Dear Millennials & Gen Z's Never Let the Clutter-Rats Nibble on Your Cheese You Have the New SUPERPOWERS

By Nesha Jenkins-Tate MS PhD

What is your life’s Purpose? What is your Calling? What are your exceptional natural gifts and talents? And how can you set goals to help you maintain focus and balance?

Dr. Nesha Jenkins-Tate helps us find answers to each of those questions and more. This book, her third, is both spiritual and practical, offering an empowering framework with engaging tools for personal growth and for building a greater capacity for resilience. It can show you how, with self-awareness, a growth mindset, and a commitment to yourself, you can identify and serve your Higher Purpose— while also doing the work to reclaim your higher superpowers.

In this era of so much polarization and artificiality, authenticity is a rare commodity-- so the author dares you to reclaim your wholeness and to build authentic connections as you serve your Purpose.

If you simply want to read this book, you probably can do that within a few days. But this is the kind of book that many people will not only want to read, but also want to reference over the course of a lifetime.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Jun 7, 2024
• ISBN: 9798765252024

Nesha Jenkins-Tate MS PhD

Nesha Jenkins-Tate, MS, PhD, is an author, philosopher, and collective trauma and personal growth consultant. A mom, an “auntie”, and a Boomer, she is particularly committed to work that heals the impacts of collective trauma on Millennials and Generation Z, who are poised to create an awesome future that helps us to heal our fractured planet. Dr. Jenkins-Tate completed her undergraduate studies in Journalism at the Howard University Cathy Hughes School of Communications; a Master of Science from the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School; and a Doctor of Philosophy from the Howard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, with major concentration in Cultural Studies and minor concentration in Social Psychology.

Book preview

Copyright © 2024 Marnishia L. Jenkins-Tate

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Balboa Press

A Division of Hay House

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.balboapress.com

844-682-1282

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 979-8-7652-5201-7 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-7652-5202-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2024908918

Balboa Press rev. date: 06/05/2024

Hello,

Wonderful One!

Welcome. This book offers a map, a

framework, a metaphoric macro-view of

You.

Please use it as a high-level guide

for looking deeply inside so that you

can decide each day whether there are

aspects of your growth that you want to pursue

to do a deeper dive. Emerge, then, more joyfully alive,

ready to make contributions that honor your soul and your tribe.

Here’s to the community and the unity that we all need, to heal our

Planet.

Dedication

This book is a labor of love dedicated to all Generation Y (Millennials) and Generation Z (Zoomers)— and to all the people who love them.

We keep looking and waiting for science or technology to discover some of the things we would already know if we felt more connected to each other. And yes, we need scientific research. But sometimes resonance is our most authentic research. So, we also need the conscience of spirituality, the enlightening lessons of our own reality, and the tales of an ancestry whispering cautionary words of wisdom into our souls.

Millennials and Gen Z’s, I believe that your collective souls have been divinely designed to be a pivotal force in the world for this moment in time. You see, your new superpowers can transform any me into a we that is a proactive, powerful, healing current that can flow like a river rapidly returning to the sea. And you can help to uplift a multitude of human lives, drowning now in a sea of trauma, greed, artificiality, and lies.

Your Superpowers can give you X-ray vision, sharpened by your intuition, to help fulfill the Purpose of your mission. They allow you to see through walls and smokescreens, beyond barriers and personal boundaries to recognize parts of yourself in others-- across social constructs, silos, cultures, distances, and time-- as part of a new healing Collective Mind.

And your new Superpowers can allow you to move with grace in this earthly space, even in the face of adversity, because you probably know instinctively that God flows through you, through Nature, through Spirits unseen, and through all who love Life, knowing exactly what it means to want to feel safe, loved, valued, heard, and seen-- as part of the beautiful Oneness of a living God.

Hey. Did you know that you have the heart and the soul of a super-hero?

Yes? Okay. Let’s get you some healing and rest—and then, let’s go!

With Love,

Dr. Neeesh

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction : 16 Matters in the Collective Trauma of Two Generations

PART ONE:   KNOW YOURSELF

1     The Cheese represents your Four Quads

2     What are your Two Leading Quads? (Exercise-1)

3     Overview: Internal Ascension & the Quad Framework

4     The Body: Vibrations, Elevation, Superpowers & Higher Purpose

5     The Mind: Vibrations, Elevation, Superpowers & Higher Purpose

6     The Heart: Vibrations, Elevation, Superpowers & Higher Purpose

7     The Soul: Vibrations, Elevation, Superpowers & Higher Purpose

8     Some Archetypes for each Quad

PART TWO:   GROW YOURSELF & RECLAIM YOUR WHOLENESS

9     Elevators: Growth, Resilience, Connection & Wholeness

Create your Monthly Elevation Plan (Exercise-2)

10   Plateaus & Silos that Can Stunt our Personal Growth

11   Oh No! Here Come those Pesky Little Clutter-Rats! (What are your Self-Sabotaging Habits?)

Identify your Clutter-Rats (Exercise-3a)

Create a Plan to Defuse your Clutter-Rats (Exercise-3b)

