Cue DJ Short’s mashup of Maxwell and Solange — it’s been on repeat in my head.
This week At the Table, I want to adjust a few seats. Some of us have been caught up in the noise — doing it for the timeline, the likes, the performance. But let me say this with love and legacy:
Everything loud ain’t lasting.
We live in a world obsessed with being seen. To trend. To go viral. To make noise.
But baby, noise does not equal nurture.
Noise will fill a room for a moment.
Nurture will build roots that hold for a lifetime.
A Word from the Table (and Grandma)
My grandma used to say:
“Don’t be so common.”
She wasn’t talking about status or money — she meant don’t water down your brilliance just to be accepted. Don’t blend in when you were born to build something bold. Don’t perform when you were created to pour.
A Moment from Wednesday Night
This past Wednesday, I had the honor of attending Austin Channing Brown’s book signing for her new release Full of Myself — and whew, what a word. She was interviewed by Morgan Nicole Nichols, and when I tell you it was like sitting in on a sacred conversation? Healing and holy.
Brown spoke about taking up space — not to be a spectacle, not to ride the next trend. But to show up authentically. Whole. Present. Full.
And it reminded me:
Your presence is power.
Your purpose is not a performance.
And your silence does not mean you’re missing — it means you’re rooting.
And Then Denzel Said…
In a recent interview, Denzel Washington said:
“You don’t have to be good to get a follow.”
Say that again for the people in the back.
But then he followed it up with this:
“But if you have people following you, you better have something when they get there.”
Listen.
We outside chasing followers, virality, applause…
But what’s the substance when they get to you?
The noise is loud and fast. And I can’t lie — I lived there for years. I wanted the recognition, the lights, the proof that I mattered.
But nurture? Purpose? Legacy?
That’s Lawry’s Seasoned Salt kind of living.
That’s Sunday dinner collard greens wisdom.
It takes time. Heat. Love. Soul.
Because substance? Substance is so much more than a moment.
And the real question becomes:
What comes after that moment?
A Word from the Dark
For two years — come this September 1st — I went into the dark and sat with God.
A lot of soul searching.
A lot of cleaning out the sticky stuff that meant me no good.
A lot of therapy.
Walks with God.
Intentional stillness.
So this is me giving you your permission slip to build where no one is watching.
Where you can cry.
Where you can be honest.
Where you can wash your greens thoroughly —
because it takes about two or three times before you get all the dirt off.
Sit with that.
And before you come back, ask yourself:
“Am I just rinsed? Or am I really clean?”
Noise is Fast. Nurture is Slow.
Noise says: “Do it for the ‘gram.”
Nurture says: “Do it for the generations.”
Noise will have you performing for strangers while your purpose starves.
Nurture will have you watering what God told you to plant — even when nobody’s clapping.
Back to the Basics
This is your permission slip to build in the dark.
To grow without the gallery.
To trust the God who sees in silence.
Start asking:
Am I growing?
Am I grounded?
Am I good with God?
Because here’s the truth: substance beats spectacle every time.
“Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
— Matthew 7:24
Final Benediction
Don’t mistake noise for nurture.
Don’t trade roots for reach.
Don’t water your worth down to make yourself digestible.
You were never meant to be common.
You were meant to carry something.
And the best fruit? It grows in stillness.
So cue the DJ Short mashup, pour your tea or wine, and pull up a chair.
Let’s build something that actually lasts.
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