Making sense out of my private March Insanity

Picture caption: Vernon A. Williams

Residing your greatest life, is grooving in your personal house at your personal tempo. What may appear an exhausting grind for some is routine for others. We’re all higher off marching to the cadence of our totally different drummers and residing in a method that comes most naturally to us as people. This lesson was pushed dwelling to me over the previous month. Permit me to share.

For many, March Insanity is a phrase reserved for probably the most thrilling sports activities match on the planet, the showdown between 64 males’s school basketball groups that culminates with a spot within the coveted Ultimate 4 and championship. This yr didn’t disappoint with upset after upset preserving hoops’ devoted enthralled.

Thrilling because the match was, on a private notice, I’ve a ‘take’ on March Insanity that truly bears comparability. As I mirror, I can’t bear in mind having a busier 31 days than March 2023. It was a kind of months I used to be so busy that it takes this sort of reflection to place it into perspective.

Right here was MY model of March Insanity:

It began with the primary Indianapolis Affiliation of Black Journalists “Meet the Media Night time” occasion in 4 years. The pandemic shut down the group for 3 years. With the doubtful distinction of being elected president after a number of years of stagnation, it turned my accountability to assist spearhead the rebound.

The media evening was necessary as a result of it’s the signature fundraising exercise of IABJ, which allows this nonprofit group of media professionals a chance to dole out scholarships to potential journalists. It issues. Thank God we had a full home on March 7 and raised hundreds of {dollars} for students.

That weekend, as author and producer of the play, “The Worth of Progress: The Indiana Avenue/IUPUI Story,” it was an honor to stage the manufacturing on the College of Evansville on March 11. The home was packed for the annual “Spirit of Historical past” gala hosted by the Evansville African American Museum.

Three days later, it was a thrill for me to current excerpts from my e book, “God Stated Inform You…” to the celebrated Ebook Lovers Membership of Gary. Invited by my sister Jenette Hodges, who’s a member, the animated dialog with this distinguished group of literary, retired educators was invigorating.

Again in Indy a number of days later, members of the Black theater neighborhood convened for an inaugural reveal of a brand new Black Indigenous Folks of Colour (BIPOC) pageant impressed by the success of OnyxFest, the state’s first and solely stage pageant completely that includes works of Black playwrights.

Two days later, it was a pleasure to assist convene the Africana Repertory Theatre of IUPUI’s (ARTI) first ever Advisory Council assembly, a seminal second for the five-year previous group that was distinguished as one of many solely sustainable sponsors of reside theater all through a pandemic interval that shut down Broadway.

Arguably saving the very best of my private March Insanity for final, it was a humbling honor to be invited to function keynote speaker for my Gary Roosevelt Excessive Faculty Class of 1969 annual Prayer Breakfast on March 25 on the Chateau Banquet Corridor in Merrillville. The occasion bought out and my message was, “Residing Your Greatest Life!”

The Lord led me to induce my expensive associates, classmates, relations and associates to let God order their steps. Typically which will deliver a extra hectic tempo, at different instances it might overcome you with the need to “chill” and simply go wherever you discover private peace. So long as you stroll in obedience, you gained’t stray off your designated path.

On the finish of day, it wasn’t about me. My interactions through the month have been all alternatives to the touch folks. I give God all of the reward and all of the glory for navigating my “March Insanity” and pray some impression was made on others alongside the way in which. If my experiences blessed anybody else in any method, then it was all worthwhile.

CIRCLE CITY CONNECTION by Vernon A. Williams is a sequence of essays on myriad subjects that embody social points, human curiosity, leisure and profiles of difference-makers who’re forging change in a continually evolving society. Williams is a 40-year veteran journalist primarily based in Indianapolis, IN – generally known as The Circle Metropolis. Ship feedback or inquiries to: [email protected]