What gifts are you giving yourself this holiday season?
I am giving myself the gift of several self-vulnerability dates where I carve out time to meditate, reflect, journal, write poetry, and create art (drawings and collages) about the ups, downs, and in-betweens of this year.
This morning, I reflected on my 61st birthday which is fast approaching (December 18th). My reflections took me back to my first trip to Negril, Jamaica with my Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Soror Karla Ray Thompson in December 1992. That trip was really special because I turned 28 on the beach and surrendered to my first Saturn Return (astrology lovers like myself can appreciate this experience).
That trip offered me sacred and safe space to embrace and express self-vulnerability. That experience of telling myself the TRUTH about what I felt, thought, believed, and what was and was not happening in my world was MESSY, SCARY, MAGICAL, OVERWHELMING, and LIBERATING all at the same time. It helped me speak to my heart, listen to myself without judgment, and come home to myself. It marked the beginning of a major shift in how I showed up in my life, relationships, and career. It also laid the foundation for my Thriving Mindfully heart-centered approach to being, living, and serving humanity with my gifts.
Click on the video and listen to the “Thriving Mindfully Theme,” one of the nine spoken word poems on my newly released debut album entitled Thriving Mindfully As Theresa’s Daughter.
Click the button below to get more information about my album. Buy and download it from Bandcamp, YouTube Music, Apple Music, and other streaming platforms except Amazon and Spotify.
It’s been 33 years since that trip and my heart remains filled with deep gratitude for the gift of self-vulnerability that I continue to give myself and my Thriving Mindfully approach to being, living, and serving humanity with my gifts.
Do you want to learn how to give yourself the gift of self-vulnerability?
Need my coaching support?
GO HERE to sign up to join me for Thriving Mindfully Sundays on December 14th and January 4th from 3:00 p.m. EST to 4:00 p.m. EST via Zoom
I look forward to seeing you at one or both of the Thriving Mindfully Sunday sessions.
How are you doing now that the holiday season has begun?
After my mother Theresa made her transition on July 9, 2023, the months of November and December became filled with tons of memories and reminders that she was no longer physically present on Mother Earth.
These months have become some of the most emotionally vulnerable times of the year for me because they are filled with a mix of emotions ranging from gratitude to grief. I am grateful for having my mother for 58 years of my life. I am grateful I feel her love, hear her wisdom, and experience her presence and protection as my loving + wise + well ancestor each day. I also grieve her physical absence and miss sharing the holidays with her.
Navigating my vulnerability and grief each year can be messy, hard, and scary, especially when I try to avoid feeling or hide from my emotions. Over the past three holiday seasons, I have learned to cope by embracing and practicing self-vulnerability.
For me, self-vulnerability is an INVITATION to open your heart to yourself.
Self-Vulnerability is also a CHOICE you can make to tell yourself the TRUTH about your emotions, thoughts, grief, beliefs, fears, doubts, weaknesses, imperfections, experiences, and relationships instead of hiding from them.
Self-Vulnerability is also healing and liberating because it creates space for you to embrace your birthrights of self-awareness, self-love, self-kindness, self-compassion, self-forgiveness, and self-acceptance.
RESOURCE #1
If you are feeling vulnerable and/or experiencing grief during the holidays, I invite you to use my holiday check-in list of questions to get in touch with yourself below.
RESOURCE #2
Listen to my new spoken word song, “G.R.I.E.F.” that is included on my debut album, Thriving Mindfully As Theresa’s Daughter (released on November 20). Go here to get more information about, buy, and download the album
RESOURCE #3
If you need more support, sign up to join me for Thriving Mindfully Sundays on December 14 and January 4 from 3 p.m. EST to 4 p.m. EST via Zoom. Get more information and RSVP here.
Go here to get more information and listen to and buy Thriving Mindfully As Theresa’s Daughter album on Bandcamp, YouTube Music, Apple Music, and other streaming platforms except for Amazon Music and Spotify.
I woke up this morning thinking about the CHANGES I am facing and the ones I know family, friends, colleagues, and clients are facing. I also wondered about the CHANGES you and your family, friends, and colleagues might be facing. That’s why I am reaching out to find out what’s happening with you.
Please use this week’s Thriving Mindfully Food for Thought as a reflection guide. I’d love to hear what’s happening with you. Feel free to comment or send me an email at ananda@anandaleeke.com.
If you need more help, check out my Thriving Mindfully self-care resources and sign up for Thriving Mindfully Mondays below. I look forward to hearing from you and supporting you during the next four sessions of Thriving Mindfully Mondays on September 8, 15, 22, and 29.
