Black History Month and the Quiet Power of Joy in Uncertain Seasons

These days, there’s a bop in my step and a quiet, steady joy that cannot be denied.
It didn’t arrive with a title. It wasn’t delivered in an offer letter. It wasn’t tied to external validation or a milestone others could easily point to and applaud. It came from within.

It shows up in the smallest moments. In the extra few minutes I take to check in on a neighbor. In the conversations that linger a little longer than planned. In getting to know the people and stories that exist just beyond the edges of my routine. It lives in how I move now: more present, more grounded, more aware that life isn’t something happening to me, but something happening through me.

This season of my life is, in many ways, undefined. And if I’m honest, there was a time when that uncertainty would have unsettled me. I would have rushed to fill the silence with noise. To chase clarity before it had time to reveal itself. To measure my worth by how quickly I could secure the next thing.

But this time is different.

This time, I chose poise over pessimism. Confidence over chaos. And in doing so, I found something far more powerful than certainty. I found peace.

The Legacy We Carry Forward

As we celebrate Black History Month, I’m reminded that this posture, this quiet strength, is part of a much larger inheritance.

Carter G. Woodson didn’t create Black History Month simply to look backward. He created it so we could understand the fullness of who we are. So we could see, clearly and unapologetically, the resilience, brilliance, and humanity that has always defined us, even when the world refused to acknowledge it.

Our history is not just one of survival. It is one of becoming.

Becoming leaders when no one made room.
Becoming innovators when resources were scarce.
Becoming symbols of hope when circumstances suggested otherwise.

That legacy lives in us now.

It lives in our decision to move forward with dignity, even when outcomes are uncertain. It lives in our refusal to shrink ourselves to fit someone else’s comfort. It lives in our joy.

Because joy, in itself, is powerful.

Redefining What It Means to Be “On Track”

For so long, many of us were taught to believe that progress must look linear. That success must be visible, constant, and easily explained. That if we paused, or pivoted, or found ourselves in between chapters, something must be wrong. But what I’m learning is this: some of the most transformative seasons of our lives are the ones that don’t come with a title.

They come with clarity.
They come with growth.
They come with the quiet confidence of knowing that who you are becoming matters more than where you are standing today.

There is power in continuing to show up fully, even when the future hasn’t fully revealed itself. There is power in trusting yourself. There is power in joy that exists independent of circumstance.

Choosing How We Respond

We cannot always control the outcomes. We cannot always predict the timing. We cannot always force doors to open on our schedule. But we can control how we respond.

We can choose presence over panic.
We can choose faith over fear.
We can choose to move through the world with the same resilience that lives in our history and flows through our veins.

This season isn’t empty. It’s sacred. It’s preparing something.

And in the meantime, I will continue to walk with a bop in my step – not because everything is certain, but because I am.