Cultivating Appreciation

This journal is a place for Black Women from the African Diaspora to acknowledge and appreciate their magnificence. In this sacred space, you can express appreciation for your wisdom, the strength you've gained from past experiences, and the gift you are to the world. In addition, you can appreciate, honor, and recognize the ancestors for the sacrifices they made for us.

When we appreciate our beauty, we deepen our self-love and consciously engage with living. The word appreciate is a verb. When we appreciate something we are in action. And whatever we appreciate expands and increases.

As Black women from the African diaspora, we don't always acknowledge our brilliance. We are so busy nurturing others and safeguarding our community we forget about ourselves. We can become intertwined with another's dreams and desires and lose track of what is significant to us. Our dreams get put on the back burner indefinitely. Unfortunately, sometimes we forget they are even on the stove.

However, something miraculous happens when we recognize and appreciate who we are daily. We shift our focus, and we become the most important person in our lives. Our awareness of who we are expands. We start to remember those dreams sitting on the back burner and revisit them.

Demonstrating Appreciation

It is essential we create practices that keep the focus on us. It is so easy to get pulled away. A powerful way to demonstrate self-appreciation is to use rituals. Ritual is a sacred African practice that was lost to us. Through ritual, we, as African people, stayed connected to ourselves, each other, and the Divine. Rituals allowed us to pass down sacred practices, keeping them alive.

A Personal Note from Rev. Ahmondra

After journaling for an entire year, I saw how acknowledging myself and appreciating my gifts had changed me. I had moved from putting others' concerns first to making myself the most important person in my life. I recognized the importance of sharing my gifts with the world in my unique way. What others believed about me was less important than what I believed about myself.

As you begin a new journal writing journey, I encourage you not to give up.

My sistahs, don't be discouraged if you start and stop or if it feels like an unrewarding task. You don't have to be perfect; you only need to strive for the goal of incorporating this sacred ritual into your daily life. Keep journaling until it becomes a habit.

The Uncrowned Queen Appreciation Journal - häftad, Engelska, 2023