Tag: music

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Laughing Amidst Chaos: Finding Balance in Social Media Consumption: Don’t Get Caught Up!

Ok! I have already told y’all how important I think it is to protect my sanity. Meet the Press, The View, and your posts give me the news. I can’t sit languishing in the national news for breakthrough reports. We are so inundated with the craziness of brewing fascism that I must vet my sources and keep my head out of the sand just enough to stay aware of current events. However, lately I have succumbed to a dangerous escape – social media. What?!

When I say social media, I mean all of it – Facebook, Instagram, YouTube X, Pinterest, LinkedIn, with ChatGPT as my chaser. I feel it is my spiritual duty to warn you –

DON’T GET CAUGHT UP!

Whatever you do, don’t get caught up in the real/reel world. Before you know it, hours have passed, and you have been usurped by content-creating, commercial-capturing couples, crimefighters, comedians, and crooners. And yes, they are captivating, and some are hilarious. What?!

Talk about funny…Camille Bennett is doing TLC’s “What About Your Friends” at Kasmine’s 90’s party (She’s gonna kill me, but that’s social media for ya).

WARNING:

Social media can also be particularly dangerous for us seniors, as well as other age groups.

  • Most of the ads serve as vehicles for content creators to generate income. You click and buy; they get paid. And today, Oprah ain’t Oprah – it’s a bot! What this means for us is that every time you see something for enhanced beauty, a plant that has exceptional growth, or a comfortable, low-cost bra for huge boobs, etc., check reviews for the products. Don’t believe every ad you see. Vet! Vet! Vet! (Ask me how I know).
  • Be cautious of the news and entertainment content you see on YouTube and social media platforms. I watched the narration of the debate between Jasmine Crockett and Candace Owens. The visual showed only their picture. It was so juicy, I decided to watch the actual debate, except there wasn’t one. The narrated bot voice was the story, and the story was a lie. Be careful to vet all news sources.

What Gets to Me

I’m enticed by the creativity of the videos and podcasts, and while they serve as a diversion from the craziness of these days, they also keep me tied to the reels, instead of reality. What?!

Notice, I haven’t been posting lately? I’ve been too busy emoting over videos. My actor/producer friend encouraged me to start podcasting. I’ve been so busy “researching” (that’s what I call it) that I haven’t invested in starting my channel. What should I do?

Here comes the ask

Should I talk about getting older, rant about things that work my last nerve, and forewarn you about impending diseases? Or should I find the humor in painful politics and soften the blow with spiritual offerings?

Hey…..I already do this in my blog! posts So, I’m ending with my “commercial:”

Y’ALL TURN OFF THE REELS AND READ MY BLOG POSTS!!

(please)

Joy Juice

One reason I am captivated by the social content is the humor – I’m cracking up and amazed by how these folks come up with their material. Introducing spicy…a blog, I say, “Sometimes, you just gotta laugh,” and we do. However, as much as I seek to be entertained, I remain purposeful and intentional and understand the importance of conscious action. Every day at 1PM, I join many others in centering and praying for the planet. I invite y’all to join me, but y’all can still laugh from time to time.

 “…a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, – Ecclesiastes 3:4

“…laughter supports us on the eightfold path, teaching equanimity, compassion, patience, kindness (Metta) and supporting us along the difficult path.” – Buddhist teaching

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” – African proverb

“It’s all good/love/God” – Victorine

© 2025 Vicki Goldston, All rights reserved.

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Please support Spicy…a blog by Victorine, through Patreon. 

 Victorine, Bio

Author of  Be S.A.F.E., StillAware, Faithful, Excellent, now available on Kindle Amazon as an e-book.

“…the book title and its content are intended to be a whisper, reminding us that by connecting with our spiritual self, we can center through anything and that we are forever within the bubble of God’s protection.”

Don’t forget to check out Garden Spices Magazine.

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Memories of Jubilee Showcase: A Gospel Infusion

HAPPY JUNETEENTH!

I’m currently watching a documentary about Black Gospel music on TCM, “How They Got Over.” This film evoked memories of my Sunday mornings, watching Jubilee Showcase with my mom and grandmother. The film is in black and white, and I thought “I been Black a long time.” What?!

The Dixie Hummingbirds, the Blind Boys of Alabama, the Barrett Sisters, the Hutchinson Sunbeams (also known as the Emotions), the Norfleet Brothers, and the Staple Singers, as well as The Soul Stirrers, with Sam Cooke, all traveled the church circuit to sing harmonies unheard of today.

A story…

During his days as a chauffeur, my brother had the honor of driving Little Richard. Back then, we had CDs. Little Richard was talking with some of his entourage when my brother popped in a CD from the Blind Boys of Alabama. Little Richard cried.

This documentary highlighted the creativity and the challenges that Gospel groups faced on the road, as well as their resolve to take their audiences on a “spiritual epiphany.” One of them recalled that success was proven by how many of their audience were “laid out” as a result of their performance. What?!