Join me on September 8, 15, 22, and 29 from 7:30 p.m. ET to 8:15 p.m. ET for a four-week self-care series that offers a virtual community gathering with safe space to ground yourself with a mindful moment and participate in a mindful creative activity (journaling, affirmation and letter writing, collage, drawing, coloring, or painting).
These sessions are offered as a gift with an invitation to make a donation to support my work.
Use the schedule below to gather your own writing and art-making supplies for each session.
1) September 8: Wear your favorite cozy clothing. Bring your favorite beverage and/or snack, pen, pencil, paper or journal to explore a reflection question.
You will create an intention and affirmation reminder, sign, page, or poster with an index card, journal page, or colorful construction or drawing paper. Bring your favorite crayons, pencils, or magic markers. Decorate it with drawings, doodles, or stickers.
2) September 15: Wear your favorite cozy clothing. Bring your favorite beverage and/or snack, pen, pencil, paper or journal to explore a reflection question.
You will write a letter to yourself or create a collage. Bring a picture of yourself as a child, a pen, and paper to write a letter to yourself.
Bring poster board, construction paper, drawing paper, a glue stick, scissors, your favorite magazines, crayons, pencils, and magic markers to create your collage.
3) September 22: Wear your favorite cozy clothing. Bring your favorite beverage and/or snack, pen, pencil, paper or journal to explore a reflection question.
You will create a drawing or painting. Bring white poster board or drawing paper, paint brush, watercolor or tempera paint set, crayons, pencils, and/or magic markers.
4) September 29: Wear your favorite cozy clothing. Bring your favorite beverage and/or snack, pen, pencil, paper or journal to explore writing prompts.
Join me on September 8, 15, 22, and 29 from 7:30 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. for a four-week virtual community gathering that offers safe space to ground yourself with a mindful moment and participate in a mindful creative activity (journaling, affirmation and letter writing, collage, drawing, coloring, or painting).
Use the schedule below to gather your own writing and art-making supplies for each session.
1) September 8: Wear your favorite cozy clothing. Bring your favorite beverage and/or snack, pen, pencil, paper or journal to explore a reflection question.
You will create an intention and affirmation reminder, sign, page, or poster with an index card, journal page, or colorful construction or drawing paper. Bring your favorite crayons, pencils, or magic markers. Decorate it with drawings, doodles, or stickers.
2) September 15: Wear your favorite cozy clothing. Bring your favorite beverage and/or snack, pen, pencil, paper or journal to explore a reflection question.
You will write a letter to yourself or create a collage. Bring a picture of yourself as a child, a pen, and paper to write a letter to yourself.
Bring poster board, construction paper, drawing paper, a glue stick, scissors, your favorite magazines, crayons, pencils, and magic markers to create your collage.
3) September 22: Wear your favorite cozy clothing. Bring your favorite beverage and/or snack, pen, pencil, paper or journal to explore a reflection question.
You will create a drawing or painting. Bring white poster board or drawing paper, paint brush, watercolor or tempera paint set, crayons, pencils, and/or magic markers.
4) September 29: Wear your favorite cozy clothing. Bring your favorite beverage and/or snack, pen, pencil, paper or journal to explore writing prompts.
In honor of Father’s Day (which is every day), I am sharing an excerpt from American Change Agent, the book my dad, Dr. John F. Leeke, wrote about his life and work in diversity, equality, and inclusion. This excerpt is from Chapter 21: Our Father’s Journey: How My Children See Me (pages 428-429).
Copyright 2025 by John F. Leeke and Madelyn C. Leeke
Before former Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant coined the phrase “girl dad” and it went viral as a hashtag on social media after ESPN anchor Elle Duncan shared a memory of her conversation with him during a tribute to his life in 2020, my father lived and breathed it. For those who don’t know, a girl dad is a father who wants his daughter to be treated equally. That means he wants her to have the same rights, opportunities, and privileges as any boy. For as long as I can remember, my father has shown me a fierce love wrapped in an endless bow of support and freedom of expression. His personal investment in my well-being as a child, teenager, young adult, and now as of this writing a 59-year-old woman is beyond words. He and my mother taught me I could be and do anything in the world because it was mine.
There are moments I can remember when he showed up in my defense as only as a girl dad could. Like the time, he met with the two nuns at my all-girls Catholic high school and told them in his loud Black man voice that they were racist due to their mistreatment of me and the other members of the Awareness Black Culture Club. He has believed in me when I couldn’t, especially during the eight times I took and failed the bar exam and each time I have written and published a book. He has even helped me write parts of my books over the telephone when I was running out of creative energy and patience. He has listened to me in my craziest moments and advised me before and after I have taken several risks in my career.
