Lights, Camera, Help Desk!

Yesterday at Union Station Iyanla Vanzant showed up to tape an episode of a new show, Help Desk. I was at the station sitting in the main lobby area where people usually congregate to wait for Amtrak and local trains not realizing that just feet away there were big lights, cameras and lots of reality tv action!

When I happened upon the area where they were taping, I was standing moments away from Iyanla in the middle of a crowd of mostly African American women. She definitely spoke in her "fix my life" motivational tones. Initially, I listened in as she helped some think through self-esteem and identity issues and then she turned to a group activity.

Me, in my signature shy mode, thought I was just gonna blend into the background and observe from a healthy distance. But, to my surprise, she decided to get a little more intimate in her approach. She asked the onlookers to pair up with one another and take a back-to-back stance that demonstrated having support for one another. As I watched people pair up all around me, I thought I dodged a bullet and was the odd one out who hadn't shown up with anyone to partner with. In true Iyanla fashion, however, she caught me in her eyesight standing afar just as she was trying to find a partner for one another woman who had stood right up front in the eager section, yet had moved too slow to grab up a teammate.

Before long, Iyanla made her way through the pairs to where I was hiding and gently ushered me to the front, where a camera found a home right in my face as we did the closed eye activity. Luckily I hand't noticed the camera until after we were all done with our call and response exercise where we told out partner that we had her back.

When I got over my own vain preoccupation with thinking about how I will look on national television and plotting my way to explain to the camera crew that I had consented to no such thing, I allowed Iyanla's message from the activity to sink in.

There is none more perfect timing that the start of this new semester to be reminded to rely on community and not feel like I have to be on this road totally alone. I was also reminded about the fact that I did not have to carry anyone's burden or weigh myself down with worry. I could rely on the strength and love of others and of God.

So, I'll just carry that with me.

I commit to standing in support of others, where I can, and allowing others to do the same for me.

We can never truly go this journey alone.