Why Self-Love is your Greatest Gift.

Hey you,

 I know you're probably preparing to take your last couple of finals. But I wanted to talk through something that I think is important to a lot of young women.

Our hair.

I think as women we all have those bad hair day stories along with stories about days our hair made us feel like Yonce. lol

But I wanted to talk about hair on a more serious note.

I want you to know how beautiful you are regardless of what your hair looks like.

I think it is common to equate hair with beauty. I think society can sometimes make us feel like if we don't have a certain hair type, that we aren't beautiful.

When I was a little girl. I had a head full of big, sandy brown curls. And I hated them. I hated them because in my mind they weren't beautiful. In my mind my hair needed to look different. So I went ahead and got a relaxer and I dyed that sandy brown color to a a dark dark dark black.

What I realized queens is that nothing changed about me. I was still the same person..just with different hair.

I did all of this when I was about 13. And it took me 6 more years, a couple difficult life experiences and countless false attempts to go natural to actually learn to love the gabby with sandy brown curls and dimples.

Here's how this relates to you. I want you to know that no matter what you do with your hair. You are still beautiful.  You are beautiful with curls, with locks, with weave, with braids, with whatever makes you feel like fabulosity.

The point is that how you feel about yourself should be bigger than what you look like and bigger than what people may think about you.

I want you to know that your journey to the purest, most genuine self love doesn't have to look like a fairytale. You don't need a prince to come save you and your worth does not decrease based on a person or even societies inability to see it.

You are worthy at all times. Morning, noon, and night. 

Your light will ALWAYS shine, even if there are people in this world not capable of handling the glare.

You are magical in every way, shape or form and when you finally decide to love all of you queen...........

You will truly understand why life happens the way that it does. Why some people are temporary while others are forever,

You will come to understand how important it is to get right back up after you fall.

You are in charge of it all. Your hair. Your heart. And your happiness queen.

Cultivate your love.

As always. Stay Strong!

You Made It!

Hey Queens, Congratulations!

 We survived the semester and I wouldn't have it any other way.
I just took my last final. (Yas I know it's a Monday LOOK AT GOD)

And I'm low key emotional lol So I just thought maybe it would be a good idea to share this journey.

Let me begin by saying that anything is possible. This semester I learned the biggest lesson, and that is how to love myself.

I don't mean just on my good days. I mean I learned to love the Gabby that wakes up some mornings and doesn't feel like talking. The Gabby that will sometimes talk herself out of good things.

I learned to love the Gabby who has fears and the Gabby who doesn't like to be weak. I learned to love all of her.

I learned to love me.

 Now do me a favor and understand that this is no small feat. It was hard. It is hard. But what I can tell you queen is that this has been one of the most rewarding moments of my life.

 I think it is in those moments when you are "stuck" that you really have to sit down, look at yourself and figure out where you went wrong, how you got where you are now and what you WILL do to prosper when it's time to get up.

You won't get everything right. Life is filled with disappointments and downfalls. But guess what else? Flowers and tea and happiness and Bryson Tiller lol

My point is, you are stronger than you think.........let that sink it.

"I am stronger than I think."

Self discovery is a beautiful yet terrifying place. If you've been there queen, or if you are stumbling through it now, I want to share something with you.

I know sometimes it may feel like you take 3 steps forward just to get knocked 5 steps back. I get that. Been there.

What I want you to engrain in your heart is that even baby steps are movement in the right direction. 
Baby steps matter too.

 If you got everything right in friendships, relationships and things you want the most, you would never learn exactly it is that you need.

You have to learn queen. And sometimes that means feeling things you'd rather not feel.

On the bright side, know that there is greatness out in this world just waiting for you to tap into it. Your journey is just beginning. You survived this hurdle and look where you are.......

Strong, eager, ready to be great.

And you know what else. The people who survive through this journey with you are a special kind of amazing.  It is in these moments of difficulty that God reveals to us those forever kind of people.

