“Breyonna is only 21 years old and living her dream.” Those are the words of Tiauna Dodd, the vice president of the Pinkney Promise Foundation, and she’s absolutely right. Breyonna Pinkney, a senior engineering at Howard University, is the founder and president of the Pinkney Promise Foundation, whose mission is to provide a platform to inspire, encourage and spread knowledge about mental health wellness.
This past Sunday, the Pinkney Promise Foundation held an event in DC titled “True to Self.” The event was a writing workshop that aimed to introduce everyone to the fact that writing is a great and healthy coping mechanism. As soon as I walked into the event, I felt comfortable.There were dozens of black women dressed to the nines on this fine Sunday afternoon and R&B playing in the background. And y’all, the blueberry muffins were the bomb. Attendees were gifted with a notebook and placed at stations with specific prompts to write about our feelings. Personally, my favorite station was where Breyonna had us write down everything we didn’t like about ourselves but then had us flip the page and write a list of everything we loved about ourselves. It felt really nice to see that my second list was twice the length of my first one. However, I did go back and forth between my lists comparing each bullet point to one from the opposite list. I caught myself asking, “Why don’t I like this about myself? Can I change it? If I can change it then would I?” *cue “Unpretty” by TLC* I can always fill in my brows, I can always work on my procrastination, and learn to not let others walk all over me. The other stations included:
- “Speak It Into Existence,” where we literally wrote down things we wanted to speak into existence whether they were goals or just positive affirmations
- “Passions, Dreams, Goals,” where we listed our passions, dreams, short term and long term goals
- “I Forgive You…,” where we wrote letters to ourselves apologizing for anything we felt the need to apologize for and our hopes for the future
- “Dear Angel,” where we wrote letters to God and those we’ve lost and believe are watching over us
Writing has always been my preferred coping mechanism and this event was really a beautiful way to start my week. Being surrounded by women just like me who are all just trying not to lose themselves while chasing their dreams and growing up while listening to music by other women like me was really powerful all on its own, but adding in the writing aspect really took it to the next level. Writing out our feelings is literally one of the most healing things, even if you discard it right after. At the end of the event, each attendee was given a card to write their fears and a balloon to tie it to. We then headed outside to let go of our balloons and symbolically let go of our fears. The symbolism of the action gave me butterflies. Yes, I said I would let go of my fear of failure, but would I really be able to let it go? Then kicked in the anxiety of failing the exercise itself. So, in order to not fail the exercise, I plan to really let go of my fear of failure. I plan to get out of my comfort zone to the fullest and work my hardest to ensure that I don’t fail.
I Pinkney promise to not get in my own way. What do you Pinkney promise? Remember to be true to self.
You can follow the Pinkney Promise Foundation on Instagram here.