12   25 Ways to Make, Mend, and Maintain Healthy Connections

13   Seven Options for Flexibly Facing Challenges & Change

14   Your Goal Star: Set 6-Month Goals in 7 Key Areas (Exercise-4)

PART THREE:   GROW YOUR LEGACY OF GREATNESS

15   Do your God-Thing: We Get Four Opportunities for Greatness

What were your Natural Exceptional Gifts as a Child? (Exercise-5)

16   The Seven Circles of a Purpose-Guided Life

Make Room for Healing Circles (Exercise-6)

17   The Ascension-Impulse of the Human Spirit

18   Affirmations & Powerful Words for Manifestation (Exercise-7)

19   Establish a Help Support System (Exercise-8)

20   Recapping some Key Takeaways

A. Recap: Take a Selfie (periodic self-awareness snapshots)

B. Recap: Your 10 Key Elevators to Raise Vibrations

C. Recap: Your Powers & Your Purpose

21   Create Your Pledge & Your Mission Statement (Exercises 9 & 10)

22   Create your Blueprint for an Intentional Day (Exercise-11)

23   Create your Inspirational Playlist (Exercise-12)

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Introduction

First and foremost, I want you to pause, take a deep breath, hold it, and then give yourself a warm big hug, as you exhale. Then I want you to say the words in the box below—for as many times as you need to hear them.

Thank you for allowing this book to become a part of your personal growth reference library. I want to start out by sharing with you what motivated me to write it at this time-- a book which I hope can be a healing tool for collective trauma; a book I feel is especially relevant to your generations because, together, you have endured and survived an unusual amount of collective trauma in your childhood and adult formative years. I hope this book will empower you to use your collective voice, and all that you have learned as collective trauma survivors, to help us heal the planet going forward-- for you, for us, and for future generations.

What is Collective Trauma?

(Note: If you find this topic generally disturbing or triggering, please skip reading this section and come back to it later when you feel you can.)

First, let’s define Trauma. Trauma is an impact, a wound, in a human being when a sudden or deeply stressful event has occurred, causing shock, life-altering disturbances, and a disconnection from one’s self or one’s normal routines and relationships. It can present itself as anxiety, distress, depression, hardened distrust, flashbacks, nightmares, feeling easily triggered, sleeplessness, numbing, panic attacks, unshakeable fears, and some symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Collective Trauma, then, is what happens when an event or series of events is so impactful and broad in scope that it is felt deeply across an entire swath of a society, a country, a culture, a generation, a gender-group, or a community.

Having collectively experienced a traumatic event, having empathically witnessed one happening to others, or having carried the wounds of one’s traumatized ancestry (as anger, fear, sadness, or blame; as guilt, privilege, entitlement, or shame)—collective trauma shapes our collective worldview. It shapes our ways of coping, our outlook on the future, and our desire for prevention, protection, or preparation for possible similar future events.

These are events and situations that can cause Collective Trauma:

• Apartheid

• Assassinations

• Bombing or Burning (arson) a Country or Community

• Climate & Natural Disaster Deaths and Displacements (i.e. due to Earthquakes, Floods, Hurricanes, Tsunamis, Wildfires, etc.)

• Colonialism

• Crimes against Humanity

• Economic Crises (e.g. Depression or Recession)

• Enslavement

• Epidemic

• Ethnic Cleansing

• Female Genital Mutilations

• Gender Apartheid

• Genocide

• Hate Crimes

• Hierarchical Social Oppression (e.g. Caste Systems)

• Holocaust

• Indigenous Peoples unsettled by Hostile Settlers

• Mass Killings

• Miseducation to diminish the Ancestral History of a People

• Pandemic

• Poverty with Food & Water Insecurity (e.g. Famines)

• Race-based Violence

• Terrorist Attacks (domestic and foreign)

• War Zones

Some of these events are acts of Mother Nature; she, too, is not always protected and respected by humankind. But many of these events are things that my generation and generations prior have allowed to fester.

Some things were inherited, ignored, neglected, or poorly addressed for years, decades, or even centuries-- to the point now of passing them along to younger and future generations.

But do understand this. Collective trauma impacts not only victims, but also victimizers, and the friends and descendants of both. Friends experience it vicariously. Descendants can experience it as ancestral (transgenerational) trauma, thereby carrying some of the internalized wounds and worldviews of their predecessors, especially if no efforts have been made toward healing the relationship dynamics involved in the original trauma.

Collective trauma can cause large swaths of human beings-- an entire society, community, culture, or generation to see the world through a common lens, perhaps as unsafe, unpredictable, unfair, or uncaring. However, there is some good that can come from collective trauma.

First, it can humble us to open up our hearts in raw ways that acknowledge our individual vulnerability and our interdependency on connections and community in order to recover and survive.

Secondly, it is an opportunity to couple Science and Spirituality toward understanding and addressing the full gamut of human frailties-- physically, psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually. Science without spirituality can lack a conscience. Spirituality without science can lack consciousness.

