I was excited to host and moderate Business Insider’s Master Your Money: How to Create Generational Wealth with Echo Huang and Kelly Lannan as panelists. If you missed the webinar, you can watch the recording on YouTube. It starts at the 12:50 mark.

In the middle of a pandemic and a civil rights movement (Black Lives Matter), I experienced much pain but also in the midst of the pain, moments of joy. How and why this happens is beyond me. What I have learned is to live in moment – love, laugh, cry, release anger, work on healing yourself from wounds caused by others, and wounds you gave yourself from being your worst critic and not being as kind to yourself. I learned that you can’t pour from an empty cup and there is no shame in saying no when people want your time or resources. Guard your heart.
Every now and then I receive an email or comment about my journey. Most dreams and their journeys are fraught with pitfalls, detours, and snares along the way. It is like “off to see the wizard” only to find out he’s a fraud or poor Frodo not fully understanding what taking the ring meant until he hit the road. Not to deter you just that people always tend to focus on the “success” and not the trials and rejections that seem to be a constant companion while dream chasing.
I wrote an article about dream chasing after reading The Alchemist.
The Alchemist sums up the joy and pain of the dream chaser. “Before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we’ve learned as we’ve moved toward that dream. That’s the point at which most people give up. Every search begins with beginner’s luck. And every search ends with the victor’s being severely tested.”
Paulo Coehlo said it best. “We don’t all have the courage to confront our own dream. There are four obstacles. First: we are told from childhood onward that everything we want to do is impossible. We are then faced by the second obstacle: love, afraid of hurting those around us by abandoning everything in order to pursue our dream. The third obstacle: fear of the defeats we will meet on the path. We who fight for our dream suffer far more when it doesn’t work out, because we cannot fall back on the old excuse: ‘Oh well, I didn’t really want it anyway.’ We warriors of light must be prepared to have patience in difficult times and to know that the Universe is conspiring in our favor, even though we may not understand how. The secret of life is to fall seven times and to get up eight times. Then comes the fourth obstacle: the fear of realizing the dream for which we fought all our lives. But if you believe yourself worthy of the thing you fought so hard to get, then you become an instrument of God, you help the Soul of the World, and you understand why you are here.”
I am moving to a different stage of my journey. Dare I say that I am happy, better yet content. I am at peace with myself. I am still trying to be the best me that I can be, but I am learning to be kind and tenderhearted towards myself. Things might seem sparse or quiet on my websites, but I am taking some time to explore other opportunities. However, I am amazed how some of my old articles are still ripe and prescient for the times. Feel free to peruse Ronda-isms.com.
If I have anything pressing to say, it will probably be on my personal Instagram account: @RondaWrites
Thank you for sharing my journey, reading my writings, and your support.
ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT/TV/FILM
Syncopated Ladies (FEATURED HuffPost Arts & Culture)
Grace Jones: Bloodlight & Bami
The Bullpen-Repeat Offenders Welcomed
BUSINESS/ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Ageless Innovators: Market Disruptors Over 60
Chicago Innovation Awards (FEATURED HuffPost Entrepreneurship)
CULTURE/MUSIC
Evolution of a Queen-Hail Beyonce
Sipping Beyonce’s Lemonade (FEATURED front page of HuffPost)
Sisterhood:The Women Behind Hip-Hop Labels
