Graduation Letter to My Son

(Please note that this letter was written in May 2010, and was published in the 2010 Faith Christian Academy School Yearbook.)

Dearest Dominic,

Even before you were born I knew that you were destined for greatness: To be a great person who will achieve many great accomplishments, and make great changes in the lives of many people. You have never proven me wrong, and you have certainly made my life a great one, full of happiness, pride, love and joy. You are a gift from God to me and to everyone around you.

Dominic, you and I have always been a great team; from the day you were born and named Aaaqil, until today, when you have recently changed your name to Dominic. Both of these names are lovely, but I think I prefer your choice of Dominic which means “Of the Lord”. Dominic, you and I are a family, a small one maybe, but with all of the love, praying, strength, happiness, caring, productivity, efforts, joy, hard work, fun times together, (even the Back to the Future Ride where I had to close my eyes each and every time), trials we have faced together, enormous Blessings from God that we have received together, sicknesses where we have taken care of each other, disappointments in friends, all of the life learning experiences, all of the temporary obstacles which we made into stepping stones, all of our disagreements along with our agreements, the everyday ups and downs, we are actually an extremely large family in all that we have faced, achieved, conquered, and held onto our Faith and let God sail us through the storms to calm peaceful waters.

Son, you are enormous. You are my motivation, my inspiration, and my strength. In my recent emotional roller coaster you took such great care of me, and really proved your love and devotion to your Mother, and I have never been happier. I realize that you will make a fantastic husband and a wonderful father. I would encourage you to start speaking with your friends about your beliefs and feelings about the role of the husband and the father in the family, as although you have not yet experienced these roles, the high ideals that you have need to be passed around as inspiration for others. More than the best team member one could hope for, you are the best family member one could ever dream of having, and you are my everyday joy and happiness, as well as my comfort and strength; and, as well as being my son who I could never be more prouder of, you are my very best friend.

Son, for a time in your life you were searching for something you thought that you were missing in your life. It pained me to watch you searching, but I knew you would find the answer soon, and I knew you would find the correct answer. With God’s help you soon realized that what you were searching for is right there inside of you. With that realization, you are able to fully enjoy life, and realize that you are very Blessed, and knowing this has made my happiness complete.

Dominic, my son, you are in control of your life, and you must remember that every single choice you make will determine the way that your life will be. Never forget this, and always think carefully and make the right choices. Never be spontaneous whenever it comes to making choices regarding your life. God will always guide you, but you must remain in constant communication with Him; and always stay aware of God, and be open and clear headed to receive His messages; and you will never miss or ignore any of God’s messages signs and directions for you.

As you begin a new chapter in your life, always remember not to dwell in the past but to learn from the past. Always remember to stay focused on your present and your future; and to live and enjoy each day to the fullest. Fill each day with love and laughter, pleasant and happy thoughts, kind words, and kind deeds, and always remember to give thanks to God for everything.

Always speak your truth clearly, and always speak up for yourself, for as you have experienced, people are only too happy for you to take the blame for them. By not defending yourself you will be given the blame. Adhere to what you believe in and what you know to be right. Never let anyone or anything convince you to detour from the right path, not even for a second. Always be a leader and not a follower, and always lead in the right direction. There will often be times when you will lead and no one will follow. As long as you have made the right choices, and are leading on the right path and in the right direction, do not dismay. Keep on leading, and do not look back or slow down son, but continue moving forward and rising upward.

Dominic, you are an intelligent, analytical, caring, and fine young man who is destined to accomplish much, and affect many lives positively. Let nothing or no one deter you from this destiny. As I have told you so many times, not everyone who claims to be your friend really is one. Friends prove themselves by their actions and not their words. Sadly, many so called friends will envy you and try to pull you down to their level. These are the people that you must immediately cut yourself off from, and you can teach them by example, but do not befriend them as they will be like an anchor around your neck, pulling you down into the quicksand of their own idle and non- productive lives. Some of them will seek to ruin you for the simple fact that you are successful. Hopefully, you can make a positive difference in the way these people think, but teach them from afar, way afar.