Thirdly and maybe most importantly, as old personal wounds also re-open, collective trauma can open up our souls, making us more attuned to our need for mental wellness support, soul work, and sustainable spiritual practices. It can remind us that we are not alone; that God is present; that good people still exist; and that we still have gifts to share with the world.

I believe in a supreme being that is the life-force of all that has ever lived. In this book, I call that supreme being mostly by the names, God and the Creator. You might not believe in a supreme being. And that’s okay. Or, you might call that being by another name: Abba, All, Allah, Almighty, Brahman, Dios, Divine Goddess, the Divine, Elohim, El Roi, El Shaddai, Grace, Great Mother, Great Spirit, Hu, Infinite Intelligence, The Great I Am, Jah, Jehovah, Jesus Christ, Krishna, the Light, Lord, Love, Neter, the One, the Universe, Yahweh-- or some other sacred and all-powerful name that has humbled and inspired human beings across time. And that’s all good.

You see, I believe that the Creator loves us all—the believers and the non-believers— seeing beyond our hypocrisy, our skepticism, and even our overzealousness. I believe God embraces all that, understanding the limitations of our human understanding since, by design, we are empowered human beings (but not supreme beings) here to serve God’s Purpose, sometimes on our own timeline, but always in God’s Time.

This book can be helpful in many ways but here’s what this book cannot do. Nothing in this book can be, nor is intended to be, a substitute for the therapy needed to support and heal personal trauma. Nothing here is a substitute for the coaching one might need to help navigate a pathway to personal goals. Nothing here is a substitute for the faith or religion that resonates within your soul. Moreover, while this book is your tool for personal growth; it is not a tool to assess and judge somebody else. Instead, give the person a copy of the book and allow them the dignity of embarking on their own ascension journey. Use the book as a springboard for sharing insights with each other toward growing your relationship.

And here’s what this book can do. It can provide us with some ways to know and grow ourselves through the lens of a self-awareness framework, helping us to navigate life toward serving a Higher Purpose.

This book can help us to be mindful about being an evolving human being. It can remind us that we each have the power to send any variation of vibrations out into the world. And those vibrations ultimately make us capable of helping, healing, or harming-- ourselves, our relationships, our circles, and the biosphere that is shared by all living things.

So, what inspired (actually compelled) me to write this book?

I am blessed to have three awesome sons— Kahlil, Zuri, and Malik. My youngest millennial son, Kahlil, encouraged me to write this book during one of our Super-Soul Saturday heart-to-heart chats that helped us bridge our 500-mile gap during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

It started out with him saying, Mom, do you realize just how much trauma Millennials have experienced over the past 20 years? We actually might be the most traumatized generation ever, or at least in a very long time. For us and Generation Z, it’s just been one big thing after another.

We talked about it, and Kahlil surprised me by saying: So, Mom, I think it’s time for you to finish writing that book you started writing over 20 years ago. Remember the one you were writing as a spin-off from your dissertation? I think your dissertation was over 200 pages; right? Well, we don’t need all of that. Most of us wouldn’t even read all of that. So, just keep it simple, practical, and useful. And throw in a few visuals. We tend to be visual learners. And, Mom, don’t sound too fussy or judgy. People have enough stress in their lives, so we don’t respond well to that tone. …But you need to write that book now, Mom, because we need it right now.

My youngest son has always been highly perceptive and very empathic. So, I was immediately reminded of a time, in 1994, when a mother drowned her two baby sons by pushing her car into a lake and then later reporting to police in my home state of South Carolina that a man had hijacked her car with her babies in it.

Shortly after that happened, I was in the grocery store check-out line one day with my then 3-year-old son, Kahlil. He was sitting in the child’s seat of the shopping cart when he pointed at a tabloid newspaper.

Look Mommy! That’s Michael and Alex, he said.

I turned and saw a picture on the tabloid cover of the two little boys who had been drowned by their mother-- 3-year-old Michael, who was the same age as my son, and his 14-month-old brother, Alex.

Then, my 3-year-old son started crying as he said, I sad, Mommy. I sad!

It alarmed me that, at 3-years-old, my child was not only aware of the event but he had taken note of both of the children’s first names as if they were his personal friends, empathetically processing some of the vicarious trauma and sadness surrounding their deaths.

I took him out of the cart and held him close. All I could say was, I’m sad, too, baby. Mommy is sad, too. But I know that now they are with God in Heaven and God will love and take good care of both Michael and Alex.

I still don’t know how my child became aware of this event because his dad and I didn’t keep the television on a lot. In our house, we played a lot of music and we read a lot. When the TV was on, we consciously avoided the distressing news cycle. So, it was mostly sports, comedy, family movies, children’s videos, or games and lively conversations in our home.

Before Kahlil, I lost two babies along the way. Doctors said I would not be able to carry a child to full term. I’d always wanted children, so that was hard for me to hear. However, I was blessed to marry a man with children to whom I became a bonus-mom of four (Lisa, Malik, Tahara, and Zuri). So, Kahlil was our miracle baby. I felt the light of his strong presence on the night that he was conceived. And I labored for over 32 hours to bring him into the world, eventually via C-section. He