I hope that your heart is as happy and as strong an mine. I hope you melanin is popping, your nails are growing and you try a little each day to be a better you.

After all, you deserve it. And as always queen, Stay Strong!

Heartbreak and Bryson Tiller !

I'm Back And I'm Better!

Queen, it has been soooooooo long since we've talked through life. School has been super busy and my life is completely different from how it was around this time last year.

I have a couple things on my heart and I just thought I'd share them with you.

Today I had the privilege of repairing an old friendship with a friend of mine who I had been there through some of the difficult moments of my life. It was one of the longest, most emotional yet uplifting conversations I have ever had. Like EVER.

To be honest with you queen, I feel like the weight of the world was taken off of my shoulders.

Okay, now here is how this applies to you. I need you to understand how vital it is to cherish, cultivate, and maintain good relationships with good people.

Before you say anything, hear me out. By good I do not mean perfect. I don't believe that a perfect friendship nor relationship exists. But, I do believe that there are people in this world who are worth going through the motions with because they add that much value to your life.

None of the people I have in my life are "perfect." But they are truthful, they don't give up when the going gets rough and they believe in me even when I don't believe in myself. I don't know about you queen, but for me and my heart that's about as close to perfection as it gets.

I also want you to understand that you won't be a perfect person either and that sometimes you may completely make a mistake.

Listen to me. Mistakes happen. That's how you learn, that's how you grow, that's how you prosper. What I need from you, is to learn from those mistakes, be honest with yourself and the people around you. Growing up, my mother would always say that in the beginning it is a mistake but if it becomes continuous, you are clearly making a choice.

I want to encourage you to repair things that maybe ended on a rough note. I don't encourage forgetfulness and riding off into the sunset. But what I do encourage is truth and peace. Apologizing to someone doesn't make you weak. Admitting when you are wrong doesn't mean you are soft. It means you are deciding to move forward as less of a little girl and more as the woman you aspire to be.

I also encourage you, to treat people the way you want to be treated. The golden rule. Kindergarten. It's all relevant. Your trademark is defined by the way you treat people.  Maya Angelou once said that "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel."

Remember that.

Aside from your surroundings queen, I want to make sure that you have a content heart and a sound mind. So ponder on this: You are worthy. You matter. You deserve the world. My worth does not decrease based on the inability of another person to see it. God won't put you in a predicament he knows you couldn't conquer. You deserve happiness. You deserve love. You are valuable. 

 I want you to know that you are great. You are just as fabulous on your worst days are you are on your best. You can conquer anything. You will do great things and you only have room for people who cultivate your magic.

 Be fabulous queens. Walk in your truth. Make a mistake or two. Get up, try again and grow. 
You're amazing, and as always Stay Strong. 

A little bit of light, and I forgive you.

Queens. Hello! Today I want to get straight to the point. 

Today was picture day for my favorite campus org. We literally spent the day chasing the light, trying to get the perfect scenery and background to take our pictures. 

After a little trial and error we finally found the perfect place, and it was smooth sailing from there. 

But something about the light though, how much it mattered, how amazing we felt when we found the one spot that made the melanin in our skin glow, made my heart feel all sparkly inside. Now let me explain how this relates to you. 

So queen, this is what's on my heart for you. Do me a favor and strive to feel the light. Too often in life, we get caught up in seeing the light, seeing our situations get better, seeing what’s going to happen next......

But I just don't think that’s how life works. Queen, the best way to grow, the best way to shine is to feel the light, feel life and feel your situation. 

Queen I think it's those situations where we are able to be honest with ourselves and those around us that we are walking in our truth and basking in our own glow.

If there's anything I need you to take from this post, it is that even when you're frustrated, overwhelmed or stressed. Even when your foundation is a little cracked or your heart is a bit heavy, you still have that light in you. 

Understand that your glow never goes out; sometimes we just forget how much greatness we have within us. 

