Grey Matters

                                                         source I sometimes sit to watch cartoons with my 4 year old daughter; half the time she blackmails me into spending the time with her , and the other half of the time I tell myself I am 'monitoring' what she is watching. As far as TV offerings go, the children's stations have quite the fare: Princess Sophia, Ben 10, Batman, Dora the Explorer, Jake the (I forget what), Sheriff Callie, Scooby Doo, Sponge Bob, and so on. She loves them all but by far her favourite is the old classic Tom and Jerry. Tom and Jerry, what's not to love? Many of us grew up on the evergreen plot of a cat who can never win, chasing a mouse with evil intent. And even though a...

For some reason I remembered my first and only direct encounter with university cult members. I was living with a friend in a private hostel just outside the school gates. On the ground floor of the hostel there was a restaurant- and a salon, if I remember correctly. The restaurant served as a rendezvous for a number of us as well as a nice place to buy some inexpensive food. I had been down there that evening, standing outside the restaurant having a conversation with a friend , one gorgeous boy I had met a few weeks back through another friend, when we just saw some people running a lot of them backwards, towards our direction. I cannot remember who said it or how we knew it but immediately there was a mad dash for an exit, any exit as we realised it was an attack by cult members. Like a lot of people I ran into the restaurant, straight through to the back. At the back of the restaurant people began jumping over the fence. It was just me and one very fat boy left behind as we both...

WILT means What I learnt Today. I didnt learn all these today but I am writing about them today.  I have learnt the vital skill of saving. I did not know how to do that before because I did not understand why I would have to deny myself something I could afford. But I understand now. I am not ashamed to go and pay coins into my account, I like the thrill of seeing my increased balance online. I like my hair. Braids wrapped very intricately falling forward. very mysterious and deep.

I'm looking back and seeing how I came out of a dark , dark place. And I am truly happy. I am happy that I exercise for an hour every morning. I am happy that I have dropped all fake friends.  I am happy that I have a wonderful family that loves me and shows it. I am happy that I am here.  I am happy I turn 37 today and I don't look a day over 361/2. (LOL).  Two nights ago, I had a dream. It wasn't a dream because I wasn't exactly asleep. I saw myself tethering on the edge of a canyon. I was afraid because I consciously did not want to fall into it knowing what that could signify spiritually and physically. Then I realised I was actually being pulled out of it with some sort of pulley or lever or contraption. Thank You

It's been hard coming back to this blog. Particularly because it is a strong reminder of the life I had before and who I was before. But I will not go into all that. This blog will become my gratitude journal. So help me God.

Yesterday I posted something in one of my blogs, and today I was shocked to find someone quote a sentence that described my exact sentiment to a tee. I was even more surprised to find that it was lifted off another post- a suicide note on a personal website. I went over to the website and was astonished at how the whole note could easily have been written by me. From the time frame to the areas she felt she had failed, to her feelings about herself. I only disagreed with one thing , and that is that she felt she had nothing more to give. My greatest frustration stems from the inkling I have that I have a lot more to do here, but the many unnecessary hurdles to doing them. Anyway, here's the link http://vanessalibertadgarcia.com/all-my-love-v/ ( that link has been taken down but see the post here) I am not about to commit suicide- at least not yet; I have a daughter, a young innocent, who is my weighty anchor to mortality. But I won't pretend it's not something (tha...

Here is an article I wrote for publication in the newspaper, as one part of my contribution towards the #childnotbride movement.   Unlike my previous emotional outburst this articulates my perspective and, in my opinion, situates the problem. This was meant to be an article articulating my perspective on the #ChildNotBride ‘movement’. It still is. However, this is also an explanation to those who said we did not understand the constitution or the clause in question; we were unaware of why we were signing a petition, and were making fools of ourselves. This is for all of them.   Before I proceed, a little caveat: this is a straight forward piece written in simple English. There are too many people in Nigeria ‘blowing big big grammar’ on television, on the internet and in print (and see where we still are) I do not intend to join them. My point can best be illustrated using stories; I have three of them. When I was in Secondary school, my parents enrolled me in ...