A Love Letter To Balance by Tamika Dunkley

It’s February – the joyous month of Love. To honor this time of gratitude we created an ongoing series of Love Letters, where we invited local changemakers and visionaries to express their ode to love in original ways to honor any person, being, or place in the region. Here is one by Hudson Valley entrepreneur, Tamika Dunkley.

+ + +

Balance

It has been one of the greatest and most difficult years of my life.
A year of unraveling, of deepening into truths that both broke and remade me.
I learned that everything is temporary—
Moments, feelings, people, especially flowers,
petals scattered by the wind, leaving no trace of their bloom.
I learned that love is not an easy thing, but a radical act—
to give, and to give everything,
even when it bruises the heart and leaves it raw.
I learned that vulnerability is always the right choice,
for it is easier to hide behind walls,
to freeze our hearts in a world that makes softness seem fragile,
and yet softness is our truest strength.
I learned that all things exist in twos—
life and death, joy and pain, salt and sugar—
the eternal dance between opposites,
for it is in this balance that the universe hums its deepest song.
It has been a year of aching so deep,
but living so vividly—
of making friends from strangers,
and strangers from friends,
of finding connection in the most unlikely places.
We must learn to focus our energy,
to wrap it around the things that matter,
to soak our limbs in it until we shine with a gentleness
that transforms the world.

We must become better lovers of each other—
for if we cannot be kind to those around us,
how can we learn to be kind to the most desperate,
most broken parts of ourselves?
The world needs us soft,
it needs us open,
and it needs us fierce in our compassion.
For when we pour love into the world,
it will return to us,
lifting us higher than we ever imagined.

With love, Tamika

+ + +

Read More Love Letters Below.

A Love Letter to our Hudson Valley Rivers by Eric Archer Dahlberg

A Love Letter to Community by Amanda Cassaday

A Love Letter to Love by Artist Mimi Young

A Love Letter to an Oak Tree by Rebecca Collins Brooks

A Love Letter to My Backyard by Amanda Russo Rubman

A Love Letter to Ria by Todd Spire

+ + +

MEET TAMIKA DUNKLEY

Tamika Dunkley is a force of nature and love in the Hudson Valley. She is an entrepreneur, social justice advocate, healthcare professional, mother, grandmother, and business partner to her husband, Martin Dunkley, with ventures including Seasoned Gives and Seasoned Delicious Foods in Kingston. Tamika tirelessly commits herself to serving her community, even when fatigued, driven by unwavering passion. Her work reflects her deep commitment to healing, nourishing, and uplifting individuals, her family, and the larger community. Whether she is advocating for food justice, facilitating change as a founding member of Black Farmers United, or serving on various boards, including the Ulster County Workforce Development, Tamika helps bridge gaps in economic opportunity and instill hope. Through their Support Your Neighbor Program, Tamika and Martin have helped facilitate, find funding for, and distribute well over one hundred thousand pounds of food and meals to those in need in Ulster County. Their efforts demonstrate that healthy communities can be built through collective action, where justice, equity, and love are not mere ideals but lived realities. Meanwhile, beneath this powerhouse also lives a tender poet’s heart, striving to find a balance between her love for family, a love for herself, and creative expression.

For more insights into Tamika’s impressive community-building and entrepreneurial achievements, check out INSIDE+OUT’s exclusive interview, “Growing a Well-Seasoned Community.”

Connect with Tamika via website |  Instagram

+ + +

Click HERE for more of our “Love in the Valley” Series.