Small Progess Is Still Progress!

Heyyyyy Community!!! We have eneted month 2! Happy Blackity Blacker than Black Month! Everyday is BLACK HISTORY!

How have we been doing with keeping true to our word? (My word is Discipline!)

I am here to drop a note reminding you all that Small Progress is Still Progress!

S/O to the Self -Care Goodie Sara Joi (@iamsarajoi) for reminding us of this!

It is never too late to pick up where you left off. Last month, I kicked off the month/year pretty strong and kept a good winning streak of working out.

I had a good streak of working out and guess what happened this week? I did not work out one day!

Am I beating myself for it? NO,

Do I think that I am a failure? NO

Do I still have time to commit to my fitness goals? YES

Will I be snatched for the Summer and have that Bawdy Yawdy? YASSSS

You know what I am celebrating? Just making it on the treadmill this year, making changes to my diet, drinking more water and minding MY BUSINESS!o(Thank you Patrice Roberts for reminding us of this! Head on over to Youtube and check out her song!)

You are a winner no matter what! I encourage you to think of one thing that you have done thus far that you are most proud of!

Remember that you are a winner and that YOU GOT THIS! Let’s give Februray all we got! I am keeping my eyes on y’all! Until we meet next month!

-Shea

What Will Be Your Word?

First and Formemost, peace and an abundance of blessings to you ALL! God is an awesome God! If you are reading this, know that God is not finished with you yet! I hope that this time finds you all in perfect peace. I hope that you are finding time to stay still, take in this new day, new chapter and new year. I will not dare ask you what your resoultions are, I think we are past that right? Listen, whatever you decide to do to get yourself close to obtaining your goals is your personal choice. What I will charge you with this year is to think about, “What will be your word?” Yes. I want you to identify one word, that will set the tone for your year. As you move through the new weeks, and months keep your word close. Maybe wrtite it down in your phone, put it in your calendar as a recurring event. Writing it down on a post it, and sticking it on your bathroom mirror, in your bedroom, in your kithcen, etc. are all good ideas. Remember, we become what we think. The word only needs to make sense to you. It could be as simple as , “Rest” “Active” or “Communicate”. My word for this year will be “Disccipline”. As I reflect on my 2021, even though I created so many things, I also lacked discipline in the other areas. In order for me to meet any goal I set for myself, I must become more disciplined. I pray that God guides your decesions and grants you all the desires of your heart. Don’t forget to put action behind the things you want. God only helps those who helps themselves! Cheers to your 2022!

You Deserve All The Flowers

“Give her the flowers she deserves”

What if I told you you’re already making history? Yup, right at this moment. Your mere existence is groundbreaking. The determination you have to wake up and give this day all that you have is motivating. You’re a daughter, friend, sister, aunt, mother, wife and the list goes on and on.

Do you know how many titles you carry? How important you are to this world, to this movement? You don’t need the likes, shares and retweets to validate your presence. You are History! PERIODT!

This month (One of my favorite months, because it’s Women’s History Month) and every month I need you to celebrate just how amazing you truly are. Nothing in this world moves without us. We have been given such unique and beautifully crafted gifts from the Lord above. He has designed us perfectly giving each one of us a special blueprint for our lives. How dope is that?

So today I want you to look at that beautiful person staring back at you and love on her, hug her, kiss her and thank her. Let her know that she is loved, valued and appreciated, She is deserving and she is worthy of all the beautiful things headed her way. She will continue the path to greatness as she uplifts and influences the women around her.

She is a SurvivHer, CreatHer, LeadHer and MotivatHer : Give her the flowers she deserves.

Be More Like a Plant

“Let Go and Let Grow”

I am very much like a plant. I blame my mother.

For as long as I can remember, my mother turned our family living room and kitchen into a mini rainforest. They were everywhere. There were so many variations of plants: big ones, small ones, all shapes, different sizes, some grew out like vines sweeping the floor and some grew upright leaves standing tall and proud ready to touch the sky.

One of the chores I was assigned was to take care of the plants. I use to be so annoyed doing this. I use to ask myself what’s the obsession with these plants? I mean did we need to have so many?

Of course I would never mouth off to my Jamaican mother because I did want to live to see the next day so I did my plant watering in peace LOL..

Now having my own place, guess who also has a mini rainforest going on? I have 5 plants on my windowsill, and a plant in my living room area. I also have some plants in my office as well. Im thinking of putting a plant in my bedroom next. Like mother like daughter right?

But then I started to understand the significance of them. How they need water, light and air to grow. They need the right temperature and they need to be placed in the right environment. This would allow their roots to be firm so that they can grow strong and stand tall. Much like us women. We need to be taken care of. We need to spend time removing the dead roots and debris that get in the way of our growth. If we don’t, we will become stagnant, dehydrated and our appearance will dwindle., withering away. Much like the plants.

Let’s face it, we need each other to grow. It’s up to us to water our fellow sister. Help her remove the dead weight so she can shine and navigate this thing called life. Put her in environments that will contribute to her growth. Check on her to see if she is hydrated and pouring into herself as much as she does others.

In this new season and decade I encourage you to become more like a plant. Let’s continue to root for each other and watch each other grow. Plant the seeds of love and intention then be sure to water them with gratitude. Let’s become the beautiful gardens God intended us to be!

Allow Me To Introduce Myself

Allow me to introduce myself.. My name is Shenea (Sha-Nay) Brown (like the color). I am a thirty five year old woman born and raised in the Bronx, New York. My parents are from the beautiful island of Jamaica 🇯🇲! So my roots have been watered with Caribbean principles and values. My parents came to this country for a better life and decided to have me in the process LOL. I am the last of my siblings (brother and sister) with being the only one for my father and the last for my mother.

My first and true love is children. I knew that whatever I decided to embark on would involve me servicing or helping with their development in some way. After receiving my Bachelors of Arts in Psychology from The City College of New York, I jumped into youth development with adolescents. I began working for a non profit organization in Harlem. I fell in love with those kids and my role as a student advocate immediately. My supervisor loved the way I worked that I was bumped up to the High School After School Coordinator. My career took off and several years later I decided to go back to school and get my Master’s in Education and become a Certified School Psychologist.

I currently work in a school district in Westchester County NY as a School Psychologist. It means the world to me to help my kids sift through their problems, and give them and their families the tools and resources necessary for them to be successful . I also get an opportunity to to conduct psycho educational assessments to get a picture of how they think and complete tasks in the classroom.

Fast forward to todayy.. Why HerCollectively?

Because fostering and building community amongst women is important to me. I am super passionate about making sure women who look like me have a safe space to be their authentic selves. I am all about making the women in my life feel special, adored and celebrated so why not share that gift with all women?

The HerCollectively’s mission is to: build and strengthen community, shift the narrative of sisterhood, and empower through literature and curated experiences.

I want reading and the power of bookclubs to be a staple in the HerCollectively. community. I started with a bookclub group called “Women, Wine & Words” and cultivated and nourished that group for 3 and a half years. Through that group I have witnessed new friendships and connections blossom and take a life of its own! We have laughed, cried and supported each other through our triumphs and trials.

So let’s jump into the new decade being apart of something life changing that focuses on the physical, spiritual, financial parts of being a woman. While brunch is amazing (because who doesn’t love a good Bellini? lol.) I wanted the reason we come together as women to have a deeper meaning. Have you checked out the website? First up: the Vision Board Experience going down 1-11-20 There’s some great events lined up so RSVP and save the date and let’s get into the mix Collectively!

Wishing you and your families love, light and all of God’s blessings this Holiday Season!!

Warmest Regards,

CreatHer of HerCollectively