J. Ivy: The Truest Meaning of Life

By Excellence Reporter on June 17, 2016 • ( Leave a comment )

Excellence Reporter: J. Ivy, what is the meaning of life?

J. Ivy: Immediately when I hear this question lifelong thoughts fire off. I find myself soul searching, thinking of those moments when I discovered myself, my purpose, my mission and those later moments in life when discovery occurred all over again and again and again…

This question reminds me of so many benchmark moments. The earliest memory being when I was eight or nine in a weekly bible study class ran by my Uncle Granville on the South-Side of Chicago. Sitting there in the store front church along with a circle of adults, he posed a similar question, and without pause, the reflexes of my mind quickly fired off, “Life is a test.” Not being hammered by the challenges and heartache life tends to throw at you as you get older I found my young truth to be the right answer resting in my heart. Grown heads nodded in agreement, looks of approval were thrown at me, a few hands clapped, someone patted me on my back, my mother looked at me with so much pride in her eyes. Proud and excited, the thought repeated in my mind. Life is a test…

But now, in my adult years, after having gone through eons of experiences and pertinent life lessons, this question finds me once again…what is the meaning of life? What is the meaning of this “test?”

As I’ve allowed my gift of poetry to guide me, my spirit has moved me to speak on forgiveness, on self worth, on lifting up the next, on inspiring others, on building your confidence, on using your own gifts, on making a mark, making change, making history and the common denominator for all these elements, for each phase of the “test,” has been anchored in rediscovering our purist form of unconditional love. Love for self and love for others. Selfless love…

Love without judgement. Love with no strings or ego or envy attached. Love for blessings. Love for the little things. Love for nature. Love for the institution of family and the friends that become a part of it. Love for the experience for this magical journey we call life. The meaning of life is finding love during the course of these series of test. After all, love is what protects us, it’s what leads us to our purpose, it’s what charges our spirits and feeds our souls. In my humble opinion and strong belief, finding LOVE in the purist form is the truest meaning of life…

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~J. Ivy, a NAACP Image Award Winning Poet has been featured on Grammy Award Winning Platinum Albums with Kanye West, Jay-Z & John Legend. He is the author of two books, Here I AM: Then & Now and Dear Father: Breaking The Cycle of Pain published by Beyond Words/Atria/Simon & Schuster. J. Ivy’s new goal to get one million people to write a letter to their fathers is themed as “One Million Letters Written, One Million Hearts Healed!” As a performance poet & author, Ivy’s passionate delivery always leaves spectators transfixed in a state of inspiration. His motto, “Dreams Don’t Come True, They Are True” has guided him from his hometown Chicago to hundreds of cities.
www.J-Ivy.com