Pledge 7:

I pledge to drink water and to move fluidly through life. I move over, around, and under barriers, knowing my flow can’t be stopped.

By the time I had finally given myself permission to be beautiful, smart, and accomplished, I was already the mom of at least three children. And by the time I had fully owned that I wanted to be an entrepreneur, author, and wealth creator, I had become a mom of six. You can imagine the juggling act, how my responsibilities competed and tried to cancel each other out. I bet you can already see the game of Jenga my life had become—make one wrong move, and the whole structure falls. To make the picture more complete, add some curveballs: unexpected deaths, breakups, sickness, racism, sexism, classism, fatphobia, colorism, wage garnishments, family drama, hating-ass friends, unsupportive lovers, children’s disabilities, triggers from hurts and pains I thought I had gotten over, and my insecurities and fears. And don’t forget that glass ceilings and maternal walls didn’t cease to exist just because I decided I had value. In fact, they became more apparent, more real, and more formidable. 

As much as I wanted to bulldoze my way through obstacles—people and things alike—I made more progress by becoming like water. Sometimes I had to shapeshift and fit the mold of the environment. Other times, I had to spill out and become disruptive in spaces. And there were other times when I had to rush through cracks or around boulders, separating myself from myself just so that I could become whole again on the other side. So many times, I wanted just to become stone, hurling myself through concrete structures and steel gates. But to make a small dent in them meant I risked breaking all of me. And so, I chose to become water, and I drizzled, plunged, tumbled, streamed, flooded, poured, swamped, spouted, cascaded, and flowed my way to success. Today, if you are up against structures that you can’t yell at, fight, stone, and burn down, consider the power of water and decide if you need to “drip on ʼem” or engulf the whole damn place.