the legions of a million other black women in America and transition into my natural hair. For many of you, this may not be a big deal, but for me as woman of color it's a big step. I've been getting perms to straighten my hair since I was eight (unfortunately adhering to mainstream beauty beliefs). I've had weaves, braids, extensions, bobs, etc. You name it I've had the hair style, but recently I was browsing the interweb (as usual) in search of new blogs and I came across CurlyNikki. It was that (alongside the wonderful world of YouTube) where I discovered the natural hair community. I became so OBSESSED and so curious about my natural hair that I decided to make the bold decision. I already had box braids and my "new growth" (if you have no idea about black hair please watch Chris Rock's documentary GOOD HAIR) had already started to appear so instead of doing my usual perm I've let my hair flourish and after a week I'm in LOVE. This is also a health decision for me as well. Even before making the decision, I had started to notice that my hair was thinning due to having chemicals in my hair for so long. I'm lucky to have the support of my friends and family, but I'm doing this for me more than anything else. Like all things I do this is a journey to learn about myself and love myself in the process. But most importantly it's a chance to share my experience for you all. Are you dying to transform something (your hair, your wardrobe, your behavior, your habits) about yourself, but are unyielding to change? If so, it's time to get that ass going! We only live once, and who wants to look back and say they weren't adventurous? Not me! Enjoy the pictures!

Slippin On My Red Dress, Puttin On My Makeup

Yellow eyeshadow, and lilac lips! I think I'm going for bold colors this summer Darlings! Enjoy the montage...