Ours is a rich, layered, and intense relationship that has allowed me to explore and express myself; experiment with my life, career, and creativity; and passionately pursue my healing and wholeness with confidence, freedom, and a safety net that he will always be in my corner no matter what. Being Dr. John F. Leeke’s daughter has given me the honor of sitting in the front row of his life as a digital senior citizen activist, blogger, podcaster, storyteller, and author. As time moves us forward, our relationship is blessing me and my brothers with perhaps the greatest honor: supporting my father as he walks the path of a wise person in his aging process. What a gift to behold!
WATCH ASK DR. JOHN, A FATHER-DAUGHTER CONVERSATION VIDEO SERIES
The video features a discussion my dad and I had about fatherhood.
ABOUT BOOK
American Change Agent: A Life & Legacy of Seeking Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion is a memoir written by Dr. John F. Leeke with his daughter Ananda Kiamsha Madelyn Leeke. It tells the rich, inspiring journey of Dr. Leeke, a descendant of the Akan people of Ghana, the Yoruba people of Nigeria, Indigenous Turtle Island nations, European settlers, and freedom seekers who escaped slavery in Hagerstown, Maryland. This collection of stories spans 85 years of his life, showcasing his family, career, and dedication to diversity, equality, and inclusion.
Explore Dr. Leeke’s early years in Indianapolis and Terre Haute, Indiana, his Catholic education in Washington, DC, and his academic pursuits at Indiana State Teachers College. Follow his career as a teacher and guidance counselor in Flint, Michigan, his graduate studies at the University of Michigan, and his impactful work in community organizing and organizational development.
Learn how Dr. Leeke’s leaps of faith in various roles, including his tenure at the National Education Association and his entrepreneurial ventures, solidified his commitment to diversity, equality, and inclusion. His reflections on six decades of diversity, equality, and inclusion work reveal the institutional changes he championed and his ongoing influence in retirement through church involvement, civic engagement, and online activism.
Dr. Leeke’s stories are an invitation to reflect on your own journey, embrace humanity’s diversity, and become a change agent in your community.
Buy Book & Get Copies for Family, Friends, Neighbors & Colleagues
When you purchase the book from IngramSpark, we earn more profit on each sale as self-published authors. Please support our effort!
My debut novel,Love’s Troubadours was inspired by a speech given by activist and playwright Lorraine Hansberry in February 1964. She spoke to a Harlem-based group of aspiring young, gifted, and African American writers about the power to love in America. In her remarks, Hansberry stated,
“O, the things that we have learned in this unkind house that we have to tell the world about! Despair? Did someone say despair was a question in the world? Well then, listen to the sons of those who have known little else. If you wish to know the resiliency of this thing you would so quickly resign to mythhood, this thing called the human spirit … Life? Ask those who have tasted of it in pieces rationed out by enemies. Love? Ah, ask the troubadours who have come from those who have loved when all reason pointed to the uselessness and foolhardiness of love. Perhaps we shall be the teachers when it is done. Out of the depths of pain we have thought to be our sole heritage in this world-O, we know about love!”
She referred to African Americans as troubadours, the descendents of people who used the power of love to live through and overcome despair and insurmountable odds. She went on to urge the audience to seek wisdom from African Americans because of their capacity to love.
I first read about Hansberry’s speech in Salvation by bell hooks in 2001. Salvation discusses how African Americans have used the power of love to transform their lives and communities. hooks’ writings caused me to question how I could use my gifts as an artist and writer to promote love as a healing tool in the lives of individuals and communities in America. I answered that question by writing Love’s Troubadours, a novel that tells the story of Karma Francois, a 30-something museum curator and yoga teacher who loses her job, discovers family secrets after a loved one dies, and begins a healing journey as she relocates from New York City to Washington, DC. Learn more about her in the video below.
Karma learns many life lessons as she comes face-to-face with the choices she has made in her life and relationships. Watch the video below and learn about some of them.
Throughout her journey, she uses journaling, meditation, mindfulness, poetry, spirituality, therapy, and yoga to heal and love herself. Hansberry’s wisdom on mindful living inspired the way I wrote about Karma’s healing journey:
“I wish to live because life has within it that which is good, that which is beautiful, and that which is love. Therefore, since I have known all of these things, I have found them to be reason enough and–I wish to live. Moreover, because this is so, I wish others to live for generations and generations and generations and generations.”
Watch the video below and learn how Karma’s healing journey transformed her idea of love in her life.
After reading Hansberry’s book, To Be Young, Gifted and Black, I made a conscious decision to use my novel’s characters to celebrate the beauty and diversity of people of African descent. Watch the video below and learn about the diverse characters.
