Cultivating A Beautiful Mind

Photo taken from: https://www.hppr.org/post/growing-high-plains-cultivate-your-mind-2017

My friends know that when I arrived in the UK one of my major annoyances was having limited WiFi (I’ve written about how I learned to embrace this). I was then annoyed by my access – or lack thereof – to television stations. I spent the first few days flipping channels trying to find something to watch, but ultimately gave up. I found a BBC station that played both US and UK hip hop and decided to stick with it. From early in the morning to late in the evening, as long as I was at home, I was listening to the radio. I don’t know when the shift happened. But one day – perhaps when I started to fast (more on this later) – I began listening to gospel artists on YouTube. Or maybe it was when a friend sent me a link to a sermon. I couldn’t listen to the sermon just once because there were so many nuggets, so I listened six, seven, or eight times just to try and capture as much I could. That sermon led to another and then another. Before I knew it, I was listening to sermons at home, walking to and from work, and again in the evenings. I then found myself not turning on my TV at all; I was only listening to music or sermons on YouTube. A week or so ago I had an urge to listen to testimonies, so here I was again searching for and listening to various testimonies. After a few days, I migrated to interviews. I started with an interview of Pastor Jamal Bryant – which I LOVED! I have heard his name and the huge news of him being named as Senior Pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA, but I knew nothing about him. After listening to another interview, this time between Dr. Dharius Daniels and Pastor Bryant, an ad popped up for an interview between Charlamagne tha God and T.D. Jakes. WHY would I ever listen to that? But I did – LOL! One of the best decisions of my life. I won’t get into the nuggets of the interview, but recommend you listen. What I will give you is a plug for the essence of “a beautiful mind”.

I’ve often considered it extreme that people don’t watch TV (although I’ve lived for various periods of my life without a TV), or don’t listen to certain genres of music, or don’t use any social media platforms. However, these last few weeks without my TV and with limited social media, or with limited WiFi have shown me the power of intentionally cultivating our minds. I have felt more creative, more in tune with my desires and dreams for my life, more focused. Who knew? Take a listen to Charlamagne’s interview … and take a moment to think about how you cultivate your beautiful mind :-).

I am posting this blog a week after I wrote it. Today I am listening to an interview with Dr. Teresa Fry-Brown – a woman of God who I adore! Dr. Fry-Brown was one of my professors while attending Emory, but at various times has also served (and continues to serve) as a mentor, leader, and model for living out loud through Christ.