I’m exhausted. Just completely exhausted. 182 I’m exhausted. 

Just completely exhausted.

182 Black people have been killed by police since the day that George Floyd was murdered. Since the start of Derek Chauvin’s trail, police killed an average of three people a day, which added up to 64 people killed by the police. There have been more killings, not less. 

Last night, the police murdered a child. A CHILD. And this is NOT the first child murdered by the police. This isn’t even the first child murdered by the police THIS YEAR. 

As the wife of a teacher, I can tell you that we cut funding to education all the time. So why are so many people still not onboard with cutting funding for the police? What do they need more money for? So they can continue to murder people? There are way too many police officers on payroll who do not know how to do their jobs. And there are way too many others that are helping to cover this information up (not well, obviously). 

We would never let educators be this terrible at their jobs. 

We would never let doctors be this bad at their jobs. 

Hell, most of you can’t even deal with a barista not making your order “right”. 

But cops killing innocent civilians is fine? We are just going to accept that as a county?

The average white/non-Black person is not doing enough. Do more. Do better. Because we’ve been doing our part but white supremacy can’t be dismantled without the involvement of white people.
This accurately sums up my weekend. How was yours? This accurately sums up my weekend. How was yours?
It’s been a challenge to find joy this week. But It’s been a challenge to find joy this week. But Black Joy has been my mission. Most of the people in my life have been overwhelmed and exhausted by constant grief, fear, and disrespect. Many of us have been reminded of the times we were pulled over by cops for driving while Black or the times we’ve feared for our parents, siblings, children, cousins, and other friends and family members. Sometimes it feels like we are all stuck in this cycle, doomed to witness and experience Black suffering and trauma forever. I have to constantly remind myself that times haven’t changed but we ARE changing things. We have to. And until those changes really take place permanently, I’m choosing Black Joy whenever I can. Because Black Joy is resistance. 

Here’s where I was able to find joy this week:

🤍 Interviewing @majorcreates + @tiffanydbrown_, two dynamic and talented  Black women for @heartandhustlepodcast.

🤍 Long chats with @studio404design about everything under the sun. 

🤍 The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and how unapologetically Black it is. 

🤍 Texting Marvel memes back and forth with @mmalikaj who is FINALLY obsessed with Marvel. My hard work has paid off! 👏🏽

🤍 Trying to recreate @eatatbento at home since we live in DC now. 

🤍 Reading The Gilded Ones. 

🤍 Knowing that @bohemianseoul is moving east! 

If you are Black, where did you find joy this week? If you aren’t Black, we’re you able to bring joy to a person who is Black this week or amplify a voice celebrating Black joy?
We receive hate, lies, injustice, and death. But We receive hate, lies, injustice, and death. 

But we deserve joy.

So many of us are reaching new levels of exhaustion because of the continued attacks on our community by those who are being paid to protect us. There are some days where our situation feels impossible. On those days, please take the time out to do one small thing that brings you joy. As Black people, we have to experience and carry so much trauma while living in this country. But we deserve joy. We deserve joy.
I’ve been spending every free moment chasing gor I’ve been spending every free moment chasing gorgeous blooms. I know they don’t last long so I’m trying to enjoy them as much as a can while they are here. It’s a great reminder to live in the moment and enjoy your life right now.
Lately I’ve been meditating, manifesting, and do Lately I’ve been meditating, manifesting, and doing a little bit of yoga before I even get out of bed. Yes, you heard that right, I do bed yoga. Doing these simple things before I leave the comfort of my bed have really been helping me feel like I can take on anything during the day. Do you do anything special in the morning that makes you feel more equipped to handle the day?
I’m so happy that the weather is consistently co I’m so happy that the weather is consistently cooperating and we can get out to explore more! I’m usually a homebody but being stuck inside this past winter has really made me appreciate every good weather day so much more than I ever have before. The best thing about being in a new city is that everything is new to me so even staying close to home feels like an adventure.
Drinking my way through Orlando with all the best Drinking my way through Orlando with all the best teas!🧋
Home is whenever I’m with you. 🤍🍵 @qreatec Home is whenever I’m with you. 🤍🍵 @qreatecoffee
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Personal · March 9, 2017

Currently

Travel

As anyone who follows me on instagram knows, my wanderlust is insatiable and I am constantly looking for my next adventure. With back to back trips to D.C. in January, John and I decided to keep things local in February and explore our own little corner of the world. Spring and Summer will include trips up north, a visit to the Carolinas, and Europe. I think it’s high time that John and I do a packing tutorial considering we continue to manage to cram all of our belongings into carry-ons and successfully avoid checked baggage fees.