Listen to a chapter excerpt from Love’s Troubadours that illustrates the diversity of African Americans when Karma walks into Mocha Hut, a coffee and tea café in her U Street neighborhood, and eavesdrops on a conversation.
WRITE is #InternetGeekat50 Lesson 5. During the WordPress Press Publish Conference in Portland two weeks ago, I participated in a “Blog to Book” panel discussion with Automattic conference organizer Andrea Middleton and my fellow authors and bloggers Cecilia Gunther, Christine Lee, Jerry Mahoney, and Mary Laura Philpott. After the discussion, I had several conversations with people about how I used blogging to write and publish my books “Love’s Troubadours” (novel), “That Which Awakens Me” (creative memoir), and “Digital Sisterhood” (technology memoir).
Here are 8 tips I shared during my post panel conversations to inspire bloggers to WRITE their blogs with the intention of creating content for books they plan to publish.
1) Write your blog posts freely and fully with your authentic voice and passion.
2) Write your blog posts without censure.
3) Create or use a daily (Creative Every Day) or monthly challenge (Art Every Day Month and National Novel Writing in November and National Poetry Month in April) to establish a regular blogging practice and generate content you for your book. I used National Poetry Month in 2008 and 2009 to prepare content for my creative memoir. Currently, I am using National Poetry Month to prepare content for my e-book series.
4) Launch a blogging series to create content for your books. I’m currently writing a blogging series about being 50. I plan to use the content for my e-book series.
5) If you have been blogging for 5 or 10 years, select your favorite blog posts during the time period and prepare and publish an anniversary blog book or e-book.
6) Make a podcast series featuring your thoughts for book content. Select key points or the core messages from the podcast series and include them as your book content.
7) Record video blogs, pick out the most relevant points, and prepare content for the book.
8) For Flickr, Instagram, and Pinterest Users: Use your photos on these social media channels for inspiration to write a short update that can be used later as book content.
For the next six months, I have decided to write and publish a series of e-books. Today, I found a great article about publishing e-books on my digital sister and fellow author/blogger, Shonell Bacon’s LinkedIn page. It gave me some great tips for publishing my e-books. Click here to read it.
Do you have any plans to write an e-book? If yes, what resources are you using to write it?
What creative projects are you working on this spring and summer?
Mine is collage. I can make them all day long. They help me express what’s waiting to burst forth from my creative heart. They also help me visualize my creative making process. I use them when I am writing my books and working on other projects. I also use them in my visualization boards.
Ananda’s books and paintings
What creative dreams are you longing to give birth to?
I long to give birth to more books and paintings. I have a few e-books and a novel inside of me. I also have some big paintings that long to live on the canvas.
May we all use the Spring season to give birth to our creativity!
From now until March 31, I am offering a special discount package on my creativity coaching services. See details below.
My Creativity Coaching Practice: Click here to read more about my approach and background as a creativity coach.
Discount Period: The creativity coaching packages must be purchased via PayPal by March 31, 2014. They must be used by July 31, 2014.
Contact Information: If you are interested in one or more of the packages, please send me an email at kiamshaleeke@yahoo.com to schedule a free 20-minute consultation call (available via telephone, Skype, and Google Hangout).
Today, I want to share some of my favorite writing wisdom quotes from writers I adore.
“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.” Joan Didion, European American author
“The ability of writers to imagine what is not the self, to familiarize the strange and mystify the familiar, is the test of their power.” Toni Morrison, African American author
“Writing becomes a way to embrace the mysterious, to walk with spirits, and an entry to the realm of the sacred.” bell hooks, African American author, poet, professor, and cultural critic
Right now I’m a writer who is in the midst of a long creative stretch.
One that involves birthing a book every two years.
My journey is both passion and paradox all at the same time.
At times it can consume me and keep me living on my own planet with enough rice milk, granola, ginger tea, honey, strawberries, bananas, apples, and split pea soup to last a lifetime.
This path has called me.
And I can’t begin to explain to folks what that exactly means because I am living it.
So I hope they can just get the meaning by watching me be me.
#2
I write because language chosen from deep within me liberates my hidden thoughts and gives life to my dreams.
I write because it is one of the best ways I know how to access freedom.
I am talking about the kind of freedom that brings all aspects of my existence into one room so that I can appreciate the fullness of my complex beauty.
The words that express my thoughts and describe my dreams make their way into phrases.
Some find homes in sentences that question and answer.
Others join the gospel choir in my mind and participate in call and response.
A few dangle as sharp, shooting fragments with meaning.
And then there are those that cast their net wide and paint wildly sensational murals on the canvas of my life.
Ananda Leeke 