2022 Affirmations & Reflection

Hi Tribe!

This is our first podcast of 2022 and we are setting the tone by sharing affirmations on the energy we want for the foreseeable future. I also reflect on 2021 and all of the growing pains that were necessary to get to the space i'm in now. This episode is for anyone who enjoys and could use positive vibes to go out into the world and achieve the greatness you desire.

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Peace & Love,
SB 

Transcript

 Welcome back everyone. It is your boy, Shawn Blake and this is the AfroHealing podcast.  thank you all for tuning in. Thank you for being patient with me. It's been a while and this is our first podcast of 2022. And let me just start off by saying I'm super excited and optimistic for what the future holds for all of us.

I feel that, and I'm sure you all can kind of, you know, attest to this 2021 was a year full of lots of. Just negativity, like negative feelings, negative happenings. Whether it impacted us directly or those around us, if you're someone who cares about other people, you know, that someone out there was impacted, negatively by COVID. 

They could have had their health impacted. They could have had their jobs impacted. Um, they could have had a loved one, you know, impacted by it. And so 2021 was a crazy year. We'll get into the. But this podcast is really going to be about, you know, setting the tone for what the future holds for us.  Like I said, I'm feeling good about this year.

I feel that this is the year to reclaim everything that we lost. Most importantly, our time, you know, we lost a lot of time and 2021 due to lock downs due to the things being slower business, being slower and. After everything has been said and done, and we are hopefully going towards being endemic with COVID.

I feel that many of us have awoken, something within us. There's been an enlightenment where, the mind, body and spirit have shifted because of everything that we've learned during this time, because of everything that we've experienced during this time. Everything we felt during this time. And you know, those emotions could have ranged.

They could have been emotions of happiness, grief, loss,  being grateful for your blessings. All of that, those impacts have gotten us. Those of us who, you know, are spiritually connected, such as myself. At least I try to be, um, to a point where,  we are the same people, but we're. And I'll kind of get into more of that down the road, but for those of you just tuning in what you can look forward to with this podcast episode here, the first one of 2022 is, sharing optimism, positivity, uplifting,  vibes, so, and reflection as well, so that we can be fully prepared to go into this next phase of life.

 And I don't see that in, you know, some, a lot of people use that term next phase of life in a very different way, but I think that God and the higher power or whatever you believe in has gifted us with a new phase of life. And, I'm excited for it. It doesn't mean it's going to be easy. It's not easy now, you know, we can talk about a lot of the things that we've experienced through 2021 now kind of touch upon those things.

You guys who are tuning in, have more of an understanding of who I am and, uh, how the, the pandemic has impacted me and where my mindset is. Um, and so kind of going towards that, I noted for us to kind of know where we are right now. Right. We have to think about, well, where were we? Where have we been?

We're where we currently going. Um, and then what the future may look like. And so for me, personally, 2021, It was a year of transformation. It was a very transformative year in the sense that in the most important sense that,  I'm, again, a spiritual person, I give God all the reverence and all the, um, credit for what happens in my life.

I'm just a vessel. I feel here to carry out whatever message or mission God has for me. And so 2021 was transformative for me because, I was tested in a lot of ways. A lot of things tested my self love and self worth. A lot of times I had to realize that you have to put yourself first or else

no one around you will have, you don't respect yourself first. No one around you will respect you. And so from a personal standpoint or relationship standpoint or friendship standpoint, a career standpoint, I had to start really putting myself first. And it was very challenging because when you do that, a lot of times when you are a person who, you know, is pretty easy going and relaxed, people who are just like.

Whoa! Where is this coming from? Who is this person? And it can alarm them, it can turn them off and it can turn them away. And I just had to stay firm in that, because personally I can say I experienced a lot of loss over the pandemic. Uh, I did lose my grandmother over the pandemic. I did lose a cousin over the pandemic and I lost a lot of relationships that were really frivolous and were not fruitful.

We weren't adding to each other. They weren't adding to me. And, um, I had to. Put myself first, like I said, you know, and, stand firm in that. And that means sometimes letting certain things go and die out, certain relationships die out. When, you know, you come across circumstances where people don't appreciate you, they don't respect you.