Do not be easily tempted. Temptation and the Devil disguise themselves well, and most attractively. Temptations will be everywhere but keep your head to the sky. Ignore all temptations no matter how enticing they may appear to be. Walk with God and in times of need reach out for God and ask Him for His help, and God will take your hand, and He will guide you and protect you. Always keep praying to God, and keep in constant communication with him through prayers, talking to Him, and reading about Him. God has great plans for you Dominic W. Dowe. Do not let anyone or anything prevent you from accomplishing all that you have been called to do.

My son, every day of my life has been filled with the pleasures of love, joy, happiness and pride ever since October 23rd, 1991 at 8:41pm, when you my precious treasure were born. I will always be in your corner, on your side, and there for you, just as I have always been. Dominic, you are such a wonderful person, and you will always have my love, respect and pride. Apart from God, you are, have always been, and will always be, first and foremost in my life. More than anything else, I wish for you the very best of God’s richest blessings. God has truly blessed me as I have been, and will always and forever be your mother which is indeed a great honor.

Congratulations on all of the achievements and accomplishments you have made so far. I know you have many, many more to attain. This is just one chapter of your life that is closing with your graduation from high school at Faith Christian Academy. Both you and I will remain forever grateful to Faith Christian Academy for their contributions in shaping you into the fine young man you are today.

Congratulations Dominic W. Dowe, High School Graduate Year 2010.

Loving you immensely and always, with great pride, happiness and joy.

With all the love possible, for always and forever,

Love, Mom.

 

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The Innate Desire

Despite any attempts at denial or ignoring the facts, the average person has this constant need to love and be loved. This need drives us all to perform acts that range from the remarkably incredible to the ridiculously insane.

In our quest for love, many mistakes, and often some extremely poor choices are made.  Some wonder how others are so fortunate to have found the love that they wanted so quickly, and are so happy with loving and being loved.  Meanwhile, the apparently less fortunate are desperately seeking this love.  These people know what they want, and as time passes and as yet another relationship fails, the desperation increases, and the bar is lowered yet another notch. Fevered by the knowledge that someone out there in this world there is the right love just waiting for us to find it, we charge relentlessly through each day, wishing that all these people we know and / or encounter would just stop taking up time with their advice, and concern about us, for we are on a mission. We are searching for love.

Attention. Danger Alert. Quit. Halt. Cease and Desist. Code Red. Code Something Stop.

Breathe.

Simply Breathe. Focus on nothing else but your breathing. Isn't amazing?  Through thick, and thin, through good and bad, through happy and sad, we are always breathing.  Chances are we are taking shallow breaths and not allowing ourselves to savour and enjoy each breath we take. Regardless, we are breathing.

Allow yourself to indulge in a five minute treat.  Find an environment where you are not responsible for any action or thought and escape to that environment  for a few minutes.  Driving in traffic is not such an environment. Ideally, it should be one outside where you can witness nature and creation.  However, a closed room will also suffice.  After all, you are nature and creation.

For five long minutes focus entirely on your breathing. Inhale deeply and exhale slowly. Slowly inhale as much as air as possible and imagine the ogxygen flowing throughout your body, to every single blood cell in your body.  For a moment hold that breath as you imagine that this simple act is giving every single cell the oxygen it needs.  Exhale slowly and recognize the fact that you are expelling the carbon dioxide from all of the blood cells in your body.  Entertain the thought that as important as this act of breathing is, perhaps the process could be enhanced somewhat by ensuring that each inhalation and each exhalation is performed deeply and methodically.  Continue maximizing the breathing process for as long as possible. 

The simple but important act of breathing is the essence of life itself.  Becoming aware of the pleasure and relaxation gained by an increased focus and an increased intensity on breathing should trigger an entire thought process.   Interject one fact into that thought process.  This fact is that every single person who is alive engages in the same act of breathing.  With the exception of those people on respirators and breathing aids, breathing is such a natural and simple act for people.  Yet this act is one of the most important acts necessary for existence.  Incidentally, the majority of people who are currently utilising methods of assistance in their breathing, normally breathe naturally.  Certain circumstances require that they use 'methods of assistance'.  These methods may be temporary or permanent. 