One path I would like you to walk in this year Queen, is forgiveness. If there is one way to feel the light, it is to learn how to forgive those who have wronged you. 

I believe that all people are good, that everybody has a heart and that we make mistakes because sometimes life gets difficult and we lose our way. But other people's imperfections or downfalls should never have the opportunity to stifle your light or your joy.

The world is not a bad place Queen, and not everybody has bad intentions. What I need from you is to understand that at every point in your life, you still have the power to create your own change. To be your own light.

So for the people, who have wronged you queen, forgive them. For the situations that didn't work out, let them go. For the battles that aren't yours to fight, give them up. 

You are walking in your light now. You are starting a new chapter, with a light heart, a wise mind and an open soul. 

When I was a little girl, my mom said all kinds of things I didn't understand. She's like the GOAT of dropping mad quotes on you lol but when I would get frustrated; she would pull me aside and say, "It's okay to be a little broken baby, that's how the light gets in."

I finally know what this means now and I want to share it with you. Don't be afraid of life queen. And I know that sounds crazy, but believe me when I say that at all moments in life, good and bad, the light has a funny way of always finding its way back to you.

You want to know why, because you queen, are your own light. 


Know your worth. 

What 3yr Old Gabby Knew And The World Didn't



My name is Gabrielle. I am19 years old and i have a passion for journalism, pink, Lauryn Hill,and all things politics.

When I was a little girl, maybe 2 or 3 years old, I fell in love with flowers. Now to be fair, this love affair began with me over watering my mother’s garden and ultimately becoming the downfall. Truth is, I cared so much, I loved them so much that I watered them, over and over and over again. 

I wanted them to grow. I wanted to love them. And I wanted to do everything in my power to make it happen. So I was her helper. 

I had a red pair of little ladybug rain boots, two pigtails filled with sandy brown curls and a watercan bigger than I was, ready to watch life happen.

And I watered them, every day. I would go outside grab the hose and let loose. Now as you may have guessed I ruined my mothers little patch of garden on the south side of St. Louis. The petals had fallen, the stems were droopy, and the soil…... Chile it was soaked. 

I was DEVASTATED. How could something I worked so hard to maintain, to love and care for, just die like that. It made no sense. I was 3 and I had just encountered my first lesson about life, love and never giving up. 

My mother later explained to me that loving something, loving anything takes compromise, takes patience and takes sacrifice.

Just because I loved those flowers didn’t mean that I had to water them every single day, because little amounts of love, of water was enough. And in doing so I was still playing an intricate part in their growth. 

She told me that when you love something you HAVE to allow it to love you back. So even if it meant not watering those flowers for a few days, eventually, if i was patient enough, I would see the progress. I would see the growth. And I would feel love too.

At 3 years old, I realized for the first time that being the type of person who cared too much, could sometimes hurt. 

But I’m not 3 anymore. I’m 19 and I still love flowers. I still love caring about people. I love weddings. I love baking. I love reading, old school hip hop, museums, making peoples day and no matter what, no matter how tough life gets, trying again.

People with stories, with narrative and character interest me. I embrace stories of struggle because we all have one. I look at scars from the past as battle wounds, because in my heart, those only show how strong you are. 

So maybe at 3 I cared a bit too much, and maybe at 19 I still do. But i don’t care. Because moral of the story queens, you are amazing, you are flawed but still fabulous in those moments. From the very moment you touched down on this earth you were important.

And believe me when I say that nothing, and no one can change that. Your worth does not decline due to the inability of another person to see it. 

So keep caring, keep watering your flowers, keep loving your music, keep dancing to Sweet Dreams by Beyonce (yas bc I had to throw that in there). 

Keep being you. Because when you are yourself, your fullest, truest self, you attract all amazing aspects of the world.

Don’t second guess it, don’t change up. You got it. You are amazing and this life is yours! 

As always, Stay Strong !
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