They undermine your worth and coming into 2022. That was the biggest thing for me, just realizing my worth, saying. You are a king, like you are one of God's chosen children. You have a loving spirit, you have a loving soul. You are open-minded 

Going into 2022, 1 of the biggest takeaways and reflection points for me from 2021 was really learning to put myself first set boundaries, advocate for myself, speak up for myself,  overall self-love right.

And it's very cliche. I know it's a very cliche. But it's a very real term in the sense that when you're in situations, environments, that don't jive well with your self worth, what are you going to do? Are you going to sit around? Are you going to entertain it? Even know it doesn't sit right with your spirit.

It doesn't make you feel well. Or are you going to set those boundaries? It doesn't mean that you have to go off on people. It doesn't mean that you have to be angry at people. It just means there's certain tings your boy is not going for anymore. And having that clarity on myself and the types of people I want in my life and the type of environment I want to be in, it has kind of helped me focus more on what's important, you know, funneling that energy that would have been wasted on frivolous things into my business, into this podcast, um, into things that are going to create value.

And so. I'm in a space where I'm just happy for that clarity. I'm happy for that love of self. It all comes from the higher power. It all comes from God. I wouldn't be here without that higher power. And I'm feeling more connected to what it is I really have to do. So I'm spreading all of that positivity that.

From all that pain that I also experienced that we turned into something positive. And I want to share that with you all. I want you all, who may be going through a situation, having gone through a situation you're just trying to get through the pandemic. You're just trying to get to that next level for yourself.

I want to share the feeling and the hope that it's possible. It may not be easy, you may be the only person on that journey. You'll have other people as well, but it may not be a band of people, but you have to understand that the times that we're living in a very different and, not everyone is on the same. Level and alignment spiritually, mentally, and of course physically so just to be headstrong and keep your head up to keep moving forward and understand that there's a lot in store for us this year. If you're doing the work to, you know, connect more to yourself and spirit, meaning maybe you want to connect with your ancestors as.

Maybe you want toit get that relationship  with God, when you have that openness in your heart, things are going to manifest for you. And that actually leads to the second piece is manifestation. It's entirely real.  It's very important to understand. What gifts and blessings God has given us so that we can manifest things into our lives because it's, as I think about and reflect on my business,  many of you may know if you follow me in real life, on ig @lifewith.sb.

You may know that I own my own media business. So I own my media company. We do videography. We do through the 360 photo booth, which is very popular these days. And my testimony is that when I first started that business, it got a lot of traction. But then because of Omicron and Omarion things kind of slowed down a bit.

And that kind of like, it was a whole shiver me timbers type of situation, where I was just like, uh, I don't know what's going to happen with this. Is it going to work out, uh, you know, God, what is the plan? How am I going to really make it? Because when you're entrepreneur and you're not getting any extra income from anywhere, you have to hustle.

You have to hustle. You have to be smart. You have to be 10 steps ahead of the game. And I got to that point where it was just kinda like questioning what's going on. Cause you know, I'm seeing other people be successful. What am I doing wrong? God. And then, you know, just staying consistent and really staying focused on that business.

And learning and doing the research and the work things started to align. I'm telling you guys things started to align. I had my first celebrity booking my first celebrity booking actually was, I can't share the videos, but my first celebrity booking was with Nick cannon and his family.

Um, we were celebrating his baby girl's first birthday.  Shout out to Brittany. She was amazing, such a nice spirit. We had a whole spiritual conversation and they're really dope people. And, um, without me. Making that public God was still moving in my life, connecting me and doing the work behind the scenes so that, okay, Sean, you're ready for that next step.

You want to work with celebrities? You want to be in this field. Okay. This was preparing you because that event, it went well, but people don't understand everything that I was going through behind the scenes. They don't understand how I was trying to keep it together. Um, yeah, my equipment was just like at acting, wonky tech was acting wonky.

