Peace and Sound,
My name is Yasu, short for Yasuhiko (yes it's real). I was named after the Japanese doctor that delivered me (Someone may start to catch on) and means "peace and sound/level". I've endured many transitions, challenges and valleys, but by divine design, I have been able to document through writing. Expressing my feelings, thoughts, concerns, prayers, rants and inspiration through songwriting, poetry and other writing avenues have often been therapeutic. I released music that spoke to my experiences and those shared with me, from a place of empathy. Being able to understand what someone is going through, even if I haven't experienced it, is a gift, yet must be handled with care. I even took a love for research and journalism to have a couple columns in local newspapers. Like the woman with the issue of blood, It took several years for me to reach that hem; overcoming fears of judgment, to move into this moment. Now there is Yasu Ink, a home for all of my written and artistic works to be published!
I was invited by Rashaunda Marie, The Co-Visionary of this Anthology, to write the foreword. This was by divine design once more. Her ask came at a time where I was inundated with having to make major decisions within a ridiculously small frame of time. Every time I turned around, I was being yanked in one direction or another for circumstances that I was responsible to manage. Yet, in the midst of that chaos, I logged into my messages and saw this invitation and without hesitation, I said "Yes"! As a side note, I remember the feeling of being like the one man band, who balances himself atop a tiny stool, peddling wheels, while clinking a cymbal, tooting a horn, jingling bells and trying to sing at the same time. What a spectacle! There was one break in that noise that was just enough time for me to say Yes! When I did, the noise escalated 1000 decibels and life began throwing me around like I was a rag doll--the heat was turned up, the window of time was smaller, and the decisions, more crucial. Still, that YES sustained me through all of that and I am grateful to have stayed the course so that my new journey could also begin.
I hadn't written a foreword before, so I had to do my homework. I found it to be a time to be patient and glean from the process. My assignment was to introduce readers to the book, and during the process, I was able to see myself in each woman. The contributing authors of this Anthology have poured their hearts out in the pages of this book. With prayer, fasting, training, and planning, we all were catching darts and daggers, But God. We bonded together weekly to hold each other up, pull each other out and push each other forward. When I saw how deep and plentiful these testimonies of Godly triumph were, it brought my assignment into focus, so that I could complete it. Once the ink was dry, so to speak, there was no turning back, not for any of us sisters. It is finished and it is good. I hope that, as you read this book, God will meet you and heal you.
-Yasu