I discovered about a decade ago that I had a knack for designing jewelry. Before then, I considered myself a typical packrat who refused to throw  away any jewelry items ….even those single earrings from sets that I really liked. I kept those because I hoped that one day  I would possibly find the mates. Of course, that never happened. Then, my creativity stepped up a notch when I began to dismantle jewelry pieces that I purchased from department stores. The designs that emerged were more of my liking—more like me– and they felt more like artwork than jewelry because they felt like an “extension” of me.

 Shortly, after the dismantling phase, I decided to take a few classes in basic beading techniques and jewelry design.  These classes, along with The Bead Museum that I later discovered, provided an epiphany for me because I realized that my artistic and creative sides were always there – in plain sight— as the packrat, the interesting and dare-to-be different hairstyles, the one who chose to see the world in a different and unconventional light.  It was just waiting for me to grow up, recognize, and appreciate it for what it is—a gift – not to be wasted, but to be shared, explored, and expanded upon. I am grateful for the gift, the epiphany, and the freedom I discovered in just being and accepting me and cherishing the artist within.

 Free to Be Me 

                                                                          By Christy Sholola ^©2007

I’m free to be Me……..I’m free to pursue my own dreams…….to passionately live and choose my own destiny.

I’m free to be me…free to embrace all of its possibilities. I’m free to be me…..no excuses, no apologies…

I’m free to burst through the glass ceiling that once held me captive. I’m free to swim through the waters and the narrow channels that once threatened to drown me in dullness, status quo, and mediocrity.

I’m free to be me…no need to take a poll, conduct a survey, or get consensus you see. Those things are just other folks ways of trying to keep me in check and suffocate my dreams to the nth degree…So, I’m free to be me….free to peacefully live and co-exist with others who differ from me….because that’s the way it ought to be…..you being you and me being me….

You see, I’m free to be me….free to be me even when the world refuses to see me for me….a multi-dimensional, spiritual, human, creative woman of color….of beauty, of triumph, of dignity…..

You see, I’m free to be me…..no longer bound by the crippling and demanding shackles of conformity that seek to stifle and suffocate the person I was born to be…..

So, I’m free to be me…..free to embrace all of life’s possibilities. I’m free to be me.