Words can walk through a million thousand miles, words can travel into the depth of space, all that it would take is someone to listen, someone to read, someone to understand.
Hey guys😊, so have been taking this course, and for my first class, I was asked a question, why do you write? I saw other answers from other bloggers
I write only because there is a voice within me that will not be still
_ Sylvia Plath
I have many reasons for writing, but this is my summary. When I was a child, I wrote because I had to, when I was in the exam Hall I wrote because, if I didn’t I would fail, when I satrted this blog, I wrote because I just wanted to, but now when you come to me and ask me why do I write here is my answer. I write because there is a big world around me, there are many people around me all talking, laughing , crying and chattering, but when I do write I am able to enter another world, where there are endless possibilities, where everything is possible, a world where there is no suffering.
We all grew up with a particular story. A certain mentality that has come to shape us into what we are today, our behaviour, our personalities and everything we claim to be.
Stories are powerful. Sometimes they are too simple and a particular story becomes the only way something is understood.
When Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Adichie coined the term “a single story” during a brief interview on TED talk. First, I was dumbstruck as to what it meant. For days I tried to figure out what it really meant so I got digging.
After my research, I took time to ponder over my childhood and how I may have perceived a certain culture. Then I realized, did I have a single story about a country or it’s people? I came to a conclusion, I actually did, based on everything I was taught in school, or what I saw on TV or what I learnt from relatives and playdates. Although, at my age there were mostly foreign cartoon shows so I guessed I had a single story in my head. You could imagine how I felt when Nigerians started creating moonlight stories in cartoon presentations, they never match up to the foreign ones so instead I cried and soaked mum’s dress till the channel was changed to what I preferred 😊😊.
One day, I came across a novel written by a London merchant called John Locke, who sailed west Africa in 1561 and kept a fascinating account of his voyage. In his book, he referred to black Africans as beasts who had no houses , he also wrote, they are also people without heads, having their mouths and eyes in their breasts… ( I paused, was this young man blind to the fact that we looked same just a difference in our skin pigments.) I was amused by it but with time, I became annoyed by it.
Headless men…. seriously
Just having to deal with people’s surprise when they find out we have a beautiful roof over our head and cool gadgets just the same standard with there’s when all they imagined was Africa dying of poverty, AIDS and malaria, sick and mutilated seeking a kind white foreigner to help us. And when that doesn’t seem to be the case, they speculate we survived through charity or donations. 🤪👿😠
Our perceptions..
I realized, you know what, this is how powerful storytelling can be. This single story of Africa ultimately comes from western literature, I think 🤷.
So last year’s Christmas, when I came across the marvel cinematic Black Panther, I felt my belief was stronger than ever. Did you see how surprised the EU was when they found out Wakanda was stronger and more powerful all round, technology, arms, just name it.
Then I concluded, single stories do create stereotypes. Not that stereotypes are not true , but they are incomplete, making one account the only story.
Like the novelist, Chimamanda said, she feels it’s impossible to engage with a place or person without engaging in all the stories of that place and that person.
Here in Nigeria, our stories start with Igbo people like money and would do anything for wealth 🤑🤑… Am like who doesn’t like money. Then Yoruba, they say like juju ( or voodoo) alot don’t cross there paths. Hausa and Fulani are terrorists.
Pondering on all this, then am clarified to why the foreigners don’t seem to understand us… Why should they, when we don’t even understand ourselves.
As a teenager, I have lived among people of many ethnic groups and culture. I make friends with people regardless of their culture or religion and my family is like aunty socialism. Yeah I do love them for them though am still mindful of my limitations. Forming this relationships, I figured you shouldn’t generalize based on one person’s actions. Everyone loves money and not everyone who makes it is a ritualist. Having those tribal marks doesn’t mean I worship gods or goddess.. am no herbalist. It’s not my fault my ancestors did such. The fact that I rear cattles or wear a long hijab doesn’t make me a terriorist… I can be kind, friendly and cool just like you.