Work

I recently on boarded a client whom I have wanted to work with for awhile. 725Creative has successfully taken over (well, started really) social media for Keep Her Safe. In addition to working with Keep Her Safe on social media, we are also helping them become more intersectional in their web presence. Husband and wife clients, Nicole Ami and Alex Ray just so happen to be heading to Europe at the same time as John and I which means our next social media training session will be in a British pub! One of my favorite clients, Apples + Co. is expanding their services to take on more weddings which means fun updates to the websites and even MORE fun branding photo sessions which include eating my weight in gourmet apples, pretzels, and cookies after the shoot.

Podcast

The second year (season?) of Heart and Hustle is in full swing and we couldn’t be luckier when it comes to our guest list. A lot of last year’s episodes just included the two of us so that we could establish our podcast style with viewers. With the success of the first year, we feel a little more confident about reaching out to guests outside of our circle. Upcoming guests include entrepreneurs as diverse as mixed media artists, famous activists, and celebrity wedding photographers. We are also relaunching the blog with an awesome, talented team of contributors. If you know anyone interested, send them here!

Health

Many of you have asked for an update regarding my health. I’m happy to say that it is improving! The second half of last year was stressful and scary at times but things are definitely better now. It looks like I may not need surgery at all. I’ve switched my diet about a million times to see exactly what works. So far, being vegan five days a week has been working for me. As a long time vegetarian, I thought making the change to being vegan would be easy but it’s actually more challenging that I imagined. Having two days to eat a vegetarian diet have been making all the difference in my sanity and the five days of veganism have been making all the difference in my health. In general, I have been avoiding soy, caffeine, and sugar every day of the week. In April I will have another test to see if the fibroid tumor has shrunk any further.

Reading

As usual, I have been reading everything I can get my hands on. I’m long overdue for a Well Read post but I am currently reading Negroland by Margo Jefferson.

Personal

Our best friends just had another baby so I am now an aunt to an adorable little boy! Expect a lot of pictures soon!

After listening to every episode of The Minimalist Podcast, I’ve been getting rid of everything in site. Having less stuff makes me feel more focused and while I’ll probably never be a full blown minimalist, I’m excited to see where this minimalism journey takes me.

What’s Next 

Europe is right around the corner and I couldn’t be more excited! Our days outside of London are very scheduled but our days in London our completely open so if you have any suggestions on food, tea, bookshops, and entertainment, send them my way!

On April 2nd, come see me at Your Story: Branding and Marketing in Miami. I’ll be giving a speech on branding and following it up with some actionable content for attendees. I would love to see you there!

 

In: Personal · Tagged: currently, health, Personal, podcast, reading, travel, work

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Hi! I'm Charisma, a creative entrepreneur who loves to help others reach their full potential. I'm a photographer, a writer, and the owner of Kismet + Charisma, an online boutique that pairs minimalist, cozy, boho style with activism. In my little corner of the internet you'll find my latest travels, what I'm currently reading, how I practing Black joy as resistence, and how I'm finding hygge in my daily life. Pull up a chair, grab a cup of tea, and stay awhile.

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I’m exhausted. Just completely exhausted. 182 I’m exhausted. 

Just completely exhausted.

182 Black people have been killed by police since the day that George Floyd was murdered. Since the start of Derek Chauvin’s trail, police killed an average of three people a day, which added up to 64 people killed by the police. There have been more killings, not less. 

Last night, the police murdered a child. A CHILD. And this is NOT the first child murdered by the police. This isn’t even the first child murdered by the police THIS YEAR. 

