TRAPATES: The New Playground

For the longest time I felt Deebo’d out of a childhood after my mom passed away a few months before kindergarten began. I often catch myself looking back on that moment in my imaginative autobiography with ignorance—only seeing a painful disruption. Now at 27 I am slowly but surely finding the goodness and grace of it all. I look at my mom's passing as an opportunity to thank the Most High for writing me into some pages in her story—and for crafting the divine, noteworthy architecture of the DNA that we share. Every time I look in the mirror and smile, I see glimpses of her; more proof that I’m carrying on her legacy and light.

I think of my life like the timeless tv show "Good Times". Even through the trials and tribulations, when you want to go "Damn damn damn!", we recognize that these are still good times. I aim to never look back on my life to dwell, but only to blow kisses to it with zeal and reverence. One of my favorite verses that keeps me grounded is Philippians 4:8; "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Whenever I catch myself having those pesky ANTs (automatic negative thoughts) I think about this verse. It serves as a reminder of the gentle power of positive thinking. The Word has an unmatched way of shifting our paradigm simply yet durably.

Before I started to type this post, the song "Golden" by Jill Scott took a leap into my brain. "Living my life like it's golden, living my life like it's golden...." just makes me go “Wait a minute, my life is priceless.” Gone are the days of spotlighting the curses over the blessings. May we never forget how detailed the Most High is in crafting our story. Like Starboy/Wizkid says in one of my favorite tunes, our lives are "like a movie." We just have to remember to let The Ultimate Director do His thing.

Alicia Myers started singing in my head, "I want to thank You Heavenly Father for shining Your Light on me." That lyric always delivers because there is nothing like that supernatural Light. I want to thank the Most High for giving His children this playground we call Earth. On this playground, like the classic games of tag and duck-duck-goose, we chase our dreams, our identity, our purpose, our ministry, new relationships , our personal style - and then some. On this playground, the chase sharpens and refines us, and builds character. On this playground He encourages us and has given us free will to be childlike in our faith; and free will to create and express ourselves without fear. On this playground we never stop learning. I will forever be an enthusiastic student to this life game. Finally, I want thank Him for the gift of laughter which is like medicine for the soul; especially the genre of muted laughter that almost takes your breath away. As I navigate this journey, I will continue to cherish the Light, the lessons, and the laughter that fill my days.

Just as I view the world as a playground, I envision TRAPATES to be one as well. At TRAPATES we celebrate having freedom to live unyoked from the world. We honor our inner child. We cosign playing dress up daily, curating nostalgic playlists and ordering box sets of our favorite childhood shows. Whether it's through a blog post, a mood board , an OOTD, a story time or a playlist, “enjoyment" is core value number one for us. We strive to revive the same excitement Stardoll brought to all the girly girls logging on after school. We want to evoke that feeling of securing that anticipated invitation to play kickball with the cool kids at recess - and successfully not being the last one picked to be on a team.

So welcome to TRAPATES: the new playground!

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Songs for frolicking!