I don’t feel bothered if I ever get married off to someone from another tribe. As long as there’s love, am at peace with it.
Right now. Everyone has a single story and depending on who you talk to is what story you will get. All politicians are corrupt; Beware of strangers, they are kidnappers/ ritualists; men do the raping and not women and so on. We forget there are multiple stories instead we focus on just one yet leaving it incomplete.
Multiple stories…
If we all stop for a minute and look around, we will see there are many single stories. We are all robbing ourselves of dignity. We are not allowing ourselves to heal and recognize the stories that have brought us together. Instead, there is a focus on the differences of culture. It’s true there’s a bad in every story, but the bad is not always the entire story.
Watching countries change and evolve has showed me we all are the same inside. We all want to be happy, healthy and prosper. That’s the single story!!!
What single story have you heard? Tell us your experience and how it made you feel. I’d love to hear from you.
It’s very hard to decide, it’s stressful to choose, but every single time in life we have to make a choice, when we wake up in the morning, we have to decide what we want to do first, every single minute , we make a decision.
In Home economics class am sure we were all taught ‘ Decision making’. At some point am pretty sure you remember but if you have forgotten, here is a quick reminder.
First step. know the decision to be made.Actualize your situation.
Second step. place all the available options and alternatives down
Third step. Prioritize your alternatives. You have got to place them in order of importance or simply weigh them according to the situation.
Fourth step. Choose the best decision.
Fifth step. Act on your decision and finally, evaluate your decision. Did you make the right one?
So, these are basically all the steps we were taught in school. But if I may ask, if you had to choose between two lives,in a case where you have got to choose one at the stake of the other. Do this steps still apply?
The question here is, are we supposed to prioritize one life to another? Assuming there is no hatred, malice, love or any form of attachment involved, it’s simply a matter of two people’s lives. What would your answer be? At that time some of us would say, ” I am stuck between a rock and a hardplace”. What do you do when this time comes?
I would be the biggest liar if I told you I knew the answer, but one thing I am sure of, is that a day will come, you will be unaware, maybe even unprepared, and then this question pops up. A decision will be brought to you, awaiting your answer(s),choice(s), and whatever your answer may be, will decide yours or someone’s fate, will change things around you and even the lives of your loved ones. What will it be? What will you choose?
When I was about moving into my first term in senior secondary school, like everybody else I had to choose between being a science or an art student🤔. To be sincere, it was a matter of my future, my career, and maybe my entire life😔. I was conflicted, not that it was my first time thinking about this but i thought I still had time. While I was in junior school, I would think about it, at first I wanted to be a lawyer, and then later I changed my mind, I wasn’t really sure of what I wanted to become in future, I was indecisive 🤨. I kept moving forward till I got to my first year in senior secondary school, and then it was finally time to make my decision.
Truthfully, I was both happy and sad…..mixed feelings you would say. I cried silently sometimes😌 (maybe you’ll understand). One day, my mum said to me ” whatever you choose is fine” and it’s true. It’s my life if I choose to be an art student no one would kill me for it, whatever I chose was just fine. I don’t think what I chose was important , but I will tell you this, it is very hard to make a decision, it takes alot of courage to make a decision, and I know that. So for those of you who have to decide, I tell you this, not to comfort you, or because I know what to choose, but I tell you this because it’s true whatever you choose is just fine. 💯😌
Thank you very much for the love you have shown so far, everyone at Pixie’s Blog is saying “thank you”.
It’s just fine…
I really hope this post has helped you. I’d like to hear your opinion and do share any useful tips, you never know it may just change someone’s life. Do comment all your answers below.
Don’t forget to share this with someone you love !!
When trying something, you might get discouraged, you might fail, you may face condemnation, but if what you are doing is right, fight to get it done.
When a child is born, it is said that the child has it’s own purpose, it doesn’t matter how small that purpose may be. Someday, we will probably question our own existence, others may also ask what use are you, but on another day, some of us will smile and point out the purpose of our existence. Some people are able to find out their purpose in life, but they miss their opportunity, due to the place and time opportunity came knocking. An example of that time is childhood, some people are supposed to find out their purpose in life from childhood but they lost it for reasons like, am too small , no one will listen to me, I can’t do it, I am just a little girl, I am too insignificant. Don’t say that, when your time comes, because it is not true.
