A Trip in the Middle

The state where we wear the badge of being first to have slaves, the state with so much talent and just seen as ok, V.A. is my home. Be a friend and be my guide, helping me understand this place I call home. I can't highlight the glamorous city pictures because you get blinded by the pretty things in the lights. What do you really see when they shut off? Four seasons in a day, the chance of hope and sunshine, percentage of disarray and rain with a slight chance of snow and no from a girl or guy that you've been plotting on....damn, that's V.A.

"Y'all in the middle." Yes, we know, still, considered the south, so what do I tell you? I don't know. I'm not too fond of the sight of cotton fields and confederate flags, love to see seas of people swimming in waves of joy bask in the rare opportunities we are noticed. I don’t own timberlands, but V.A. has Timbaland and Missy; I can stand the rain and dance through the drops until I get dizzy. As long as Trey Songz can help but wait and Chris Brown runs me the chance to make another hit, and It's straight to the top. Roads smooth and memorable like A.I.'s braids, but our potholes and party life make you touch down like Mike Vick's days. We'll have you fronting and Clipse your ego. According to the internet, we're rated "fairly ghetto."

So many hidden treasures from the people to the store and Oceanfront; something is always in our water, which is why Pharrell said something.

It's my home, I love it, but why does everybody know EVERYBODY?! My best friend is my ex-best friend's cousin, baby mama, and his best friend's momma's daughter who's brother is my ex. Sound crazy, but we move on to the next in terms of dreams and side hustles to a favorite hole in the wall. It's cool to be homegrown, but you're forced to see better when the ceiling breaks. We always say, I got love for V.A., I can't stay in V.A....being overlooked and underestimated isn't "bae."

Waterside District, Granby Street, and Killam, I recommend you be cool unless you really wanna feel 'em. Keep your mind right, spirits up, meet some cool strangers so you can keep pourin' it up. If you really want to party and not give one, the Oceanfront will keep you there all day when you thought you were done.

I was excited when I heard Dave Chappelle mention us on his comedy special. I foolishly got excited. Until he mentioned the tragic shooting...grand opportunity, vessel fell victim to looting. Being in the middle sways some people to be moved, lie and say they're from the north and others the south, I tell people my area code.

Romanticizing my home? I can't do that. Describing my home causes me to laugh and react like there ain't much. When you're home, what others find unique or luxe, the natural reaction is to look at them like it ain't much. Being used to your home, the only thing that excites you is the people you bond with or something new. I've skipped in the sunflower fields where I escape the prejudgment and be a woman with nature. Black and yellow under blue skies, tranquil trips to our beaches and bike rides, and toasting beers with kind strangers that see kindness in my eyes. My love for home plateaus. Some days I'm stagnant, others I grow. My imaginations are higher than our mountains and constant like rolling hills. Reflecting on this, I know to appreciate my home because it holds me closer than my mother. The comfort of being here is toxic endearment. Those that feel stuck just fear not being embraced the same when they leave. A Virginian can't doubt, do.

Do it.

Do you.

Virginia is for lovers….

Want some love

We got you.

Two up,

Two down,

The undiscovered gem you never knew.

If I was someone that had great people in my life early on, I would be able to bathe myself in unforgettable memories of laughter and good times. I can’t talk about good times because they were standard for those with average homes. A peaceful Saturday was a luxury. I hated Virginia growing up because my family didn’t know how to be good people. They lived in dysfunctional cycles and withering routines accompanied by blaming others for their shortcomings.

I speak highly of my home. Although I was born into a family that calls poor decisions “curses,” I found happiness when I left. I felt Virginia embrace me, and I hugged her back. Discovered hidden restaurants I never heard of and enjoyed a meal all by myself in a crowded restaurant. I was scared, but I had to learn to enjoy my company, love me for me out in public, all by myself. For me, PDA was sipping on a Moscow Mule and enjoying my medium-well steak as others applauded me for having “guts: for eating out in public by myself.

Uh..thanks?

Virginia is for lovers…the motto for my home. Lovers. What kind of lovers? Lovers of peace? Lovers of love? Destruction? Lovers of whatever? Well, if we’re talking about lovers, my family and others alike would have been shipped off somewhere years ago.

That motto plastered on billboards, rippling threw radiowaves, and just being worn on the chest of people’s t-shirts, in a pessimistic point of view, I guess I could love that I was alive.

Dreams of normality. Just one day of not being objectified. Can I love being human for once? Can I be seen? I departed from this dysfunction, and I struggled with moments of loving myself. Make no mistake, there’s so much truth to the words above what I said. But I discovered the hidden gem within myself. I do love my home, I can’t hate it because of who people choose to be…even if they are blood.

I fall in love because Virginia has so much to offer. Rich in history besides shackles and blood stained cotton. Though those roots are heavily embedded and stretched into other states of this country…I choose to uproot my own sources that have my perspective enveloped in the ugliness of others.

I discovered many talents of my own that I suppressed and had to neglect. I am an artist in my home. Yes, I may be overlooked, but not for long. People know I’m there, but I’m not there.

I ask many people this: Are you a lover?

If so, what do you love?

Do you know why you love it?

How to love it?

I don’t ask when because I exclude limitations.

If you want to know my answers:

I am a lover.

I love that it represents me. I have to find the hidden beauty in me, even if people make it ugly. The beauty is still present.

I love it beyond doubt. Without reservation and exude it, even if it makes me uncomfortable.

As I stated before: People often say, “I got love for VA, I can’t stay in VA.”

This is true.

No matter where I go,

I’ll always be Virginia beyond the cotton fields and beaches.

As we all know, we love home…we can’t stay.

Leaving doesn’t mean you hate it.

Virginia is for lovers. It did its job making me realize

I love myself more. Which is why I have to leave.

Virginia is responsible for the love I have in me.