Brand Identity Guaradianship

This is a landmark that brought me unfiltered shame for many years. Seeing my daughter standing in that same spot recently made me feel something different (It’s a little long but stay with me here… yuh attention span need di likkle workout☺️). ⁣
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My grandmother was an insanely gifted seamstress.⁣ 🪡
Her hands could make almost anything.⁣
When her eyesight began failing and she was no longer able to fulfill her orders as a seamstress, she resorted to selling newspaper right here at this bus stop a few minutes away from May Pen, Clarendon. For years, this was a part of my story I didn’t enjoy talking about and I tried to erase. Shame woulda chokehold mi blouse cup!!!
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At the time I just didn’t (couldn’t) understand how often talent goes unseen, unsupported or simply interrupted by life. My embarrassment prevented me from seeing the woman who kept showing up, despite the agony she must have felt when her gifts were no longer able to make room for her in the way she was accustomed. It’s a pity that pivoting wasn’t trending at the time. ⁣SMH.
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Since my recent interaction over the holidays with said bus stop, I’ve been thinking about persons who (just like she was) may be carrying brilliance quietly. I question how many creatives, spark carriers and builders have learned to survive instead of shine. Also, about how many talents have been buried out of a response to unfavourable circumstances. How again… like her they were also never able to be reconciled before that person left this Earth.⁣
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Some stories take time to understand.⁣
This one… is teaching me how to see differently. I’m hoping I can pass this message on to at least one person who REALLY needs to hear/read/see this… and that is, we have a responsibility to honour ordinary spaces + actions and turn them into experiences that carry meaning. That is how we build legacy. Purpose should never disappear when circumstances change. And dignity lives in consistency, not applause.⁣
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