Friday Forum: Movie Magic

The Golden Globes have passed but there are still the SAG Awards and Oscars to look forward to, so let's talk movies. What were some of your favorites in 2011? Which did you wish you had seen?

Who Do You Love?

Every so often, we call on all of you to send us your guest posts and some of you take us up on it and generously share your story.

But now we're wondering: whose writing do you love or who do you think we should get in touch with to be a guest blogger? Whether it's your favorite blogger or somebody you know personally, let us know by leaving a comment or sending an email to chicksrockblog@gmail.com!

Abuse From Afar

I have a friend who is in an abusive relationship. It started off with emotional bullying, and has moved forward to some physical roughness. If my friend still lived in the United States, I would report the incident even if they didn’t, even at the risk of losing a friendship. I believe that living in fear and dread of the person sleeping beside you is something unbearable. I dealt with it in my own family circle, and had a good friend and former teacher die at the hands of her abusive husband. I worry about those I love and care for when they are in positions like this, because I never want to feel like an enabler. My family friend who was killed had a neighbor who knew all about the abuse and never called the police. My mother happened to run into her soon after our mutual friend’s death and found it hard to contain her anger towards her. I think she felt guilty; I know I would.

I find that when friends share troubling information with me, they are not usually looking for advice. I have often felt like an emotional dumping ground for people’s problems in the past. Now, if friends or family keep sharing the same problems with the same people without changing their methods of dealing with it all, I call them out on it in the firmest and most respectful way possible. Sometimes I am told to back off, and when I am, I respond by saying that if they don’t want my input, they should stop confiding in me. Tough love is hard to dish out, but I find that I must do it at times.

I hope my friend will protect herself and her baby. Since she is on the other side of the world, all I can do now is pray that she will not become just another statistic.

How do you handle abuse when it happens to people you love?

A Different Kind of Fitness Goal

As I write this, I'm trying to find a position to sit in that doesn't cause me pain. I've been going to the gym regularly for the last couple of weeks and last night I had one of the most intense workouts I've had in months. And today I'm feeling it!

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, working out and doing yoga has helped keep me sane as I try to figure out my next step. As the weeks go by and my savings take a bigger hit, I feel the stress of joblessness even more and need something to focus on. 

Before now, I never really saw fitness as something therapeutic, but it really can be. I'm not trying to lose weight or fit some sort of ideal body type (other than perhaps my own). I knew before I started the year that I had a goal of getting in the best shape of my life, but now that I'm pretty much there, I've started to feel the other benefits of regular physical activity, like providing a release, helping clear my head, etc. 

I'm not sure if I'll keep this up when I don't have as much free time, but I'm hoping that I do, at least as long as it makes me feel this good.

Kekla in Hollywood Redux

Well, last week, in honor of Dr. MLK Jr. Day, I went in for some shameless self-promotion. I guess I'll follow it up this week with a little bit more of the same:

I'm excited to report that my second novel, CAMO GIRL, was recently nominated for an NAACP Image Award. You may remember that my first book, THE ROCK AND THE RIVER, received a similar honor two years ago. Well, let me tell you friends, it does not get old!

I'm looking forward to going again to Los Angeles in February to rub elbows with celebrities of various stripes, and to get a glimpse of a world that seems so far removed from my own. Last time, I was really nervous about every aspect of this adventure--the red carpet, the movie and television stars that I might encounter, the overall Hollywood feeling of it all. So incredibly nervous, in fact, that I didn't let myself enjoy it all nearly as much as I should have.

This time, I feel better equipped to deal with the randomness of my upcoming Image Awards journey. I've grown a lot in the last two years. Personally and professionally, I know who I am and where I fit in the world, and I feel much more confident that I can take the red carpet by storm!

Stay tuned for more updates on Kekla's NAACP Image Awards Adventure, Chapter TWO!

Have you ever gotten a second chance to overcome a big obstacle or face an unusual opportunity? How did it feel?