But we was making ish shake cause you know, that's what we do. We hustlers I'm from the BX all day, every day, you know, we gonna make shit shake and that's just on period. So that event was a success and I didn't publicize it, you know? And I just kept grinding. I kept doing what I had to do to gain more clients, kept perfecting my craft learning.

Doing that work set me up for the next gig and the next gig and the money was getting bigger and bigger. And as a stands right here in February black history month, I have some of my biggest gigs coming up.

Partnerships brands. God will move in your life. When you do that work. If you do the work and you work with God and the ancestors, and you start to understand the power of manifestation, things will come together. But to my point, I feel positive about 20, 22. I am seeing success in my business and, I hope for continued success in that.

And I hope the same for you all. And I want to share that to say like, Hey, it's possible no matter what you're doing, you can have a t-shirt business. You could have a cleaning business, you can be an artist, a musician, you could be starting your podcast. It's all possible. You just got to really have that confidence in yourself.

Like, okay, I can, I can do this. This is meant for me. There's a space for me out here. And when you do, you know, things will start to unravel, but that doesn't mean it's going to be easy again. I want to say that because I do. From my own self, I try to, I'm very much an uplifting person, but I don't want to be toxic and make people think that you're not going to have hiccups.

You're not going to have challenges. You're not going to be in your feelings sometimes when you don't get the support that you want, you're not going to be in your feelings sometimes when things happen that that stab you in the back, you know? So I want to just make it clear that, Hey, it's, it's, there's going to be some bumps for you to get to that point.

If you do the work it'll happen in God's timing. Last point, timing is everything. Timing is absolutely everything. Um, I think me having my prior career  in corporate American entertainment, the timing of that was impeccable. You know, how that happened and everything I learned in that year, that was all a part of my journey.

And then. How I came across my business idea. I was just on Instagram and I'm like already do video. And I see something as, you know, advertising the photo booth and I'm like, oh, this seems very cool. I don't think anybody's talking about this. Let me hop into that. The timing of that nobody knew about it started marketing.

It is a big thing now, you know, everybody's trying to get their hands. The timing of, okay, the podcast is ready to relaunch and everything is timing. So for myself personally, I'm just learning to be patient. And those are some of the key things that I've learned.

So far that I want to bring into 2022 that I feel that could be useful for not only myself, but you all just to like, Hey, remind you, these are some things that we need to be cognizant of as we're trying to be bosses and get to the bag and,  be the best versions of ourselves that we can be. So looking back on 2021, however, I alluded to this earlier, it was a challenging year for me. 

And I just feel like it's important for me to, to step into my testimony and, and own that it's been a solo type of vibe. On the positive, the flip side, that's given me time to do that work, that inner work that was so necessary that I was kind of like halting  on. I was halting on and I was kind of doing it when I was in therapy, but then I stopped going to therapy.

Cause I moved and everything. So it was just that time to do that work. that was my situation. At the same time, Outside of that. There was a lot of loss and the sense of a lot of old friendships are no longer friendships that that will last forever no longer. And it's not to shade. Nobody's not to throw shots at.

Nobody is just my truth. People change situations, change you change. I change life changes and that can shift, alignment. . You have to understand that not everybody in your camp is going to be there for the long run. Sometimes people are there for a season. Sometimes people are there for a reason, you know, and you just have to appreciate people, while they are there with you while you were in each other's presence.

And I appreciate those people who I had in my presence. I appreciate the times that we shared the things that I did, ways that I grew the experiences, but the harsh reality is because of the misalignment and where we are mentally. Spiritually, and what we want to exude in the world, which is positivity, truth, and so forth.

Those people may not be the people that I'm bound to be around going down the road. And that is a harsh and, heavy feeling to weigh on you. You have to get comfortable. Me personally, I had to get comfortable with that loss. And to this day it is hard, but I'm working through those feelings. I'm doing the work to work through those feelings.

There's nothing more that I can do except say, except be. In-tune with reality. You know, a lot of us, I'm not throwing shots.  Everybody's doing their best during these times. These have been hard times for everyone. And some people have had it harder than others. I feel like I've been okay.