As the wife of a teacher, I can tell you that we cut funding to education all the time. So why are so many people still not onboard with cutting funding for the police? What do they need more money for? So they can continue to murder people? There are way too many police officers on payroll who do not know how to do their jobs. And there are way too many others that are helping to cover this information up (not well, obviously). 

We would never let educators be this terrible at their jobs. 

We would never let doctors be this bad at their jobs. 

Hell, most of you can’t even deal with a barista not making your order “right”. 

But cops killing innocent civilians is fine? We are just going to accept that as a county?

The average white/non-Black person is not doing enough. Do more. Do better. Because we’ve been doing our part but white supremacy can’t be dismantled without the involvement of white people.
This accurately sums up my weekend. How was yours? This accurately sums up my weekend. How was yours?
It’s been a challenge to find joy this week. But It’s been a challenge to find joy this week. But Black Joy has been my mission. Most of the people in my life have been overwhelmed and exhausted by constant grief, fear, and disrespect. Many of us have been reminded of the times we were pulled over by cops for driving while Black or the times we’ve feared for our parents, siblings, children, cousins, and other friends and family members. Sometimes it feels like we are all stuck in this cycle, doomed to witness and experience Black suffering and trauma forever. I have to constantly remind myself that times haven’t changed but we ARE changing things. We have to. And until those changes really take place permanently, I’m choosing Black Joy whenever I can. Because Black Joy is resistance. 

Here’s where I was able to find joy this week:

🤍 Interviewing @majorcreates + @tiffanydbrown_, two dynamic and talented  Black women for @heartandhustlepodcast.

🤍 Long chats with @studio404design about everything under the sun. 

🤍 The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and how unapologetically Black it is. 

🤍 Texting Marvel memes back and forth with @mmalikaj who is FINALLY obsessed with Marvel. My hard work has paid off! 👏🏽

🤍 Trying to recreate @eatatbento at home since we live in DC now. 

🤍 Reading The Gilded Ones. 

🤍 Knowing that @bohemianseoul is moving east! 

If you are Black, where did you find joy this week? If you aren’t Black, we’re you able to bring joy to a person who is Black this week or amplify a voice celebrating Black joy?
We receive hate, lies, injustice, and death. But We receive hate, lies, injustice, and death. 

But we deserve joy.

So many of us are reaching new levels of exhaustion because of the continued attacks on our community by those who are being paid to protect us. There are some days where our situation feels impossible. On those days, please take the time out to do one small thing that brings you joy. As Black people, we have to experience and carry so much trauma while living in this country. But we deserve joy. We deserve joy.
I’ve been spending every free moment chasing gor I’ve been spending every free moment chasing gorgeous blooms. I know they don’t last long so I’m trying to enjoy them as much as a can while they are here. It’s a great reminder to live in the moment and enjoy your life right now.
Lately I’ve been meditating, manifesting, and do Lately I’ve been meditating, manifesting, and doing a little bit of yoga before I even get out of bed. Yes, you heard that right, I do bed yoga. Doing these simple things before I leave the comfort of my bed have really been helping me feel like I can take on anything during the day. Do you do anything special in the morning that makes you feel more equipped to handle the day?
I’m so happy that the weather is consistently co I’m so happy that the weather is consistently cooperating and we can get out to explore more! I’m usually a homebody but being stuck inside this past winter has really made me appreciate every good weather day so much more than I ever have before. The best thing about being in a new city is that everything is new to me so even staying close to home feels like an adventure.
Drinking my way through Orlando with all the best Drinking my way through Orlando with all the best teas!🧋
Home is whenever I’m with you. 🤍🍵 @qreatec Home is whenever I’m with you. 🤍🍵 @qreatecoffee
Happy first day of spring! Most of the blooms aren Happy first day of spring! Most of the blooms aren’t out yet in the DC area but that didn’t stop us from spending every moment we could outside today. I am SO happy that winter is officially over and I can’t wait to twirl around under cherry blossoms in a few weeks.

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