“The present is a gift and I just wanna BE!”
by Common, lyric from the song Be
Everybody say Loooooove! Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to host one of our signature events, Scribes & Vibes. While we typically have an interactive experience with our audience at each event, this particular event was special as it was more of an inspirational workshop than an event. In this intimate setting in the community room at the Locust Grove Public Library, we had great diverse minds from all backgrounds and ages sharing their life experiences and gifts that they serve to the world. Our featured artist, Peabody Award Winning Poet, Abyss, summed up the night so poignantly and profoundly…We are human beings, not human doings.
I am channeling my mother, who used to always ask me, “How you be?” If you knew my mother, you knew how much of an educator and wordsmith she was…every sentence you spoke or that you wrote had to be in proper english. However, in her loving, playful inquiry to me was a question that I now see allowed me to ponder who I am. For all my English scholars, the word “be” is one of the most powerful verbs that conjugates into several verbs. Let’s take a look:
| The verb be | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Infinitive form | be | ||
| Present simple: | I am, I’m You are, You’re He/She/It is, He/She/It’s | We are, we’re You are, you’re They are, they’re | |
| ? | Am I? Are you? Is he/she it? | Are we? Are you? Are they? | |
| – | I am not, I’m not You are not, You aren’t, You’re not He/She/It is not, He/She/It isn’t, He’s not | We are not, We aren’t, We’re not You are not, You aren’t, You’re not They are not, They aren’t, They’re not | |
| Past simple | I was You were He/She/It was | We were You were They were | |
| ? | Was I? Were you? Was he/she/it? | Were we? Were you? Were they? | |
| – | I was not, I wasn’t You were not, You weren’t He/She/It was not, He/She/It wasn’t | We were not, We weren’t You were not, You weren’t They were not, They weren’t | |
| Past participle | been | ||
| Present perfect | has/have been | ||
| Past perfect | had been | ||
| Present participle | being | ||
| Present continuous | am/is/are being | ||
| Past continuous | was/were being |
So I ask you the same question…How you be? Are you living to the potential that God intended for you to be? Are you operating in your gift that you were granted? Are you using your gift to serve or to inspire others? Are you using your gift to positively impact the world? As Abyss asked, are you a human being or human doing? As we reflect on these rhetorical questions, be the person that you are supposed to be. Be the person that you were created to be. Be the person that you were destined to be. Be the person that you were gifted to be.
Awesome blog I liked this one too !
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Thank you son!
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How you be? Love this! Such a powerful question. Sometimes I’m a human BEING other times a human DOING. The answer is part of my ever evolving journey of self discovery!
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Thanks Dionna! This journey will continue to manifest if you keep being. Be phenomenal. Be great. Be empowered. Be resilient. Be encouraged. Be determined. Be present. Be intentional. Be….
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