04/23/2025
Some days you will kill it and other days you are a 🐌.
Today was one of those days where I felt like a slug on a stoop on a hot summer day. You know the kind you dodge when you run to get the mail in your bare feet . Analogies will ♾️ be my thing- I have a need to paint the picture in a vivid manner as well as insert some dark humor because well —-it’s just my jaaaam.
So today, I showed up to teach class, not as my best self but rather as my authentic self. I am Mandee Black, the survivor of my brother, who committed su***de. It’s a title that as the years roll on means something different to me. In my darkest moments, I learned that love exists everywhere. I learned the world needed a version of me I never even knew was possible. So, I opened my studio, to provide a place of healing, a place that facilitated growth of your mind, body, and soul. I dreamt of building a community where no judgement existed, where all of us were each other’s sickest hype people. In my last two classes, I cried to my Warriors. In both classes, I was met with such beautiful understanding and compassion. It was the kind that I’ve always dreamt of.
Every single one of us, has a story, has feelings that are valued and we all deserve to be seen/heard. Truly met with the uninterrupted type of listening. Feelings can feel worse than a Facebook relationship status- complicated to say the LEAST. We often mask what we truly feel because that is what we think the world wants. I am here to tell you- the world wants you- the unedited version. It’s what makes you - YOU! I am here to tell you, I see you , the authentic you, I want you to know you are never alone. The Warriors and I will always have our boos! Thank you to the best community of humans. God knew I needed every single one of you!
Love you madly,
Mand
AF ’sgurl