Like every other genre of music, this genre evolved from the era of slavery. It was the music we created to sustain us during our arduous work and joyful play. We even “waded in the water” in song to signal how to escape from plantations. You had groups like The Mighty Clouds of Joy that took you beyond the strife of Black people. Within their style, they screamed, “I Ain’t Got Long to Stay Here.”

Gospel groups made little money, which is why many crossed over to secular music. Many, like Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, and Lou Rawls, made the transition, and today, we know that almost every R&B singer began their career in the church.

Today, we watch and hear Gospel in a wide variety of venues, but I will never forget the Jubilee Showcase on Sunday mornings in Chicago before I attended church. We didn’t pass out in our family room, but we clapped and sometimes sang with the performers. You see, this gospel music infusion was before we headed out to Sunday Mass at St. Martin’s Catholic Church.

There was no explosion of soul in our pews. What?!

#music #Juneteenth #Gospel #survival #memories

Joy Juice

Music has always been a refuge for us, as a people. We continue to explore all genres of music as expressions of our affirmations. My playlist is vast, including gospel to classical. We create, therefore we are.

“It’s all good/love/God” – Victorine

© 2025 Vicki Goldston, All rights reserved.

Leave a comment

Please Subscribe and Follow my blog! Name(required) Email(required)

Please support Spicy…a blog by Victorine, through Patreon. 

 Victorine, Bio

Author of  Be S.A.F.E., StillAware, Faithful, Excellent, now available on Kindle Amazon as an e-book.

“…the book title and its content are intended to be a whisper, reminding us that by connecting with our spiritual self, we can center through anything and that we are forever within the bubble of God’s protection.”

Don’t forget to check out Garden Spices Magazine.

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Blackety Black Black

Image: Grandson Christian Bennett, with me on the night Kendrick Lamar shook America.

Y’all, Sunday night was a sight to behold, and my grandson, Christian Bennett, was here with me to witness it. I know it’s Black History Month, but I celebrate my blackness 365 days a year, and Sunday night affirmed why. I witnessed the halftime Super Bowl performance of Kendrick Lamar, an omniscient rapper who gave us a symbolic narrative for the “game” of being Black in America. After experiencing the noise of a Super Bowl party, my grandson escaped to my house to watch the performance with me, his Black elder.

Although these 74-year-old ears could not understand the words, I was mesmerized by Lamar’s rapping skills. The effect of the energy Lamar created had Christian moving out of his seat and me dancing to “They not like us,” the punchline of his Grammy-winning song. (No, I wasn’t Crip Walking like Serena Williams). Lamar’s reputation preceding the performance, the geometrically lighted stage, and Samuel L. Jackson’s (Uncle Sam’s) invitation to play the “game” had me researching social media to fully comprehend what I saw.

I defer to this YouTube post by Bobby Foster to break down every element of Lamar’s poignant performance. However, what brought me to this post was my senses stirred through Lamar. I feel Black America has been under assault for as long as this country has been in existence, especially now. Because we have been systemically divided through so much trauma, we have fallen to mental assault. No true history is taught, critical thinking is diminished, and we wade through muddy waters to find our way to the true heroes of our story – us! We are who we have been waiting for, and performances like Lamar’s clear our vision.

The Super Bowl performances of not only Kendrick Lamar, but Samuel L. Jackson, Jalen Hurts and Coach Autumn Lockwood, Ledisi, and Jon Batiste remind me that no matter what America does to us, we don’t merely survive; we rise, and all the colors of the world rise through us. This truth is magnified by true history, literature, music, and many inventions we enjoy. The universe is infused with/by us. We cannot be diminished; through every breath we take, we are Blackety, Black, Black, and the universe breathes with us. What?!!

Joy Juice

The music we dance to takes us to a new level of understanding. We are truth in spiritual light, not to be diminished. The youth found a way to cut through every age-group to clean our glasses off and ears out and remind us there are new ways of speaking. I am listening.

“I got loyalty, royalty inside my DNA” – Kendrick Lamar

“Garap lo tbia gadbia mou sajati.” — Wolof Proverb, West Africa
The split tree still grows.

The human spirit is the lamp of the Lord.” – Proverbs 20:27

“It’s all good/love/God” – Victorine

© 2025 Vicki Goldston, All rights reserved.

Please Subscribe and Follow my blog! Name(required) Email(required)

Please support Spicy…a blog by Victorine, through Patreon. 

 Victorine, Bio

Author of  Be S.A.F.E., StillAware, Faithful, Excellent, now available on Kindle Amazon as an e-book.

“…the book title and its content are intended to be a whisper, reminding us that by connecting with our spiritual self, we can center through anything and that we are forever within the bubble of God’s protection.”

Don’t forget to check out Garden Spices Magazine.