Today for Divas With A Purpose Tuesday, we have a guest post by one of my favorite diva bloggers. She sent this post to me yesterday and it literally brought tears to my eyes. T.C. is no stranger to Divas With A Purpose. We highlighted her Domestic Violence Project last summer where she was compiling six word essays to bring awareness to domestic violence. She's a newly published author of Zaire's Place (which I highly recommend). She's created characters that you become invested in and I can't wait for the next segment to learn what happened in these ladies' lives (hint, hint TC!).
Many thanks to TC for the kind words that you're about to read....in my opinion, she truly epitomizes what DIVA stands for (Driven, Inspired, Victorious, and Action-based) and I'm honored to call her my friend. In her words.....
The Diva Circle
Diva. Every time I saw or heard that word, it conjured up unpleasant images…the self-centered singer who thought the world revolved around her, the glitzy around-the-way-girl who thought she was the best thing since sliced bread. I could go on, but you get the point. Then I met Michelle and my whole concept of the word diva changed.
Through Divas With A Purpose, I learned the true meaning of
a diva, and it doesn’t have anything to do with those unpleasant images that
swirled around my mind. A diva is a woman with a mission. A diva is a woman who
knows where she has been and where she is going. A true diva doesn’t step on
others, but extends a hand out to help her fellow divas while she is rising up.
A diva walks through life with purpose, knowing that she is one step closer to
achieving her dreams if she is willing to put in the work.
I met Michelle through Dietta Lee’s site Black Women Rise.
Since then, she has supported me on my journey as a published author. She has
encouraged me and uplifted me during times when I needed to hear a positive
message the most. She was the first person to post a review for my novel Zaire’s Place when no one else was
reading it. Michelle has extended an electronic arm of friendship, so to speak,
and I can’t thank her enough.
Michelle is the epitome of altruism. She always supports her
fellow bloggers and goes out of her way to make sure their voices are heard,
including mine. Even though she is busy with life (like the rest of us), she
takes a moment to stop and celebrate her sister-divas. We all could learn a
lesson or two from her.
On the flip side, a diva also knows her limits. She doesn’t take on more than she can successfully chew. That may mean saying “no” to some things, but a true diva does that with style. She has sympathy and compassion for another person and says “no” with love.
A true diva celebrates herself, her successes as well as her
failures. She knows that her failures move her one step closer to success. A
diva takes time out of this hectic world to center herself through prayer,
meditation or anything that gets her closer to her core.
Through Michelle, I have learned to brush those negative
connotations of the word diva off and embrace my “divatude”. I have learned
what a real diva is, and I’m glad to be part of “the diva circle”. Thank you,
Michelle, for starting Divas With A Purpose. Thank you for inspiring divas
around the world. And most of all, thank you for your support. I celebrate you.
I honor you…a true diva.
T.C. Galltin is the
mother of one, a blogger and the author of Zaire ’s
Place, a novel that explores the lives of
three very different women at a domestic violence shelter in Baltimore , MD. Zaire
