Do Overs

Just today I was reflecting on what I could have or would have done differently in my life thus far... my first thought stopped me in my tracks. I was thinking that I would have gone to university in Jamaica first... as I was about to go down that path it hit me very quickly that if I had done that I would not know many of the people that I do now, nor have had the experiences that I did. All my experiences I have been very grateful for, the good and the bad. In life so far I have come to understand " when u win, teach and when u lose, learn." So everything thus far has prepared me for where I am right now and and what I am doing. So for that I'm grateful. Yes there are little things that I could have and should have done very differently, speak up more, or even keep quiet more (I'm sure my husband wishes for that one). All in all, I think life is about the journey rather than the destination and everyone's journey is different. Some may be more fast paced and some slow and steady... some even may seem stagnant for a while but at any given time we're all moving... just at different paces. That being said, I'm trying not to take anything or anyone for-granted. Count my blessings and be thankful because where I am right now... is where I'm meant to be ... right now.

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Carnival in South Florida.

Years ago before they split into Broward Carnival and Miami Carnival, I attended this event. I went in support of my friends who had played mas that year. I didn't go to the whole parade thing, we just went to the park where the parade would end and all the groups would dance across the stage. At the time I had a tremendous hatred for soca, so while being there was fun at the time, it just never occured to me to go again.

Then came this year. It came to me that my friend who usually comes down every year to go to Carnival might not be having the best experience, because really they didn't know the HOT spots and since he had a large group of friends they ended up staying in their hotel room during the day drinking and playing dominoes. Not his idea of making the MOST out of the Carnival experience. So this year I decided to bite the bullet and go out with them and show them around. Then as luck would have it, he decided at the very last minute not to come. So I didn't end up going. However, having more insight to the behind the scenes workings of Carnival this time around, I'm realizing that there is soooo much more politics involved than you would imagine. All along I thought it was smooth sailing from designing a costume to having it launched (where people get to see it and decided which one they want to be in come Carnival day) to the actual Carnival. Boy was I wrong! A successful Carnival involves a lot of who you know and how much money you going to grease someone's palm with. In addition to the good costume designing, good road package (meaning a good DJ, good free liquor, food, lots of water) and a great team of people wearing your costume and in your band so to speak. Broward Carnival had a lot of hell this year and so hopefully they would have started planning for next year already if they plan to be successful.

Not that it's any different from any other huge event, but I was quite oblivious to the details of Carnival. I wonder if Jamaica Carnival is as bad?!

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