Sometimes, the period that you are supposed to become great might be right from childhood but those reasons, mentioned above stop us. A child definitely needs the support of an adult but that doesn’t make a child weak, an old man might be wise but he isn’t the center of knowledge, he still lacks some wisdom, he isn’t all knowing, and that is why a child, or a teenager may know what his or her parents are not aware of.
In this world there are alot of successful people, musicians, comedians, dancers , medical practitioners, lawyers etc. This people are not all adults, among them are teenagers and children. At the age of five Emmanuella became a famous comedian, she is now a known comedian. Amarachi Uyuanne, showcased her dancing skill at a competition in 2012, she became the youngest millionaire in Nigeria, she is now a renowned dancer, this is what you call a small difference with a big change. It doesn’t matter how old you are, do what you do best and make your own small difference.
Most atimes a child has the power to change things around him/herself but everyone including the child believes that he is too small to make a difference, when cooking, alot of ingredients are added, but a little pinch of salt, if not added ruins the whole meal, that pinch of salt makes a difference, as small and little as it may seem. So is the same for the teenagers of today, if you believe in yourself and in your ability , you can make a difference, you don’t have to wait until you are independent and old, the littlest thing you can do , may change the world around you. If you can write go ahead, create your own writing blog @wordpress.com, participate in competitions, you never know you might just be the winner, if you can draw, go ahead and draw away, display your work, may become a famous artist. No matter what it is you love doing and can do best , do it, you never know who might be watching, go ahead and make your small difference .
Being young and dependent, may bring you down, and sometimes you may want to give up, Don’t give in, keep trying. Even when you fall, the world may not help you up, maybe when you cried the world left you to yourself. But one day, they will care, one day it will change. One day the world will ask for your name, both the land and the seas will hear your struggles, and when that day comes, keep on shinning, don’t give up, keep on shinning. It doesn’t matter what struggles you may have passed through, when that day comes, you will smile, your light will not flicker, like the candle your light will not melt, like a torch, your light will not go off, when that day comes, you will realize that truly you are not too small.
Over the years, sacrifice has been taught from generation to generations. There are many examples of selfless sacrifice. A nation suffers economic bankruptcy, but the people musn’t know or it may cause panic, a single mother has no idea where she is going to get the next meal, but the children musn’t know or they will be worried. Somebody will sacrifice their child to save themselves , someone else will sacrifice their selves to save a stranger Sometimes we go through a sort of hell on Earth, but we can’t share it with anyone, we sacrifice our selves so that others can be happy, that is the logic of tears that must smile.
Have you ever had to cry , but can’t, due to the fear of who might see you, or how it could affect someone, have you ever wanted to shout in agony, but had to suppress it due to that person’s presence, that is tears that must smile
When you turn left and all you see is danger, you turn right and mountains await you to devour you, when fear surrounds you, but you must accept it with a bright smile , that is tears that must smile. Tears that must smile is totally different from tears of joy, a tear drops and you wipe it away and in place of it you place a smile, that is tears that must smile. For the ladies you cry and apply makeup to cover it up, the guys say I didn’t sleep all night I was busy, or you splash water on your face trying to cover your sadness up and then replace it with a smile.
Amy is a full time housewife, she starts the day by making breakfast, she dresses up the kids for school and helps her husband get ready. Frank his Amy’s husband he comes back every day from work drunk and then he beats up his wife, giving her bruises allover. Amy wants to cry but then her five year old daughter comes into the room saying ” mummy who was shouting”, Amy immediately washes her face and dries it with a towel, she then rushes out to her daughter and hugs her saying ” it’s alright, it was the television , I have reduced the volume, now go to sleep”.
