Dear Shanita

Dear Shanita,

This week you officially launched your e-book, and within 24 hours it became a #1 new release in the Diversity and Multicultural category. OMG like for real yo, it’s out there. But let’s flash all the way back to last July when you sat on your unmade bed filled with Post-its and notebooks. You had very little knowledge of self-publishing a children’s book (IngramSpark? KDP formatting?), yet you learned. You sought a mentor. You studied the best kid lit practices out there. You wrote rhymes and envisioned every illustration with your whole heart. You didn’t let fear tell you that you weren’t ready. And thank goodness you didn’t fall for that tomfoolery. You spent years after Dear Durga recalibrating every aspect of your life for this moment. You became prepared for this and you ARE ready. So keep couraging on. After all, isn’t that what you tell other people?

When did fear try to make you think you weren’t ready, but did the thing anyway?

With love + courage, 

Me 

Dear Shanita,

It’s been 5 years to the day. Technically 6 if you count 2020—the year you actually had it ready (thanks COVID). You were obsessed with TED and after listening to hundreds of talks you knew deep down that you deserved to share your words too. You knew it had to do with courage, but you were lost. Studying how to craft a TED-worthy talk took weeks. Writing took over a month. Your post-partum hormones made rehearsing rough. Frustrated, you wanted to give up. Yet your intuition was like NAHH. Durga was like NAHH. The Sag inside was like NAHH. They didn’t let you cop out. And thank Maa you didn’t. You not only spoke your truth in red sneakers, you made it to TED.com. You let the essence of the talk take you on the yellow brick road to Courage Magic. You did a hard thing, and that’s worth celebrating. You were victorious. You still are. Don’t forget it, OK?

When did your intuition help you emerge victorious?

With love + courage, 

Me 

Dear Shanita,

You did it! After months of feeling dread in the pits of your stomach, you called in your courage to ask for help regarding your children’s book. I know you feel wounded from the Dear Durga days…asking for help left and right as a first-time author with little knowledge of the book launch process. Folks were saying yes, but not following through AKA YOUR BIGGEST PET PEAVE.

Over and over you sent gentle reminders, carefully crafted Canva fliers, and donated dozens of hours to your community so they could activate their courage too. I know it broke your heart to feel like support wasn’t reciprocated, but guess what?

Things are different now. Just because it happened before doesn’t mean it’ll happen now. You tell your kids to try again if it doesn’t work out the first time, so you can do that too. And you did, so take a moment to breathe that victory in. Because with every step towards your purpose, you emerge victorious. 

What's one thing you're ready to try again, even...