In Defense of Andre Leon Talley & Michael Jordan
Church in Quarantine: Jill Scott & Erykah Badu
Mother’s Day Playlist-Make it Funky
EDUCATION
Experiential & Entrepreneurial Learning
Rahm Emanuel & Arne Duncan’s CPS Problem
Yale & Mizzou (FEATURED HuffPost College)
How Not to Make Friends at Work (FEATURED HuffPost College)
Preparing Girls to Succeed in STEM
FASHION/STYLE
André Leon Talley: Reigning Men
André Leon Talley Presents: Fluid Fashion ’18 – Gender Fluidity
An Evening with André Leon Talley
Mujus (FEATURED HuffPost Style)
Nubian Skin (FEATURED HuffPost Style)
Style Above the Rim (FEATURED HuffPost Style)
FEMINISM/WOMEN
White Feminists & the LGBTQ Community
Rise of the Modern Southern Belle
FOOD/WINE/SPIRITS
Cinco de Mayo with Tres Agaves Tequila
Eli’s Cheesecake: People Driven Mission Focused
Cocktails for New Year’s Eve Celebrations
Taste of Innovation New Frontiers in Food
Vegan Diet: Blueprint to a Healthy Lifestyle
HEALTH/WELLNESS
Postpartum Depression & Women of Color
Anarcha Lucy Betsy: Genocide of Black Women
When Death & Grief Return for a Repeat Visit
Dream Chaser’s Guide to The Alchemist (FEATURED HuffPost GPS for the Soul)
Hands on Your Breast: Cancer Awareness
LGBTQ
White Feminists & LGBTQ: Time to Pull Up
MILITARY
White Nationalism in the Military
Trump’s Policies Undermines Military Strength
PERSONAL FINANCE
Webinar: Master Your Money: Generational Wealth
2 Steps to Create Generational Wealth
Myths & Misconception about Life Insurance
3 Experts You Should Talk to Before Buying Life Insurance
Using Life Insurance to Close the Racial Wealth Gap in the Black Community
Life Insurance to Build Wealth in the Hispanic Community
$50k or $50 million, the basics of financial planning remain the same
Healing inherited trauma to build multigenerational wealth in the Black community
Devale and Khadeen Ellis’ Journey to Generational Wealth
Retirement Preparation for Women
Naming a Minor Child as a Beneficiary
Setting Up a Life Insurance Trust for Your Minor Child
5 Questions to Ask About Life Insurance Before Getting Married
Taking Life Insurance on Someone Else
Mother Empowers Daughter to Create Generational Wealth
What to Expect from a Life Insurance Medical Exam
Disability Insurance & How it Works
Hybrid Long-term Care Insurance
Mortgage Insurance (PMI/MIP) vs MPI
5 Tips to Insure Proper Homeowners Insurance Coverage
Using Online Insurance Quote Tools
Rhino: Security Deposit Insurance for Renters
Why You Should Have Renters Insurance
Teaching Kids Financial Responsibility
POLITICS/RACE
Anti-Racism: What Would Peter Norman Do?
Understanding Over-Policing & Defunding the Police
George Floyd, Protests & America
History Lessons: 1918, 1940, 1960
Artificial Intelligence & Scientific Racism
Hillary’s SuperPredator Comments Matter (FEATURED front page of HuffPost)
Where’s Margaret Chase Smith’s Republican Party
In Spite of Dr. King’s Dream, We Haven’t Reached the Mountaintop (FEATURED HuffPost Black Voices)
Refugee Crisis: Be in Their Shoes
Millennials – Disrupt the Political Landscape
Western Countries Push Towards Nationalism Bolsters Russia
America: Racism & White Privilege
50th Anniversary of Dr. King’s Assassination
H&M: N Word, Boy & Monkey Never Appropriate
RELATIONSHIPS/DATING/LOVE/FAMILY
Superwoman Has Left the Building
A Father’s Love Letter to His Son
Bridal Checklist: Prenup Agreement
RELIGION & SCIENCE FICTION
Christian Apathy: All Lives Matter
The Resurrection According to SciFi: Part 1 Avatar
The Resurrection According to SciFi: Part 2 Star Wars & the Matrix
The Resurrection According to SciFi: Part 3 Lord of the Rings & Harry Potter
TRAVEL
Hard work, persistence, and patience are the formula for chasing a dream. Received good news last week. I am now part of The Huffington Post blogging family. For more information, click the link below. Beyond the moon happy!
http://ronda-isms.com/2014/08/good-news-huffington-post-come/