For people like Amy, this is a daily routine, and just like that she either applies some facial mask or makeup to cover it up. That is a tear that must smile, it isn’t necessarily someone who wants to cry it could be someone in agony or pain who can’t express it to people around them.
Five things to do to when you fall into a situation of tears that must smile.
1. Find someone to talk to. Don’t hold it in. A counselor or maybe a friend.
2. Find a place to cry it out, you might not be able to cry out in front of that person or in that place but you can surely find a place to cry out. If you keep on holding it you won’t be able to let go.
3. Try not to be alone, after incidents or an event that makes you want to cry, find people that make you happy be around them, it will make you feel better.
4. Meditate with yourself, try to find yourself if you are lost, if you have found yourself , give yourself hope . No one can heal your soul better than you.
5. Try to find a solution to your problem, or to what makes you want to cry. If you are not able to then ask for help.
It’s too silent to be heard , it’s too strong to be wavered, it has neither a face to show nor a mouth to tell, every drop has a story to tell. What does the future want from the present , only the past can tell. In all life struggles one must endeavor not to forget their own happiness , but it must not come at the price of other people’s happiness. We can’t all win, but we can all have a chance to win.
If this has been helpful then, comment and like below to get more @pixie’s blog.
Growing up, all I ever knew was that your skin color was what defined who you were and who you will ever be. If you were born to be a white, then you wouldn’t have such a tough time at live regretting your very own existence. Maybe you would go through emotional trauma, poverty, death, but you probably wouldn’t be condemned for the color of you skin. But then, if you were born black skinned or even came from a black country, then you were doomed from the very first time you came to the world, to be bullied, insulted, and even condemned for being who you are.
Rebecca is a twenty- six year old Nigerian, she is the daughter of Mr Adedeji Adekunle and Mrs Adekunle Seyifunmi. Their family was a well respected one, due to their strong moral upbringing, none of the Adekunle’s were disrespectful or showed any sign of immortality, Rebecca was the second child of her parents ,among her siblings she was exceptional in both beauty and morals, she was indeed a virtuous young woman , Rebecca is about five feet , two inches tall, she studied business management in the University of Nsuka, Rebecca always wanted to be a business indulged woman, she was also a socialite , as a result of this, she had alot of friends, she was successful and accomplished at such a young age,Rebecca always wished to work abroad, after searching for a long time she got a job abroad in the famous Gold investment banking limited located in the city of New York. After arriving there she booked a room at an hotel, on getting there alot of people were staring at her and mumurring all sorts, she gathered herself together thinking that they had probably not seen a black before, she then went inside the building. On getting inside she was greeted warmly by the receptionist, who took down her details and then handed her the key to her room, Rebecca lmmediately retired to her room and then slept off at exactly 8:30.
At around 7:00 in the morning the sound of the ambulance alongside the police siren was heard around the hotel, after sometime a lifeless body was brought out from the hotel into the ambulance. The police then questioned the hotel staffs on matters related to the death of Miss Adekunle Rebecca. You must be surprised by how a young vibrant woman, who just arrived in a new city was mercilessly raped and murdered who could have done that, what was their reason, could it be someone from home, could it be an hotel staff who had been eyeing her ever since she entered the hotel. The question still remains who did it? and why? All these are questions that have answers, let’s see those answers .
