Vol. 1 Edition 7: June 22, 2025 Define Your “What” by Noticing Your Purple

If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about the solution. — Albert Einstein 

Dear Brilliant Community,

We’re conditioned to leap straight to the answer.

Decide. Define. Deliver.

But what if the clarity we’re chasing only comes after we learn to notice what we’ve been walking past?

This week, I’m challenging the belief that clarity comes from urgency.

Because sometimes, the breakthrough isn’t in solving the problem—

It’s in finally seeing the field we’ve been rushing through.

🌀 Defining Your “What” Begins With Noticing

Before we commit to the next project, pivot, or pursuit—we have to pause long enough to ask:

What keeps pulling at my attention?

What have I ignored that might be sacred?

What if my “what” has already been whispering to me?

So many of us—especially Black women, eldest daughters, high-achieving healers—are taught to solve first and reflect later.

We move toward productivity before presence. Strategy before stillness.

But you can’t define your “what” if you haven’t noticed what’s already blooming.

💜 Now Enter: Shug Avery (In Full Bloom)

If you’ve never read The Color Purple by Alice Walker, or seen the film adaptation, you don’t need to know every detail to understand this moment. What you do need to know is that it’s a story about voice, healing, and the long, crooked path to freedom.

At the center is Celie—a woman who has spent most of her life surviving abuse, silence, and shame. And there’s Shug Avery—a blues singer who appears wild and free, but carries her own scars, especially from the judgment of her preacher father.

There’s a moment in the story when these two women stand together in a quiet field, surrounded by wildflowers and open sky. And it becomes a turning point for them both. Shug looks around and says:

I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it. — Shug Avery

It’s not just about flowers.

It’s about learning to see yourself.

To notice your life.

To believe that you are worthy of beauty without earning it first.

It’s Shug, healing her own pain by helping Celie notice the divine in the ordinary.

And it’s Celie, taking the first breath of her own awakening.

That’s the energy this week:

One woman learning to see again.

The other showing her how.

Both, finding God in a field of wildflowers.

✨This Week’s Reflection Prompt

What have I been walking past that might be the very “color purple” I’ve been searching for? 

Write down three things this week that stir something in you.

A phrase. A dream. A project. A vision. A memory.

Then choose one. Just one. And tend to it—

not to monetize, not to master, just to notice and nurture.

✅Call to Action

1. Pause before defining.

Give yourself space to explore before narrowing down.

2. Notice your purple.

Not your obligations. Not your titles. Not even your productivity.

Your joy. Noticing your purple is an indulgence. It’s how we reclaim our breath in a world that profits from our exhaustion. 

3. Respond to this newsletter (or journal privately): What’s one thing you’ve walked past that

now deserves your attention?

💌Closing Thought

This week, let your divergent thinking bloom.

Give your soul space to wander before you ask it to work.

And whatever you do— Don’t miss your “color purple” just because you were too busy solving the problem. 

Because sometimes, the noticing is the answer.

💬 Let’s Connect If you’re sitting on a vision—or trying to find your way —I’d love to talk. Let’s build something brilliant . . . together.

📅 Book a Clarity Call