You know, I had my roof of my head income  food basics. There are people out there who have other situations, health situations going on. I can't fault anyone for doing what they feel is best for them. If that means I'm going to stay stagnant or I'm going to do what's comfortable, or I'm going to fake it, or, you know, I can't fault you for that.

I can only align myself with where I want to be in life. Right. And I want to be aligned with the truth. I want to be aligned with love. I want to be aligned with evolution, elevation and positivity. Anything that doesn't jive with that is not for me. And I just came to that realization. Spiritually 2021.

It was a crazy year because my eyes were just open to so much in how powerful God really is. And I'm not going to go with start like giving y'all the mumbo-jumbo. But personally, I just had more of a close relationship. The higher power. And my ancestors, I realized that I had my guiding angels looking after me and even the wife might've felt lonely a lot of times, isolated discriminated against segregated.

When I started to lean on those angels and that started to lean on God, the love that I felt.   I couldn't even explain to you. They were there with me through those times. And I want people to understand that if you try to open yourself to a spiritual communication with God.

And with those that love you, your guiding angels, you're going to be protected. There will be nothing that anyone can do to stop you. Now they're are going to be with you regardless, but if you really tap in with them, oh my God, you're going to be protected  and so thank you all for tuning in so far.

I just want to wrap this up to saying 2022 is going to be an amazing year.  It is definitely the season of me is a me season. And what that means is we're going to be a little selfish. We're going to put ourselves first and we're going to still be good people. We're going to be good hearted people, but we're not going to be afraid to put ourselves first step into our powerfulness are our voices.

The crowns that we've been given to go out and do the work in the world. We're not shying away from that anymore. And so I want to encourage you all to step into your powerfulness as well, step into your, your queendom your kingdom as well, because God has set forth for you. The higher powers have set forth for you.

Take your crown. It is your time. It is your time, baby. It is your time. And, um, I'm doing everything I always want to do this year.  I'm not taking my foot off. No body's neck. And I don't mean that physically. I mean that in the more abstract sense where I'm going to keep doing what needs to be done for me and for the advancement of the mission that God has for me.

Well, that means more podcasts and not being afraid to talk to you, or I'm going to it going live. I'm doing it traveling. I'm doing it. I'm doing it all. Promoting my business. I'm doing it. This is a year of now or never. This is, this is a time period of now whenever life is so sacred guys go out there and do what it is that you want to do in life.

You only live once tomorrow, do start making that moves towards that thing that you've been talking about and thinking about that you want to do start it. Do not wait. Don't wait. I don't want anyone to regret anything that doesn't mean you have, you're going to get to point Z from point a to point Z right away.

But if you can get from point a to point B, you've done it all you've done now you've done it all, but you've done enough that don't stop. No don't stop , keep going. But you've done more than the average person is willing to do. Most people are too afraid to take that next step. So if you take that next step, you're doing the work and I have faith in you.

Optimism for your future. I'm spreading positivity to you. Love to you. And if you have any questions, you need any advice on business. if you're interested in 360 photo booth businesses hit me up. You just want to chat. You just want to, you know, connect with your boy. Hit me up either on the AfroHealing podcast at AfroHealing Podcast  on Instagram or Facebook, or you can reach out to me directly at life with dot.

So if you want to reach out with us and you want to connect with us, you want to be a part of the African podcast community, which is on Facebook search on Facebook search on Instagram, get connected, tap in with other people who are going for their dreams, their goals, who aren't stopping, not giving up no matter what.

You know, and we're not letting any malicious negative activity hold us back. You can always support us on Patreon, check out our Instagram to get connected to that.

And again, this podcast channel is for you guys is for sharing knowledge, sharing, motivation, awareness, positivity, so that you're equipped with the tools that you need. To do the things that you want to do in life. It doesn't matter what it is.

Elevate yourself, continue growing, continuing aspiring for more in life because God has it all out there for you. God's put it out there for you so that you can do your mission and follow your mission that, that they have for you. So I wish you all the best as always. And y'all all the vibes tap in with your boy.

Have a great rest of your day evening whenever you're listening to this. And it's always with love over here. Until next time look forward to that next episode, the Afro Healingpodcast. Thank you guys so much.