Artemis Skye McNeil is an author, motivational speaker, and poet. Her platform is bridging the gap between inspirational words and daily affirmations for personal growth and development without anxiety. Ari\’s love of words started at a young age. Growing up in a bilingual home, she enjoyed conversations with her father on the breakdown and etymology of words in both English and Greek. Her love of writing stemmed from the third grade through her schooling years and has been writing professionally since 2013. She enjoys public speaking and book signings. She loves meeting and having great conversations and connections with her audience. She is currently residing in Atlanta with her husband, & bird Seinfeld McNugget a.k.a. The Nug. She is currently working on her third, fourth, and fifth books.
I wish mom would have told me that I was a storm brewing – one they would name hurricanes after.
Frustrated, I tried to tell her what I was feeling that day looking up at her in the kitchen. But all she’d say is, \”Be careful. Be kind. Don’t compromise your principles and never give up. Dad and I love you.\”
I know deep inside she knew looking down at my wide yearning eyes, eager heart too big for my little body, and an unquenchable chain of questions that I was a force – a force that even I didn’t understand.
There was always so much welling up inside – I didn’t know where to put it all.
I knew she understood how it would be impossible for me not to express myself through demonstrations of song, dance, and soliloquy at a tender age.
What I didn’t know is the trouble I would find myself in for having all this inside of me; the pain and frustration the desire this creative, magical energy and gift would cause
First came the whispers. The whispers I would catch by quiet ones with their hands up to their mouths near the ears of those all perfectly lined up by walls, their eyes disdainfully landing on me. I always an outsider; an open Target. I got used to these hushed animosities not because it didn’t bother me or I didn’t care- that couldn’t be farther from the truth -but because what was inside was far too strong to quiet for the sake of acceptance from dark corners. I loved what I loved so much more than I hated what they did. So I learned how to deflect their hate and I vowed to always be kind, compassionate but never compromise who I was.
(\”Be careful. Be kind. Don’t compromise your principles. Don’t give up. Your dad and I love you.\”)
I learned the hard way who were friends and who were fakes because my heart was assuredly always on my sleeve. It wasn’t hard after a while to recognize the ones giggling and enjoying this heartbeat always dancing to its own rhythm and those who wanted to smother it.
Life was too big and I had too much wonder inside it to ever tuck it away.
But I still wish I had been warned with the larger than life gene I was born with to perform and share and connect and support whether in front of the lime light or underneath it. It didn’t matter. I just had to.
Then came the rejections \”You\’re too big…too small…too young…too old…too short…not enough experience…overqualified….but Good Luck!\” I wish mom had told me I was different and that it was OK so that I wouldn’t have to go through life trying to be the same and disappointing others and myself.
(\”Be careful. Be kind. Don’t compromise your principles. Don’t give up. Your dad and I love you.\”)
I witness that the most amazing women with millions of adoring fans also have the biggest condemnations hurled at them by those who bare teeth of ridicule ready to maim any joy they may experience. They have been rejected continuously. They look unphased. I can’t imagine they are not hurt since they feel every detail of every day to a heightened degree by means of their internal chemistry alone.
But the most amazing women have all seemed to have found the secret -the secret to standing tall-away from the crowd although right in the middle of it.
They are loyal to their internal values and value. They stay true to their principles of never losing their wide-eyed innocence though so many would try to jade it- since it\’s themselves they live with, go to sleep with and wake up to everyday of their whole lives. They do not compromise their passion for the sake of temporary squatters who’d simply roam in and out of their lives pointing crooked little fingers of judgement. They would not be sucked down into the cobra holes but hold their head high and never belittle in return. That\’s what made them \”Unstoppable\” (You cannot drown what lives in the deep nor set fire to what already burns).
They would pour 110% proof unconditional love into their work and on those who understood, supported and weren’t intimidated or weak. They were determined to keep heir hope alive (Hope is a rebellion).
And they would light up the world.
(\”Be careful. Be kind. Don’t compromise your principles. Don’t give up. Your dad and I love you.\”)
I guess now looking back my momma could have tried to warn me and tell me in words I couldn’t yet understand. The whirlwind of love I had to channel, the thirst to learn truth, the desire to explore life, the need express creatively, the empowerment of advocacy against all types of injustice, the importance of community support in whatever community I was in.
Maybe she knew all along that I would be fine because she was so proud of me even if she did worry. I felt it that day in the kitchen, looking up at her-a small creature with tornadoes in my veins. I still feel her guiding me with her instructions of love and support.
(\”Be careful. Be kind. Don’t compromise your principles. Don’t give up. Your dad and I love you.\”)
And I guess I want to say mom, that I turned out alright and have accomplished many things to my heart\’s content. But most importantly, I’ve always tried to be careful and kind. I\’ve tried to never compromise my principles and to never give up. I love you too mom and dad.
I realize she had warned me just right.
CCIQ Press 