Sandra Elaine Scott's Blog

I'm delighted to participate in Multicultural Children's Book Day! The MBCD mission is to raise awareness for kids' books that celebrate diversity. And to get more of the books into classrooms y libraries. #ReadYourWorld

I have so many books on my TBR pile on the bookshelf by my bed. What are you reading?

One of my favorite writing exercises is the six-word story.  The point is to tell a story in six words or less.  Seems simple, right?  This is often a challenge for me.  Someone will ask me a question and rather than give a straight answer, I will take the circuitous route via the yellow brick road to get there.  Yes, I am a storyteller and like most stories, our life cannot be captured in six words or less.   
But it got me to wondering…  Why is it that our lives have been brought to rushing crescendos where we speak as if our language is based on the social media culture in captions and 140 characters?  Why not take the time to actually listen to someone without being distracted or rushing him or her to get to the point.  Has our world become so empty that the great storytellers of old will soon be forgotten?  Can you imagine Aesop, the Brothers Grimm, Han Christian Anderson, Sufi, Anansi, the Parables all boiled down to make it snappy and interesting?
So I decided that today I am no longer going to apologize for being long winded.  I will no longer compromise the integrity of a story for the sake of your short attention span.  I stand up in solidarity to the storytellers of yesteryear.  They were able to spin a yarn full of silver and gold wisdom and truth.

Today take the time to tell your story in luxurious detail with all the plots, lessons, fables, villains, and heroes woven in words with magnificent color. 

“I'm a storyteller: the crux of the matter is to reach beauty, poetry; it doesn't matter if that is comedy or tragedy.  They're the same if you reach the beauty” ~Roberto Benigni

Recently I answered a tweet poll done by Essene magazine that asked “Who is a Black actress in Hollywood that inspired us and why?”  Immediately I thought of the legendary actress, dancer, choreographer, director, and producer Debbie Allen.
As a teen, I watched her portray Lydia Grant on the television series Fame.  As she so eloquently stated “ You’ve got big dreams?  You want fame.  Well, fame costs.  And right here is where you start paying … in sweat.”
The three things that Lydia Grant taught me about dreaming
1)      Hard work and Practice~, If you have a dream put in the time and do the work necessary to make your dreams come true.  2)      Dance like Everyone is Watching ~ You never know who is capable to help you with your dreams.  So let everybody know what you are doing and scream your dreams out loud!3)      Respect ~ Lydia Grant commanded respect with no apology and no excuses.  Thus, I learned to respect myself, respect my art, and to respect others.  I learned to keep my back straight, my head held high and to strut my stuff.

Yes, Big Dreams take vision; take belief but most importantly action.  It is true that the formula of inspiration, motivation, dedication, and perspiration propels your dreams forward.  Big Bodacious Dreams have Big Pay Offs…  
Today Dream Big!

Happy New Year!!!  This time of year, many of us are disappointed with the New Year Resolutions that we made.  Perhaps we have not lived up to them or have already fallen off the wagon.  Be gentle on yourself and scrap the idea of a resolution for the year and live for today.
Today, live in the now by creating a theme for your year.  A New Year’s Resolution tends to focus on one area of your life (e.g.  I want to lose more weight, make more money, and get a new job) but it does not get to the heart of how you want to live or what you imagine your year to be like.  How do you want to show up in the world?  Do you want a year of love, joy, peace, happiness, creativity, fun, risk taking?  Think about it.  What is your theme for the year?
Once you have decided on your theme apply it to all aspects of your life so that you embody it in everything that you do.  It becomes the intention of your year.  You are not resolving to do anything; you are thematically living in the moment to become the best person you want to be.
Want to up level your theme year? You can do this by finding activities, friends, books, music that help you on your journey.  I love creating Theme music for my year. Create a song list so that you have your very own theme song so that when you show up on the stage called life, you step into the greatness of who you are. Happy New Year.
Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

[image error] The recent Casey Anthony verdict has left me a little perplexed.  This week we celebrated Independence Day in America and the truths that we as a country hold so dear were put to the test. 
A jury of her peers found Casey Anthony not guilty and yet the country is outraged.  The media has spent thousands of hours on every detail of this case and people feel justice has not been served. I have a different take on the matter.  Justice was served, she was found not guilty, and we as a country should move on. 
Moreover, I beg to question that if the child in question had been Black or Latino would this make national headlines and would people be wailing that a child had died or that a senseless act of violence had taken place?
Sweet Honey in the Rock's Ella's Song truly resonates with me and that is the song in my heart today.
  We who believe in freedom cannot rest We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes
Until the killing of Black men, Black mothers' sons Is as important as the killing of white men, white mothers' sons
To me young people come first, they have the courage where we fail And if I can but shed some light as they carry us through the gale
The older I get the better I know that the secret of my going on Is when the reins are in the hands of the young, who dare to run against the storm
So, again my question is…..when do all our children count?

I just read a delightful book "The Secret Lives of Dresses" that put me in the mind of my mother.  The book brought back many conversations I had with mom about how one is supposed to dress.
The memories were often like this:  As I would be getting dressed to go out somewhere she would peer over her glasses and ask, "Is that what you're wearing?"  When I would defiantly say, "Yes," she would just look at me and sniff and say, "Hmm."
Worse yet, she might ask, "Do you really want someone to see you in that?"  Truth be told she was often right.  The moment I left the house looking 'schleppy' would be the one time I would run into someone that I didn't want to be seen looking like that.
Yet, somehow, I managed to survive the comments and develop my own self of style.  I love dresses and am truly a throwback to an era of wearing dresses rather than pants.
That is why I enjoyed "The Secret Lives of Dresses".  Each dress had a story.  So what's your style?  Do your clothes tell the story of who you are?  
Fashion fades, only style remains the same ~ Coco Chanel

As I watched the first of the three-day goodbye to Oprah, it brought back so many memories of watching the show with my mom.
My favorite memory of the Oprah show through the years was that she made reading cool.  I had started a book club with a group of friends before Oprah kicked off hers.  However, it was until Oprah started talking about book clubs that reading became in vogue and I was no longer alone in the quest for good books.
All of sudden my mother started telling her friends that her daughter was in a book club.  My mother even helped me host a book club meeting and cooked all the food to coincide with the book we were reading.  Yeah, Oprah validated book clubs for my mother.  Ahh…. Her show will be missed….

The recent event with Maria Shriver's marriage reminds me of my mother's caution of having too many people in your business and broadcasting your personal life.

The news this week has been filled with the so-called scandal of a cheating husband, a wronged wife, a mistress, and children caught in the crossfire.  But….the real question is…  Why is this our business?  There is absolutely no reason that this should have dominated the airwaves this week. 
If someone asked my mother a question that she truly felt was none of their business, her retort would be "Who wants to know."  Even if the person answered, "I do," she would then ask again with even more pepper in her voice, "What do you need this information for?"  This would usually shut the person up and they would never get the 'gossip' or the inside dirt that they were seeking.
Once again, my mother was right!  Why do we care to celebrate in people's misery and shame?  We should look to honor their privacy and let people live their lives in peace.
When you are in trouble, people who call to sympathize are really looking for the particulars. ~ Edgar Watson Howe, Country Town Sayings, 1911