Ever walked in the depths of despair only to resurface, a vivid of hope and transformation still shining? Allow me to take you through the nostalgic lanes of my past when I resided in the hustling Baton Rouge streets. These streets had their own unique code for toughening you up and violence, but what unfolded was a horrifying personal journey that dragged me into a deep abyss that was ultimately putting me onto the path of redemption.
Growing up on the streets of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, I had learned how to make fast money. Like many before me, it was contagious and I felt stuck in a continuous cycle of quick satisfaction and financial instability. Struggling was the new reality, I tried different means of escaping this treacherous loop. However, during this dark pursuit ultimately landed me in a bloody altercation, and before I knew it, I had been shot and it was eye opener. But that didn’t stop until getting caught up in some serious trouble and consequently, jailed. Within a month time I had plummeted to the depths of despair, sinking further into a hole I didn't believe I could ever claw out from.
Imprisonment came with a crushing silence and solitude that provoked self-reflection and mental turmoil. There, while confined behind those steel bars, away from my family and the chaos on the streets, I heard someone say “I know that’s not who I think it is” I didn’t recognize the voice so turned around and looked and didn’t see anyone I knew and turned back around.
Then a few minutes later I get a tap on my shoulder. I turn around and it’s a short guy looking like a miniature bodybuilder smiling with 34 gold teeth in his mouth making a glare till I can barely see. I’m saying in my head (I don’t feel like fighting today) as I’m thinking that a hit to chest then automatically I knew who he was. One of my best friends I haven’t seen since elementary school. We talked and caught up on old times and he told me how to move around in the prison and personal stuff. It was here, among inmates, within my fortress of solitude, that my metamorphosis began.
One day, in the prison library, I stumbled upon a few dusty books about the universe, sparking an irresistible curiosity. Each night, the stars overhead filled me with wonderment, as if their twinkle offered me solace and guidance. And just like the celestial bodies above me, my intellectual galaxy began expanding.
Diving into cosmology introduced me to the concept of energy, both tangible and metaphysical. Reading and learning about these awe-inspiring aspects of existence changed the way I think and viewed the world and also deeply inside myself. My incarceration, once a concrete symbol of my degradation, became an unprecedented space for knowledge and enlightenment.
After my release I swam even deeper into the sea of universal laws and theories, I was led to the concepts of manifestation and the power of the subconscious mind. The prison cell was once my sanctuary, and pen and paper, it’s time for change. Each scribbled sentence bore testimony to my internal transformation.
My exploration of the cosmos became the metaphor for my transformational journey. Just as a star continues to shine, illuminating even the darkest corners of the universe, my energy levels started radiating in the black hole of despair, instilling in me a newfound faith.
Embracing writing gave me purpose and identity. It acted as a mirror, reflecting the transformation that I was undergoing and penning my revelations. As words flowed freely, they paved a pathway leading me from the gritty, dead-end streets of Baton Rouge to uncharted horizons bringing me infinite possibilities.
My struggle turned to resilience, pain turned to passion, and desperation turned to desire for knowledge. No longer was I just a street kid from Baton Rouge. I had a whole new way of thinking and also become a beacon of hope and transformation, showing myself, and possibly others, that you could always turn the pages to a new chapter in your life, as long as you have the will to manifest it.
Life may still throw unexpected surprises at me, I remain undeterred. I had been shot, imprisoned, and I battled my inner demons, yet today, I stand here victorious and evolved. I came a long way, indeed. Yet, I firmly believe, it's just the beginning of a fantastic journey ahead.