Peace, love, and light y'all. About this picture, I was at the starting line in my wave at a 10k I did annually in Charleston, SC. It was cold (warming up because I obviously don't have sleeves) and early. I was thinking (at the time) about my pace, trying to be focused, anxious, and hopeful to make the finish line at a decent time. I wanted to be the fastest but deep down I knew I was the heaviest I've known sitting at over 208lbs on a 5'8" frame. I had on some poor supportive Nike's on sale from the Outlets and I had not trained. I definitely was optimistic but I was not coming in hot at all. This determination to finish was the best energy I possessed at this time. I finished the race feeling sore all over for 48 hours. Then I stopped and ate fattening "foods" without a second thought. I would tell myself, "I earned it. I did a 10K so I can eat the calories." Now look at this picture and those were the thoughts and reasoning that I had about nonexistent calories, diet, not training properly, wrong shoes, and clothing that all led to no changes and gaining more weight afterwards. My name meant purpose so I knew I had a bigger purpose, but I did not have any knowledge, indoctrinated through religion/school/social constructs, and damn sure didn't know self. These factors led to major depressive disorder, PTSD, and anxiety. The name Purposely Potent represents the journey but going back to when my father named me. My first name literally is one of the 7 principles of Kwanzaa and translate to 'purpose.' Side note: What you name your children and the origin matters because they manifest what you call them. Ok so back to the name, I've been vaccinated from birth due to the year I was born and government regulations put in place in schools and hospitals. I also went through so much psychologically through drugs, socioeconomic status, and more that my attachment to outside harmful foods, sex, and drugs manifested to this human in this photo. I added the word potent because I've always felt powerful even when I didn't have it together. Potentia 'power' is latin derivative. Together the meaning ultimately indicates power and having great effects which is my purpose. Sharing my transformation pictures isn't enough. Learning and sharing through my experiences and exercising what I have learned right, wrong, or indifferent has led me to my own stories and lessons to not just inspire but transform our lives in a powerful way. Yes, I said our because we are in this together.