Maximizing the intensity of one's breath is an act of love that one performs for one's self.  With relatively few exceptions, each person is capable of performing this act of love.  Breathing and loving come easily and naturally.  We were all born to breathe and love. That was and is our Creator's intention.  The Creator also gave human beings the freedom and the will to make choices.  As a result of making poor choices, we sometimes rob ourselves and / or others of the ability to breathe and the ability to love.  Apart from that, we all have within us the embedded and natural instincts to breathe and to love.

We were all created in love.  God, our Creator created us in love.  Our guardians, our environment, our choices, our perceptions, our thoughts, and our fears added everything else that constitutes us as a Human Being.  The love is still there, and will always be there.  We may have tried to kill it, hide it, bury it, build walls of steel around it, drown it, or ignore it, but the love is there and will always be there.

Before we go "searching for love in and from others" we need to find the love within ourselves, and study it and nurture it until it is as close to it's original state of unconditional love as it can possibly be.  During this process, we will not only resurrect the unconditional love that we were born with, but we will also satisfy our need to love and be loved, as we will love ourselves. 

Love begets love.  Once we have restored and reclaimed our own unconditional and individual love, then we will be ready and prepared to love, and to embrace others with love.  It will happen naturally.  We will love all beings, not just one individual who we hope is our "soulmate".  That too will happen.  When we truly know and give love, we will be able to recognize  and accept the love that is extended towards us.

Tearing down our self erected walls, and discarding all of the defense mechanisms that we have accumulated and harbored over the years may appear to be a very daunting process, but it is not.  It is a necessary process to return us to the complete and beautiful state of love that we were born into.  The more we carry out this renovation is the easier that it becomes. 

Breathing and loving are both processes that we were created to do naturally.

So Exhale .....

Begin .....

And Enjoy.

 

 

Dr. Maya Angelou's Autobiographical Approach Part I.

When the book called I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou was published, Maya Angelou was one of the first African American women who had actually put her pen to paper and committed to record a public exposure of her personal life. Her work is often described as autobiographical fiction, and includes a series of six autobiographical volumes, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first and most highly acclaimed, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings which was published in 1969, describes the first seventeen years of her life. It brought her international recognition, and was nominated for a National Book Award. Incidentally, Maya Angelou is no stranger to awards, and has been awarded over thirty honorary degrees and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her 1971 volume of poetry; Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Die.

Dr. Maya Angelou  wrote five additional books which carry on this autobiographical documentation. She revamped the standard structure of an autobiography. Her autobiographical books are centered on identity, racism, and family. They have been used as text books in schools and universities both in North America and internationally. However, some of her work has been deemed controversial and has been challenged and/or banned in US schools and libraries. Regardless, Dr. Maya Angelou’s autobiographical works have a very important seat at the table of African American personal narratives, and they continue to be showered with praises for their honesty and continuous underlying dignity. Maya Angelou is not only dedicated to the art of autobiography but is also an accomplished poet, author, and dramatist.

On a very personal note, as an author, poet, African American, woman, and person, Dr. Maya Angelou is someone who I hold in the highest of esteem, have great admiration for, and cherish deeply. Her pride is mine, just as her tears and fears of her past are as well. I shall not reach anywhere near the high standard that she has set academically and with her accomplishments; but she has certainly inspired me to look up to the bar that she has set, and aspire to pull myself up towards it. Maya Angelou is my personal heroine, and although I am invisible and unknown to her, through her words and her works she has become a heavily influential mentor of mine.

Thank you Dr. Maya Angelou.

I know why the caged bird sings
by Maya Angelou


A free bird leaps on the back
Of the wind and floats downstream
Till the current ends and dips his wing
In the orange sun’s rays
And dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage
Can seldom see through his bars of rage
His wings are clipped and his feet are tie
So he opens his throat to sing.


The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
Of things unknown but longed for still
And his tune is heard on the distant hill for
The caged bird sings of freedom.


The free bird thinks of another breeze
And the trade winds soft through
The sighing trees
And the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright
Lawn and he names the sky his own.


But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
His shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with
A fearful trill of things unknown
But longed for still and his
Tune is heard on the distant hill
For the caged bird sings of freedom.