Skip to main content

Trouble in My Heart

Trouble in my heart

It's 2:47am. June 1st. Early Saturday morning. And I'm beginning this blog post because, once again, my sleep has been interrupted and falling back to sleep is more trouble than its worth. 

I haven't had a good night's rest in weeks for a plethora of reasons. Tonight--or this morning rather--I have trouble in my heart. Yea. Cancelled plans have me home alone, again, this weekend, leaving me to contemplate my life, all that it is and all that it isn't. It's fair to say that this year of life has been marked with a series of cancelled plans and broken friendships that have opened my eyes to the growing (apart) pains of your mid-20's. And I thought this was supposed to be the "time of our lives." 

I feel like I've been waiting for  "the time of our lives" since I was 14 years old. They promised us in middle school that high school would be "the time of our lives." It wasn't. They promised us at freshman orientation that college would be "the time of our lives." It wasn't. Then, once we graduated, they told us that it would "only be up from here." Yea, whatever man. It's June 2013 and 10 years later I'm still waiting for the time of my life. This ain't it! ...And there's trouble in my heart. 

I decided about a month ago that I was going to create the time of my life--you know, go as many places in NYC as possible, see as many museums as possible, try a variety of restaurants, and depend on nothing and no one to do so. And everyday I'm physically able, I proudly do just that. But every brunch I go to alone, I see a group of girlfriends having the time of their lives and I wonder, "Where did I go wrong?" Every museum I visit or park I venture to, I see a couple experiencing that adventure together and I wonder why that isn't me. And as I watch my professional life flourish exponentially, I think about all of the flower-less opening nights. And the birthdays I've spent alone. And the picnics for one in Central Park. And there's trouble in my heart.

This post is not another "Single Professional Black Woman Ranting About Being A Single Professional Black Woman." 
I often feel too grateful to complain--too ashamed to be ungrateful. God has done wonders in my life and if you knew where I could've been, my present situation seems like dream for many.  But every second I age, I have less and less time for the bullsh*t of our roaring 20's. I long more and more for a sense of family and companionship that even a thriving professional life in a city of 9 million people can't give you. And although I've grown significantly since I moved to NYC two years ago, every birthday, dinner, and broadway show I spend/attend alone makes me feel like I haven't grown at all--like I'm back to square one where I started...waiting for the time of my life...With trouble in my heart. 

To be continued...



3:53 am...

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

"Where Do You See Yourself in 5 Years?"

Today (December 1st, 2020), Facebook reminded me that 5 years ago, I wrapped up a 5-week run of Ain't Misbehavin' at Portland Center Stage in Oregon, and flew back to New York City to re-enter my life there. I had just applied to seminary a few days before Thanksgiving and was excited about the possibility of leaning into this strong calling I felt to deepen my theological knowledge. I was still under the illusion that I'd be able to maintain some sort of performance career, so I kept my manager, Greg, and he'd continue sending me out on auditions. I was becoming very picky about what I'd say "yes" to-- Would I go on that national tour of Hamilton that he wanted to send me on or would I go to seminary? Would I leave to do a 9-month stint in After Midnight on an international cruise ship or would I go to seminary?  That was the question over and over again. I decided that I'd still do local stuff in NYC or short stints in other cities. Even as I ente

Cracked Eggs, Nerf Guns, and the Murder of Karon Blake

  Cracked Eggs, Nerf Guns, and the Murder of Karon Blake At the time of my writing this, I am sitting in my big chair, staring at my front window from inside the house, looking at the drippings that have stained the glass from the eggs that some neighborhood kids hurled at my window almost two weeks ago. They were mad at me (I suppose) because they came to steal another package off my front porch in December, but they did not know that it was a package I’d planted with a note inside. I had them on camera stealing several packages on my block during the winter break, including one of mine that contained dog food (I know they were disappointed when they opened that one up ha!). Instead of calling the police or posting their faces on the many neighborhood apps, I decided to take an old amazon box, place a note inside, retape it and leave it on the porch. The note read: “God loves you. I care about you. Stop stealing packages. -Pastor Mac.” I wanted these 3 kids who look like they ar

Exhausting Possibilities: A Sermon by Rev. Mia M. McClain

2 Kings 4:1-7  Delivered on August 15, 2021 at Myers Park Baptist Church, Charlotte, North Carolina I am a child of Grey’s Anatomy. No, not the human anatomy book by Henry Gray; the hit medical television drama. It’s safe to say that because of my obsession with the show, I am who am I, today. Between Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away With Murder, writer and producer Shonda Rhimes was basically my 3rd parent. In Grey’s Anatomy, so many life lessons were taught and learned. I saw so much of myself in the various groundbreaking characters she made room for on primetime television, and Shonda’s theologies and ideologies are on clear display in many of the landmark scenes. One scene, in particular, has had a lasting effect on me.  In the 2nd episode of season 2, a trauma patient comes in who the paramedics have been working on for almost a half hour with no improvement in his condition. The paramedic tells the Chief Resident, Dr. Miranda Bailey, that the patient is practically g