A Page a Day in November

                There is a campaign to get writers to write a page a day in November, so starting today I will commit to this pledge—join me in writing.

                I will publish a blog a day about a variety of things in order to take part of the page a day challenge.

             Be sure to follow me on Twitter @markingthepath  

An Ode to My Body

An Ode to My Body

Forgive me for I have forsaken you,

Thrown you into the lion’s den of life—

Pushed you to the very core of your being

Until you began to break

Crippled,

Frail,

Bruised,

Sore, unable to fully move

Still I adore you. 

At the conception of my birth,

Premature, I was given you

And you were given the task of being my keeper

Of holding within you my soul

Tired,

Beaten,

Swollen,

Stiff, unable to fully move

Still I adore you.

For without you, I could not be

You have given me the facility to live my dreams

I adore you and all your glory,

No matter how worn out you are,

No matter how much your weight fluctuates,

No matter how much your muscles spasms interrupt my sleep

I appreciate you. I love you.

May you always remember that I adore you, even when I run us both to the ground

A Morning Haiku #1

A Morning Haiku #1

Love is elusive—

It is your greatness they adore

But your heart they ignore

     Often times we stunt our creativity when we decide to ignore our inner-muse. Take some time from your day to be creative, to write, sing, dance, act, design, draw, etc. 

    Let your muse guide you through the creation process. 

@markingthepath 

The Magnitude of Persistence: Not Equating My Zip Code with My ‘Life Code’

                For many young boys of color who grow up in the inner cities, the hood, the ‘ghetto’, or the slums as some would say, it’s hard to see beyond the city limits.

                At least that is how we are socialized to view our surroundings. I am a Latino, I hail from a single-mother household, living below the poverty threshold, a product of the public school system, a statistic we often hear about those who look like me, and I belong to multiple marginalized groups, and still I persist.

                This isn’t a blog about how my success means that everyone has the same opportunity, I realize that while I put in a lot of work to get to where I am now, I also recognized I was lucky to have folks enter my life who made sure I realized that there was more to life than the street corner.

    Being born premature meant I was frail in the eyes of my mother, she kept me sheltered.  I couldn’t dream of being the next big rapper, despite being talkative, I was afraid to speak up so I kept my lines of poetry hidden inside a journal. I couldn’t dream of being the next big athlete because my crippled legs kept me on the sidelines, as the other kids got to play.

                

                I was encouraged to read by my teachers, my academic performance granted me entrance into specialized academies, and later my talents would get me into the city’s only performing arts high school. See my journey through the public school system was only made possible because I had educators who took pride in their work and invested in me.

    From the streets I saw what drugs could do to a dream, I saw how hanging out too long on the street corner made you a hot target for murder, I saw how the bright city lights blinded folks from seeing beyond the city landscape.

             

                I knew I didn’t want my zip code to determine my ‘life code’—I didn’t want where I came from to determine where I would go in life, or what dreams I would decide not to follow, or just how far fetched I would allow my mind to wander as it began to develop goals that seemed impossible in the eyes of many.

                

                 This past Saturday I did a workshop presentation at Harvard—yes, Harvard, a first generation college student got to do a workshop presentation at Harvard and tomorrow I will be giving a keynote address and performance at New York University. I decided my ‘life code’ would be that no matter how difficult or what obstacles would form before me, I would continue to walk on my path, that I would continue to live for my purpose, that I would aspire to inspire others to do the same and that I wouldn’t allow anyone to take away my ability to live my truth.    

                 

                 To persist in life means to keep going despite having every valid reason to give up. To persist in life means to believe in the impossible of dreams and not allow them to be deferred. To persist in life means to embrace every aspect of your identities, no matter what they might be. To persist in life means to see the world beyond the city you were raised in.

                

                 Progress only came because others before us persisted that change was needed, they fought for it, they kept pushing for it, and they were not willing to settle for second-class citizenship. From birth I had to fight to stay alive, growing up I had to know what streets to avoid late at night in order to avoid putting my life on the line. I had to fight through a broken education system and then I had to fight to get into college because brown boys like me who graduate high school with a 2.4 are not expected to make it…then again we aren’t even expected to make it out of high school.

