NURTURING A LOVE FOR WISDOM

Little Andrea holding a red apple wearing a ruffled white dress. She is sitting on the floor looking over her shoulder.

I love the opportunities when I get to think about little Andrea, especially now that I have reached a point in my healing where I can truly embrace who I have always been. There are two pictures of me as a child that I adore — one of me holding an apple (pictured left) and the other of me holding a book (pictured below).

When I look at these pictures, I see HER — I see me. My mind is greeted with pleasant recollections of me pestering my cousins and siblings to play school with me — of course, I had to play the teacher. I was — I am a teacher down to the bones and deep inside my heart’s chamber.

“🍎 She is in my bones, flowing freely through my essence, anchoring a magnetic connection between my spirit and my soul. She is my light. I was born with her, like this, curious about all that is, is not, and why. She is my magic in abundance and one of my favorite gifts. She reminds me daily that the knowledge and wisdom I possess is a birthright and I’m unassuming wit’ it. I am her, and I love it! Cheers to my love for wisdom! #herphilosophia

Healing tip: Honor your child self and tend to your soul wounds.”

— @LoveDreStiles | Instagram | 11.22.2020

Nurturing a love for wisdom has become an intentional daily practice that includes reading, writing, pondering, and questioning. Prone to getting lost in learning, sometimes I find myself deep into a subject matter far from where I started.

Little Andrea reading a picture book wearing a pink, blue, yellow, and green tie-dyed shirt under a yellow jumpsuit dress. She is sitting on the bed looking down at the book, preparing to turn the page.

However, the origins of my passion for education inside and outside of the classroom are a bit complex. I grew up in a classroom — with my great-grandmother being my caretaker and an educator, the acquisition of knowledge anchored my daily experiences. From her classroom to bible study, I've never known a life without reading, writing, and critical thinking. During a time when home didn't always feel safe, the classroom and the pages of a book never failed to bring me solitude. Padded with my fierce desire to know and understand everything about everything, escaping into the bottomless wealth of knowledge felt both safe and exciting. Although I didn't realize it at the time, education was my first path to liberation and has become my most powerful tool.