GumboLife is back

I started GumboLife in 2017 because I wanted Creole people to have a space that was about our stories, our culture and our experiences. I really didn’t do that great of a job. Life happened and in a big way, over and over again. For every step forward I got knocked three steps back, sometimes more. The past year and a half have been life changing for myself and for my family. My world looks entirely different now than what it did then. Losing my Mom in May of this year knocked me all the way down to the very bottom step. 

She was, and still is, my guiding light, my mentor, my sounding board and my crafter. She’s gone now, no longer tired or in pain or frustrated that she couldn’t do all the things that she loves to do and that’s the only place I can find peace. I felt immediately this huge surge of energy and creativity and inspiration along with devastating grief and my two constant companions, anxiety and depression.  What do you do with all of that? I just had to sit and be still and think. What now?

I went to what I know and what brings me comfort. A list. I’ll make a list of all the things I’m going to do and do them.  All the things that would make her excited and proud. She was the only living being on this Earth that I knew was so proud of me, even in all my failures. I decided I needed to keep making her proud and do the things that have lurked around in my brain. The things that would have made her proud and full of great ideas. I realized after I made this very terrifying list that I didn’t feel terrified. I felt that same strange energy and knew that it was time for me to do all the things.  I knew for sure that I could be vulnerable and open and just start. The time to follow a dream never comes, the courage to follow a dream is what must be caught.

So I’m relaunching GumboLife, with a twist. I’m going to continue my Mothers work but in my own way with my ideas and her work all combined together. The tagline for GumboLife is, “Explore the Roux”, that’s what I want to teach. Explore your foundation and let me help you build on it. To know where you are going you have to first know where you came from, this is true of someones culture or a business plan or a brand. I had to figure out that where I was coming from was a place of wanting and fear and that I am moving into a season of courage and vulnerability. 

I hope you walk on this journey with me. Some will be thrilled to see me fail but I know many will be excited to have that little bit of magic back that’s been missing. GumboLife will be more than just a store it will be an experience with interesting content, multiple platforms and live events. In this time of so much uncertainty we need to ground ourselves, reconnect with spirit and explore our roux. I look forward to helping you stir your pot and add the flavor and ingredients that you may have been looking for.