At 9:00 PM on the night Rebecca arrived at the hotel. Rebecca was fast asleep ,when she heard a knock on the door. Rebecca being a light sleeper immediately heard the knock, she got up rubbing her eyes still feeling sleepy. Then she asked, ” who is it ?” Walking over to the door. A masculine voice replied saying, ” ma’am , it’s customer service. I am here to collect the towels in your room for dry cleaning ?” . Rebecca then went over to the closet picking up the towels from the wardrobe while murmuring to herself. “At this time of the night, well I paid for this”. She then opened the door to hand over the towels to the laundry boy. But to her surprise, she saw two middle-aged men and a young boy who seems to be in his twenties standing in front of her. Rebecca tried to remain calm but it was obvious something fishy was going on. So summoning a little courage, she asked, “What are you all doing here? I am sure one person is enough to collect the towels.” Giving her notorious glares she was sure they weren’t her for the towels. In bid to slam the door shut, one of them immmediately held the door so that she wouldn’t. He then walked in with his other friends. Rebecca asked with fear in her voice ,” who are you? …and who do you think you are to walk into my room… ??”. One of them grabbed her by the arm while the other younger boy taped her mouth before she could scream for help. Struggling to escape, Rebecca was beaten severely to prevent her from screaming louder. No one heard her, the ordeal that befalled her that night was undescribable. She was gang raped, and her lifeless body was left alone to wonder what she had done to deserve such a painful death The suspects were later identified from a camera in the hotel’s lounge. They were eventually proven guilty after a post mothom test was carried out and the fingerprints matched perfectly. Still in custody, one of the men confessed bluntly, “we are decent men, we sure didn’t want a girl like her, but seeing that she was one of those stupid black slaves. We sure couldn’t stop ourselves, she consented to it as well and my son here will be getting married soon, it wouldn’t hurt for him to learn the way using that slave. We didn’t do anything wrong, we payed her diligently and the brat agreed, she was just a cheap prostitute “.The three of them were later realeased , after they were proven not guilty by the court, the court let them go on the basis that she had no lawyer to fight for her and she was a sex worker.
Her body was later deported back to Nigeria, with the message that she came to work as a prostitute and died. This is the sad story of Miss Adekunle Rebecca
This is just one of the many ways black skinned people have been discrimimated and treated unjustly. Sometimes a black person travels out of their country to work in the white man’s country, they are treated like animals. They are given no respect or concern of any sort, it is as if they lost their fundamental human rights as soon as they arrive there. If a white man dies a great man has died, but when a black man dies a slave has died. I don’t know, if whoever is reading this is a black or a white, because I don’t care about color. But I know that if you are reading this you are a person, blood runs through you, not black and not white. I know that you have a heart inside of you, that is why I hope you are proud of who you are and what you are. I am proud of who I am , and I am proud because I have a black skin, I am not a slave, I have my freedom, I am as important as every other person, inspite of skin color, race, tribe, or country. I am proud to be who I am, I hope you are. If you are then, comment below – #Proud to be who I am #proud to be Black. #George Floyd
PLEASE NOTE : The above story is a work of fiction. Names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the writer’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual person living or dead, events or localities, is entirely coincidental. It is simply used as a model to show many of the several incidents of injustice and discrimination to black persons.It is not to defame or accuse anyone.
According to the Oxford learners dictionary, life is the ability to breathe, grow, reproduce, etc. that people, animals, and plants have before they die and that objects do not have.
I think life is what we say it is. Life has different meanings to different people. The meaning of life changes according to individual , generation and situation. Life is whatever we make it, it might not be the way we want it, but it is the way, we see it.
Whatever we say about something involves the way we see, or feel about it.
Let’s be pratical, and see if these theory is right or wrong.
In these picture I see a woman, you may say, you see a tree. We are both right because we may be seeing it from different point of views, and we can both justify our point.
For some life is a bed of roses, for some life is meaningless, for some it is vanity. I sat down thinking and then I asked a a ten year old what he thought life was, he then said ” Life is a game with two players God and the devil”. It sounded childish but I think we already established the fact that life has different meaning to different people. I went further to ask a young lady and she said ” Life is a book of many chapters, ( positive and negative) “. For many life is all about love and for few life is all about religion. It depends on how you look at it.
For some tomorrow is another day, but for few of us there is no tomorrow, being alive is not about being able to walk, eat, drink, talk and work, being alive is being able to find the meaning of life to you. For a food hawker life begins with work and ends with work, for a business man it is mostly about business before pleasure. Life has different meanings, Life is death and vice versa.
Someone asked why should we fight for life, when we know it’s going to end someday? My answer to that question is ,life is precious because we know we are going to die, death isn’t what we fear most, we are afraid of being alive, we are afraid of living the only life we have.
