After the Storm, the Tao is Clear

My Journey into Deliverance

There’s a moment in the I Ching—Hexagram 40, Deliverance—that feels like it was written just for me. Not in the abstract, not as some mystical metaphor, but as a bone-deep truth. A map I didn’t even realize I’d been following until now.

Deliverance comes after thunder. After the heart has been struck too many times. After you’ve stared into the black hole of exhaustion, betrayal, confusion, and despair—and somehow, your feet are still moving.

This hexagram is a promise and a permission slip. A signal from the Tao that the tension is easing. The storm has passed. The wheel is turning in our favor. But first, breathe. Rest. Let go of what no longer belongs. You’ve earned it.

And I have.

I’ve been through a season—no, a series of seasons—where it felt like everything was being stripped away. I’ve known the ache of relationships dissolving, the punch of financial uncertainty, the numbness of professional redirection, and the shadow of being unseen, unheard, and misunderstood.

I’ve sat with doubt like a quiet intruder in the corner of the room, whispering that I’d lost my way. And yet, something ancient inside me—something Chocolate Taoist in its essence—kept whispering louder, namely, that this is not the end.

I know now that those dark seasons weren’t here to destroy me. They were the necessary friction to polish my mission. To sand down the performative layers and false narratives I’d picked up from trying to be palatable to the world. They were the sacred contractions before the next birth. The Tao was clearing space.

And now—finally—it’s here. Deliverance.

But this isn’t the kind of deliverance that feels like a parade. It’s not about balloons or trumpets or some big external win. It’s the quiet click of something unlocking inside. The feeling of alignment when your breath slows and your back straightens and you suddenly know who you are, what you’re here to do, and where you’re going. Not because someone told you. But because you’ve survived the crucible and come out clear.

I call it my Chocolate Taoist moment.

I’ve known for a while that this vision of mine—the merging of ancient Taoist wisdom with a soulful, Black, lived experience—was more than just a concept. It’s a calling. It’s a rebellion against numbed-out conformity and surface-level spirituality.

It’s a return to rhythm. To breath. To improvisation. To the jazz of being alive, of being a flawed, feeling human guided by the Tao rather than the tyranny of trends or likes.

But surviving has a way of pulling your gaze downward, of making you forget your mission in the fog of getting through. Now that the fog is lifting, I feel the energy rising. Not fast and manic. But steady. Purposeful. Rooted.

Deliverance is telling me: You don’t need to sprint. But you do need to walk with intention.

So I’m reflecting and renewing. Revisiting my writings. Listening to my body. Doubling down on practices that nourish my qi.

Re-centering my energy around what truly matters: creating space for people to reconnect with themselves, to move from scattered to centered, from spectacle to stillness.

That’s what The Chocolate Taoist is about.

Not a brand for branding’s sake. But a life lived out loud and in tune. A reminder that you can be smooth and spiritual. Soulful and strategic. That you can laugh with the absurdity of life while still honoring its mystery. That you can dance with chaos and still walk the Way.

I’m not in a hurry. That’s a lesson the storm taught me. But I am moving forward. One breath, one word, one connection at a time. And this time, I’m not looking back.

So if you’re reading this and you’re still in your own personal storm, I see you. I’ve been there. And I promise you, the Tao doesn’t abandon. It recalibrates.

Sometimes the chaos is a course correction. Sometimes, letting go is liberation. And when the deliverance comes, it won’t always look like triumph. Sometimes it just looks like rest. Like the first peaceful exhale after too many clenched nights.

I’m standing in that exhale now. Grateful. Alive. Ready.

Let the next adventure begin.

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