                

                 I fought to live my truth, to create the kind of life I could be proud to claim as my own. Now in my fourth year in college, as my career truly begins to unfold before my eyes, as my dreams begin to take flight, I am more thankful for my zip code because where I come from shaped me into the person I became and where I came from inspired me to persist, that despite the odds, I wanted to see more of the world…and my sightseeing is just beginning.

                I hope you too find the courage to persist, to go beyond your zip code, to travel your path and to discover yourself and the world in a whole new way.

www.marktravisrivera.com | @markingthepath 

Coming Back Soon

Now that I am back from California, I will be sure to write ONE blog per week-- publication date will be on Fridays.

Feel free to check out my new website at www.marktravisrivera.com.

@markingthepath

:)

"I" Message of the Week (5/13/13)

Marking The Path will publish (1) “I” message a week, every Monday, in addition to other posts. This message is intended to remind you of how amazing you are, to be read aloud, and to allow you to take a moment to focus on yourself.

 

 

I can’t hold back, not now, not later.

I can’t live in fear, I must be willing to take the next step and risk the fall.

 

I can dare to dream and have it all.

 

Follow me on Twitter @markingthepath

Stepping Off Your Pedestal

“Fair or not, I expect almost perfection from you because I know for a fact you can deliver it.”

 

            It’s been a while since I wrote a blog, pardon me as I struggle through finals and packing for the end of the semester—I’m sure most of you can relate to that.

            I started this blog post with a quote from someone who I have worked with in the past, we will call them Sam, and their expectation of me moving forward on current projects. When I read Sam’s email I instantly felt disappointed; despite my efforts to tell people not to hold me on any pedestal, they continue to do so. I am reminded of Oprah’s Next Chapter interview with Rihanna, when she said, “I never asked to be a role model”, and while I always argue that with the platform RiRi has, that with her influence comes a great power and with great power comes great responsibility, I have not forgotten that she will make mistakes.

            No one is perfect because perfection is something we are always striving but never something we achieve. When people like Sam put that kind of pressure on me, it places a burden I should not have to carry—don’t get me wrong, I hold high standards of myself and my work but I had to learn that I can’t always get things right, that I have to be okay with failing at times if that means growing, and I learned that for some odd reason, since as far as I could remember, the “teachers” in my life always held me in a light that not every student was put in.

            The notion that one who knows better should do better is true but when people like Sam say things like “fair or not”, it indicates that whether I want to be on that pedestal or not, I don’t have a choice. The truth is that I shouldn’t have to worry about this, my work speaks for itself but I, like everyone else, will make mistakes along the way and my only hope is that those who hold me up so high on the pedestal, won’t be the same ones pushing me off of it if and when I fail or make a mistake.

            Here’s my advice to the “teachers” of the world: remember that the person you are trying to mold and teach is NOT a reflection of who you are, you helping them isn’t your opportunity to live an aspect of who you are through them. Make sure the spaces you create around that “student of life” is one that allows for teach-able moments, not moments of shame. It’s not fair and it is NOT okay to do what Sam did to me today, it’s not fair to expect perfection when that is simply setting me up for failure—don’t set anyone up for failure because when they fail, they will already know they’ve disappointed you, and there’s nothing harder to shake than disappointment.

            I know I am “Mark Rivera”—that in my community I have influence which equates to power, and I know that with that power comes a great responsibility but NEVER forget that I am more than my titles, that my awards are just a representation of a job well done, not of perfection, and that I am just like every other 21 year old college student—trying to navigate this world the best way I can.

            For those who I will disappoint, thank you for being patient and for understanding that while I may have impressed you beyond my years, I’m still learning and growing with each passing day.

            Save your pedestal, I prefer the spotlight, it allows me to stand on the ground so that when I fall down, I’m closer to the ground, and the injury won’t be as severe. Let me shine; don’t let your representation of who I am overshadow the reality: let me define what it means for me to be a role model, let me continue to aspire to inspire, let me be just like every other student.