How my visit to Jamaica is influencing my next big move

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Happy Sunday & thank you for taking the time to read this week’s #TheLifeofJLOWE newsletter! 😊 

In the past week, I’ve been in Jamaica spending time with friends and family, healing and soaking up all of the goodness that is this wonderful island I get to call home. I had the chance to bring a friend from college with me to the island and show him my life in Kingston, including places meaningful to me like my high school campus. I needed to be in Jamaica to re-ground myself in who I am and the roots I have, so that I can begin to grow anew.

Today I’m heading back to Miami from Jamaica to start a new chapter in my life. New how? Well I guess you’ll have to subscribe and stay tuned to find out!

Visiting Mustard Seed Community in Jamaica

While in Kingston, my friend and I visited Mustard Seed Community - a home for disabled and vulnerable kids in the community. I’ve always had a connection to this home, whether it be visiting the kids growing up, or donating to them, so it was really special to me that my friend from college wanted to take a trip there and had a connection to it as well.

As we were there, we had a chance to talk to the founder of the community - Monsignor Gregory Ramkisoon - who was so welcoming and warm to our visit to the home. He imparted a few things on us that impacted me, and I wanted to share them with you in today’s read.

1. Remember your roots so that you can grow new leaves

In our conversation, he told us that we carried ourselves well as young men and that he thought our parents would be proud of who we are. He told us that we had clearly been surrounded by love and that it was evident that we know our roots.

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been back in Jamaica the past week to re-connect with those roots - to ground myself and ensure that the decisions I’m making today are coming from a rooted place. Monsignor saying that to me, however, made me realize the blessing that it truly is to have a loving family, and what a privilege it is to have roots in an island like Jamaica.

I really wanted to share that with you today, because for me, as someone who moved away for college, and has remained in the US to work full-time, I’ve definitely felt the weight of being separated from my roots. I’ve felt the heaviness of being disconnected from the nutrients and nourishment that is my family and closest friends, and I know what it’s like to experience the stress of trying to grow new roots.

If you’re someone that maybe moved away from home, I’m sure you can relate to the challenges of building a whole new community, a new friend group and a new life. The hardest part about it is that you sometimes feel like as you invest time into laying down new roots, you stop giving enough love to the tap root that has gotten you to the point that you’re at today.

When you start giving that tap root love and attention again though, trust me, you’ll start to see the growth that you’ve always wanted, because it’s that tap root that has gotten you to where you are today in the first place.

It of course reminds of plants, and as a plant-dad myself, I think about how amazing it is that a leafless plant can grow new leaves as long as its roots are grounded. For me, in this new season of growth, I knew that I needed to reassure myself that my roots are grounded before growing new leaves and starting a new chapter.

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2. Love to Live, but it is better to Live to Love

The second thing Monsignor told us was that while it’s great to love to live, it’s even better to live to love. When he said it the first time, it was a bit cheesy to me, but then he said it again and again, and the message really stuck. He’s a man that founded this children’s home to help the disabled, and as a Christian leader, has led with a heart of love.

For me, when I heard him say that, I began to think about my own life and whether I had been living to love myself. In the past few years, I’ve definitely began to have the mentality of trying to figure out how to love to live, whether that be in becoming more interested in travelling or just trying new things. I’ve definitely begun to think about how I can create the “life I want for myself” as I begin my life as a non-student, and doing things that I love has been the main theme.

I think that this is a great thing, and prioritizing my own happiness has always been the right decision for me. However, the question is - have I been living to love?

What does it mean to live to love?

To answer that question, I think it’d be helpful to understand deeply what it really means “to love”, but I think it’s also possible that it’s really as simple as approaching every scenario you find yourself in with love. I think it’s also important that he said live “to love” not “for love” or “with love”.

What resonated with me a lot about that is that that implies approaching life with an intention to love. It means that love is an action, a verb to describe what we’re doing, rather than a thing that we take or give away. I really like the idea of love being an action, because I really think that the world we live in oftentimes makes us forget about love.

We get so caught up in living that we forget to love.

Conclusion

If you have a family member, close friend or anyone that’s been a part of your life and you feel like they have grounded you in any way, right now, tell them that you love them.

The roots that we have - the people and places that make us who we are - are the source of our growth. There is no growth without your roots, so feed them, water them and devote energy to them. In the seasons of winter and drought, strong roots will allow you to grow anew.

And live to love. Love with intention, and live with the intention to love. There’s not enough love in the world. It has to come from us.

Until next Sunday,
Justin