People do not appreciate their hometown.

This winter break (and my last winter break, sigh) I was visiting my dad in Tucson, Arizona.

I had lived in Arizona before and had visited multiple times but the beauty of this state has had a lasting impact on me. But, my dad was blind to the beauty that is Arizona. 

In the early morning I would comment on the beauty of the sunrise peeking from behind the mountains making the sky look as if it was a watercolor painting with beautiful oranges and reds. During the day the I would be enamored with the cloudless skies all a consistent shade of blue, the truest sky blue one could probably ever experience. And during the night being able to look up in to the sky without light pollution and actually able to see the stars glimmering back at me, and coming to the realization that the night sky isn't actually a black mass but, has a little bit of a dark blue and purple tint. 

When I would say to my dad how beautiful these things were, it allowed him to look at things from a visitors perspective of one who isn't surrounded by these things daily.

It made me think about all the places I have been for an extended period where I eventually took it for granted and eventually became numb to its beauty and original state of wonder I possessed when I had first arrived. 

I am currently feeling that way about Ohio and would tell anyone who will listen how much I dislike it here and how ready I am to leave and move as far awaybas possible (its mostly my deep-seated aversion to cold and senioritis that spawns these feelings). 

But, I am trying to change that.

Steps To Remembering the Beauty of Your Hometown:

It's time for a new beginning, a fresh start if you will. 

Time for me to grow up. 

I started Tales of a Lame freshman year of high school. I first started a blog called Who You Are but decided that was a terrible blog name so I started listening to songs for inspiration. I came across a Lupe Fiasco song called The Coolest. In the song he says "these are the tales of the cool" and I resonated with it but, not quite. I didn't feel cool, I felt like an outcast, I felt like I was a lame.

Titling my blog Tales of a Lame was me embracing how I felt.

Plus... I mean Tales of a Lame sounds pretty cool. 

But, as I've been growing, and meeting new people and finding my crowd. I now don't really resonate with being a lame anymore. Calling myself a lame was basically outwardly showing my insecurities, feeling less than, feeling weird, feeling like I didn't belong. 

I'm over it. 

Wearing my insecurities as if they were a badge of honor is weird. 

And it's time to leave Tales of a Lame behind. 

So, now this blog is called Imani J. owning finally who I am, which in and of itself was a journey. 

I didn't like my name, didn't think my name was cool or interesting enough.

 "Imani Johnson? Who would be interested in anything that had such a basic name on it?"

I would say to my mom, family, friends, anybody basically who would listen.

Another example of me, again, putting my identity down. 

But, it's time for y'all to know who I am. And time for me to own who I am.

In other words

Welcome to Imani J. 

Where I hope to inspire people through my travels, fashion, and my personal journey through self development. 

I have big plans for this decade.

But, before we move towards the future lets look back to the past.

I went through the Tales of a Lame archives and rounded up some pictures from my throughout the years. I was tearing up compiling these together, the growth in style, and just everything was overwhelming. 

Tales of a Lame archive isn't going anywhere so if, you guys also want to take a trip down memory lane they will always be there!