Personal Empowerment | Tyra Garlington

Do you care about your image?

Posted on August 10, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

“Even when our masks irritate our skin, and we can’t relax or be ourselves, we still resist change. This epic performance is a huge drain on our minds, bodies, and souls. It’s a hard act to constantly pretend to be, or feel like you need to be, someone else. Similarly, it’s very draining to regularly act like you feel one way when you really feel another. Wearing a mask protects us from vulnerability. I fear that if I stand tall and exposed, I’ll be “weak” in some way. But when you wear a mask you stand in resistance to your……
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Everything you need is somewhere.

Posted on July 27, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

This morning I as sat down to write I thought, “I’ve got nothing!” Lately, I seem to spend most of my creative energy fighting negative images and messages that crowd the 24/7 communications cycle. I was too exhausted to put on my positive attitude. Halfheartedly I visited one of my favorite inspirational sites. The following testimony reminded me of the power and provision of grace in my life and that sometimes similarity provides comfort. It read. “In the last four years I have been let go, promoted and even quit jobs. I found myself to be in a constant search for “my……
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Don’t look too closely.

Posted on July 19, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

The famous French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes, also known as the Father of Modern Philosophy, said the words “I think therefore I am.” We have a large body of mental health research that supports the fact that our thoughts are our most powerful force. “When you step out your door to face the world, you are a force to be reckoned with. You are confident, determined, and very much in control in most areas of your life. This is your dominant mask that the world sees, and to others, you can be quite intimidating! You chase your dreams and get……
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Are you Officer Friendly?

Posted on July 12, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

It took me years to outlive the residue of my near fatal beating and accompanying incarceration for a speeding ticket in the late sixties. It was post-Jim Crow South. As a Christian, I have tried to hate the behavior but forgive and understand the officers. Thirty years later, I could smell my son’s anxiety when a police car followed him home from the basketball court with a warrant for his arrest. The warrant described a man five foot six inches tall. My son was six foot three inches tall. The man weighed 120 pounds. My son weighed 160 pounds. The……
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For every mountain; for every trial …

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

So, I am sitting outside on a bench reading, marveling at what a tease spring is and I ran across this article. You want a pick me up? Check this out then see what you are leaving on the table when it comes to making a difference in your life. It’s a little longer than usual and worth it. “In 1955, Ella Fitzgerald had a professional music career that spanned nearly two decades. She was a critically acclaimed Jazz musician, and yet she was hardly known by the general public because she was an African-American doing amazing things at a……
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Being you is the right thing to do.

Posted on May 24, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

Sitting in the large stadium enjoying the commencement festivities, I watched graduates exchange enthusiastic handshakes for rolled-up pieces of paper symbolizing the successful end of a season. Apparently graduates brought along their own cheering section with specific instructions on how and what to scream. In the midst of the noise, the echoes in my mind traveled back to my graduation day at Ohio State University. As I walked across the stage, I looked down at my beautiful engagement ring and squeezed the simulated diploma. I just knew that I was walking into that happily ever after I had been waiting……
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If not for you.

Posted on May 10, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

Nina Simone wrote, “Everything must change, nothing stays the same, Everyone must change, no one stays the same The young become the old, mysteries unfold Cause that’s the way of time, nothing and no one goes unchanged.” I recently began to appreciate that the part of me that is the most easily lost or changed is also the part of me that is most easily cherished. I have had to learn to be brave enough to know who I am and let me be her. “The young become the old.” My birthday yesterday reminded me that I have lived longer……
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How do you smuggle hope into hopelessness?

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

We planned to meet for some “quality time”. It had been a while since we shared a hug. As I approached the table I felt her sense of hopelessness before I saw the pain in her eyes. It was time for me to crawl into that dark space with her and be. I knew the story, I knew the journey. I knew her. I call her friend. So many things crossed my mind to say as I listened. I watched her mouth tremble as she tried to dam up the tears that leaked from her heart. We had been here……
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Have you seen a poem as lovely as a tree?

Posted on April 12, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

I have. My love affair with trees began when I was six years old. We moved from our public housing apartment to our first home. In the back yard was a huge maple tree, my first friend. She stood watch outside my bedroom window. At night, the moonlight and my tree made shadows dance on my wall to remind me that I was not alone. In summer, my tree provided shade for Mother and me to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on a blanket at lunchtime. My first puppy tried to build a relationship with my tree by peeing……
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Are you in need of your immediate inner strength?

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

She had disappeared from my life years ago. I was so happy to hear her voice. She had been a wonderful friend to me in my time of need. Her story unfolded amongst sobs. I listened. She recently became singular as a result of rejection from her significant other. She was unemployed, about to be homeless and estranged from her only daughter. I listened. The few times I asked, “Have you…?” Her response was, “I can’t because…” I realized her pain had her stuck in anger and shame. I was reminded of how proud she was. She was used to……
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