Many want to know the secret to living forever, well I think I have it . If you want to live forever do this;
1.Find somebody who doesn’t have life, or someone who is losing life.
2. Give that person life.
You must be thinking, this is not right, then let me show you how right it is. Your life doesn’t belong to you it belongs to that person who gave you life , when you give someone life it doesn’t necessarily mean dying, or giving birth, it could also mean saving someone whom has lost the will to live. Mary found Dorcas whom was about to commit suicide she saved her and talked to her, she also helped her to get through that bad Time she was going through, in this way Mary has given life, and with that action she can live for as long as possible, because she gave life, and then hopefully Dorcas who is now alive will give another person life, and so life continues.
Someone wise once said
All life is connected, life can not be hoarded, it can only be given. Deny death and deny life.
What is life for you?? is it just another game, is it a book 📚, is it meaningless, what is life for you??????
Let’s discuss in the comment section, friends what is life for you. ⚡🙂
What do I mean, when I say A whole new world , not necessarily a new place, not a new planet 🌔🌈, maybe different people. Change is a new world, development is change, better ways of doing things is a new world.
In my new world 🌏 : The absence of suffering is known. The joy in the wind is felt. When rain falls, there’s a melody in my soul not caring about the flood that may come afterwards but the sound of every raindrop gives happiness like that felt when a baby smiles, In my new world the presence of love that is big enough to melt all sorrows is felt. IN MY NEW WORLD : there is no killing, in my new world there is no hatred, in my new world love is our traditional language. In my new world peace is the air we breath.
For many the year 2020 is a whole new world, started these year with different thoughts, never thought I would be inside my house for weeks, never expected that the world be in danger of being wiped out. For me it’s a new world, it’s still on planet earth, it’s still me, the change is quite evident. For some everyday is a new world, for some every breath they take is a new world. Last year Lilian’s dad died and for her it was the biggest change in her life for her the year 2020 was a start over a new world, for her she had left that world where her dad would buy her chocolates on his way back from work, she had left that world where she could point to her father in the middle of the crowd, telling her friends ” that is my dad”, for Lilian she would never see her father again, he would never carry her in his arms, for Lilian she is in a brand new world. Like Lilian , some peoples idea of a new world is coming in terms with the fact that they will never see their loved ones again, for some its getting acquainted with new people, learning about a new culture, change in lifestyles. For some its getting promoted, some demoted, some failure, some success, some growing with grace and others expecting the worse.
No matter the situation we ought to learn how to adapt to new situations.
Change is constant and when change occurs we are teleported to a new world, where you are unfamiliar with how to act, what to do and what not to do, when that time comes you will realize truly that, you can’t live in one world forever, your new world awaits you.
Tell me what you think of my new world by liking these post, and what is the idea of your new world? or do you happen to like these one perfectly? 😊. I want to know. Kindly comment below!!!
Do you happen to forget things easily? do you notice you are not able to recount things easily, then this is the post for you.
Many people seem to forget things. Most times as a result of stress, psychological problems or emotional breakdowns.
Well this is the right post for you. Follow our steps to reducing stress and boost your long term memory.
First, start by getting yourself a sticky note or a note pad. You can easily write down a reminder and paste it in a place, where you can easily read through at any point in time.
#i personally paste it on my wardrobe, and I hear some people paste theirs on the fridge.
Secondly, try to see a psychologist, they could do alot in helping you.
Thirdly , try to be around more people. Sometimes the cause of forgetfulness is due to loneliness.
I hope this will help you overcome, any form of forgetfulness. ☺️.
Ready for another monday morning, well it isn’t like our normal monday mornings where everyone is hurrying to go to work 💼 and school 🚸, it is rather different due to the coronavirus pandemic. But don’t let it change your day, rise up bright and strong take ur morning tea 🍵 or coffee ☕️ and start your day fresh.
What a way to celebrate our mothers who cared for us for nine months, it is an important day indeed because we get a special day to celebrate them and appreciate them for the love, care and help they have rendered. Make sure to make them feel special 😘💖
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