Miss Violet's Little Book of Black Girl Magic

Waking up with a scream and sheets full of the sweat from her dreams Kora rises. It’s a slow and exhausted rise, but most are these days. The reoccurring dreams are a message from the Ancestors, but she can’t seem to stay amidst sleep long enough to make it to the final message.

“Patience is a virtue,” she breathes out with a full breath sigh; “it is now time to rise.” No longer allowing mourning to be a part of her vocabulary has made the early hours of the day somehow more tolerable despite the exhaustion settling into her bones. “I’ve got to write down the updates before they escape me again,” she thinks to herself while reflecting on her dreams over her rising coffee.

The beginning was the same as always: standing in the center of a perfect circle of trees larger than any she has ever seen; she looked down at her feet to find a map. The language was unrecognizable, but all of the symbols were familiar to the doodles she always found herself drawing during long lectures. This time she knew to follow the song of the kookaburra as soon as she heard it begin to sing. Due to the previous dreams she knew that the laughing of the kookaburra was a warning to change direction the first time she found herself in this dream she believed the sound to be an invitation due to the joy it made her feel. Kora found herself still laughing at the sound regardless of the meaning it held.

“How strange to be directed away from the sounds of laughter,” she thought as she continued writing down the memories of the sleep she’d just left.

The trees seemed to always hum sweetly when Kora was taking steps in the right direction. She hadn’t noticed this sound in the first few nights with the dream, and wondered if it was a new development or if her senses were just becoming more in tune with the experience. She always seemed to feel like she was walking for hours, but never seemed to tire. She made it through all of the trees this time and found herself with a choice to walk along the water or begin taking a trail up a mountain side. There was no longer the hum of the trees to guide her, and the kookaburra was staying amongst the trees.

She reverted back to the map and could only place herself due to the simple symbols of water and hills, but she still had no clue as to which way to actually go. Kora took a break on some driftwood while staring at the map more intently. The sea began to speak, “the way next to the water seems calm and easy, but many never remember that our journeys often require us to enter into the depths of something more powerful than ourselves.” Kora then realized that the path option was not only next to the water, but also in the water. This is where the dream no longer felt as peaceful, but she made the choice to walk along the water and look for a sign as to when to enter in. Surely she would be guided again.

Even in the dream Kora was longing for a journal to write down all that was happening. She felt so connected to the world she was traveling that surely what she wrote in her dreaming would somehow find her in her waking. She found a piece of charred driftwood that she thought might be able to make markings on the back of the map. It seemed legible enough, so she doodled a kookaburra along with the words of the waves because those seemed to be the guides that found her thus far. The tide seemed to be getting higher, but the timing of the tide change didn’t seem to match the placement of the sun in the sky. Had Kora not remembered that she was in a dream this might be alarming, but it felt natural, and as she watched the tide grow higher she saw it as a way for the sea to greet her and bring her gifts of guidance. With each rise of the waves new treasures began to appear. She watched jewels, diamonds, pearls and more golden coins than she had ever seen in her life begin to wash up on the shores. The sea was truly giving her the gift of absolute abundance.

Kora thought this was important to note, but while her back was turned to write on the map she didn’t see the biggest wave yet. She was hit by the largest wave, and the next moment she was rising from her bed with a scream and sweat stained sheets that she now realized was not sweat at all. The saltiness of the wetness was only the sea that had followed her out of her dream.

Kora puts down the pen and takes a sip of her coffee. “I hope this dream finds me again,” she thinks to herself; “if only I could just crawl back into bed and find myself back with the sea...” she decides she needs to take a walk and tire herself out. Writing these dreams has felt like all the creativity she can muster these days, so she shows herself some grace and walks right past her workshop and continues her walk. She is so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t realize Miss Violet calling her name until she had bellowed “KOOOORRRAAAAA” at least three or four times. “Oh! I’m sorry Miss Violet.” Miss Violet shakes her head while laughing, “ Kora, I’d love to know what goes on in your mind some days. It’s got to be such a fascinating place!” Kora shrugs, “right now it’s kinda confusing. I’m really trying to dissect this dream that keeps coming to me. I know it’s a message, but I keep waking before learning it.” Miss Violet moved over and patted the seat next to her on the porch swing. “If you stay in dreamland how are you gonna make sure you aren’t missing the lessons for you right here in reality?” Kora hadn’t really thought about that; she hadn’t really been thinking about anything other than the dream and how to get back to it. “I’ve watched you walk past here for the past week in these same clothes with that same furrow in your brow. You still ain’t learned nothin’ new from this dream?” Miss Violet closed the book on her lap and gave her full attention to Kora. “Well, I learn something new every time I rise, but it just feels like there’s more waiting for me.”

Miss Violet released one of her laughs that held everything she seemed to already know and was about to tell you. She said, “let me give you a page from my book.” She opened up the little black book on her lap and thumbed through the pages before finally finding what she was looking for. She ripped the page out so gently and folded it in half before handing it to Kora. “Kora, I’d like you to remember who you are and once you feel you’ve remembered then open up that paper and read the words. See them, say them and believe them.” Kora wasn’t surprised by this challenge because Miss Violet always had some remedy to a mind swirling with too many thoughts. Kora had so many pages from Miss Violet's little black book that she had considered binding the pages together again and giving them back to her one day. Miss Violet held so much wisdom within her vessel that Kora always took her instructions very seriously.

Kora took a deep breath and a few sips of Miss Violet’s Lavender Tea before offering her gratitude and leaving her porch to continue on in her walk. This time she decided to head back to her workshop because that’s the place that always reminded her of who she was. She walked into the warmth of the naturally sunlit room and began stretching and breathing deeply.

“I am creative,” she began reciting the affirmations that grounded her; “I am capable. I am safe. I am at home in this body. I am connected to my spirit and the spirits that guide me. I am brave. I am abundant. I am Kora, Goddess of the Heart.”

Kora felt as though Miss Violet's page was burning a hole in her overall pocket, so she removed it, said a blessing of gratitude for the gift of Miss Violet and unfolded the page. There, before her in a handwriting so comforting and familiar were the words:

“You’re still creating the map of your life; don’t be in a rush to find out it’s ending point. Just enjoy the journey and everything you’re blessed with finding along the way. Enjoy the magic of today’s findings...”

Miss Violet is so connected that Kora was no longer surprised when her words seemed to already know without ever even being told. Kora laughed to herself as she pulled out a box she kept in the drawer of her workbench. She removed the lid with sloppily written words “Miss Violet's Little Book of Black Girl Magic” and placed the page inside of the already overflowing box. Whether in sleep or wake Kora was living a beautiful dream.