As school kids, we matched in tandem to our classes from assembly singing or should I say yelling a song:
Determination is our motto, Determination, Determination!
Repetitively and in staccato voices too!
No doubt we had no idea what exactly we were singing about. We just SANG happily 🙂
Now as I sit here, in an attempt to drum reluctant and difficult words into a story that does not want to be told, the word Determination echoes in my mind and then…it becomes crystal clear beyond literal levels that:
Someone’s Determination
Is that mental animation
that pushes their bands of resistance
From mundane levels of coexistence
With consistent persistence
To livelier edges of existence
And better culmination
Of one’s life’s narration
There you have it. My very own new definition of determination.
Let me now sing in a hush tone: determination, is my motto, determination, determination 😉
The word companionable is synonymous to gregarious and that is an adjective that would describe me fittingly, though I have my moody alone moments when I want to marinate in those horrible, leave me alone juices.
My spirits are perked up most of the time and as a companion to my gregarious personality, my taste runs to eclectic style in things, even with the blogs that I follow which are over Five Hundred in number and range from vibrant pictures, cutepets, sage counsels, wisequotes, health and wellness,securityconsciousness and so on.
A day spent going through this and that on my reader or email would find me dropping little likes and comments here and there. It finds me laughing, or with my brows furrowed in mindfulthought. It finds me in awe or whispering asilentprayer in my heart for someone. I have closeencounters with soothing sights and thoughts and belly rumbling bites teasing my eyes.
I truly don’t have a favorite, favorite blog, because I seek out what each blog as an entity has to offer and probably because my reading taste is also myriad, it is pretty difficult to narrow down on one choice. ”Never ask a mother to choose between her children.” Always know that with each day that passes, beautiful ones are born.”
It would be utterly boring if I had to stick to the same kind of blogs and all. A sprinkle of sparkles, a dash or colour blends better to make the muted grays more tolerable.
After hours of journey on bumpy, dusty roads, arriving his village was euphoric for Ikem.
Mama did a little praise dance when she saw him, and did some more praise-singing, showering him with edifying names when he brought out the things that he came back with.
Friends and cousins equally returned, it would be a good time.
He went greeting kith and kin, strategically launching his new clothes and holding his phone conspicuously for all to see. It’s show time for everyone and he has no intention of being the poorest looking cousin.
Christmas Eve’s night service was a hit as usual. A gathering of old, new, returnees and home bound indigenes. It is doubtful that half of the people at the church service came for the prayers.
Sweethearts fell back in the dark shadows of twilight to hold hands and whisper sweet nothings.
Young rascally boys scared the maidens by tossing penny banger’sin their direction, their squeals of fright an entertainment for them.
It’s a dreamy time of the year, lavishly spent relaxing, binge eating, showing off, going to look at and running from the masquerades, attending a lot of social events….
Eligible young men returned seeking handpicked brides from their villages.
Marriageable girls strut their stuff at Obodo Ukwu, Obodo Ububo and everywhere the opportunity rose, to attract proposals from the city boys.
Hi-Life music blares into the air till the wee hours of the night. Nuptial introductions and lots of traditional marriages are constantly taking place in one clan or the other.
Mama wants to know when Ikem would choose a wife. In fact, her heart and eyes were set on one of Ifemeka’s daughters Kanyinulia.Â
From Mama’s assessment, the girl is quite sturdy, with nice child-bearing hips, very industrious and pretty too! She makes her thoughts known to Ikem.
”Nna, have you seen Ozo Ifemeka’s daughter Kanyinulia?” ”That girl will make a good wife for you.” ”It is my thought that we should express our interest in her to her family.” ”Her mother is a good friend too you know..”
”Ha! Mama, please not now.” ”Maybe in a few years time.” ”Let me get to Onitsha first and see how things go over there.”
”Hei! My son, if we waste time, another family can pick her out for their son o.” ”That girl is a good catch.”
”Mama, let us pray that things go well, then next year, okay?”
He is happy he visited home. His cousin has agreed to accommodate him at Onitsha while he seeks his future.
He joins his age-grade in their outing masquerade dance.
His satisfaction is soul deep. He knows that his future holds brighter times ahead.
Links to earlier parts of the series are at the top of the page.
Quick Glossary:
Banger: small cheap fireworks that make a lot of noise.
Ifemeka: Igbo name which means ‘things have happened.’
Kanyinulia: An Igbo name for a girl which means ‘let us be happy.’
Nna: An Igbo word for ‘father’. Mothers at times fondly call their sons by such pet name.
Obodo Ukwu: ‘The big square’ A social gathering ground where people go to be seen, to see and mingle.
Obodo Ububo: ‘The sweet/fun square’ A social gathering ground where people go to be seen, to see and mingle.
Onitsha: A city with one of the largest commercial markets in West Africa. It is situated on the river port on the eastern bank of the Niger river in Anambra State, southeastern Nigeria.
Ozo: A highly respected title to a worthy male indigene of a village. Not a cheap process.
Its fun to dig in my neighbours gardens and I never come up empty. Links for you to enjoy.
Growing up in a small university community like I did, had lots of plus sides and that included having lots of childhood friends with whom I played and carried out our escapades until the ever present flow of life’s change caused us to drift apart.
I was lucky to have such childhood friends of my heart who occupy such special place in my memory bank and between these friends and large family, you had no need for an imaginary friend.
Thankfully, I am able to reconnect with a lot of them with the help of social media, while, unfortunately some of them have crossed over to the other side of the divide where the links of social media cannot traverse.
There are some of them I am yet to trace and a number of them come to my mind ever so often.
Dear Chinyelu Okonkwo,
Now and again I think about you and wonder if life is treating you well and where you are.
I haven’t seen you since we were ten and in my minds eye, you have stayed the same ten year old, precocious, vibrant friend of mine.
Naturally you would have aged like everyone else but for some reason, I can’t seem to visualize you beyond this age.
Whenever you come to my mind, I remember our child’s play of running round the school block of University Primary School, Nsukka, during break time and singing silly song’s.
I have searched now and again on social media, to see if I can find you but it hasn’t yet yielded any result.
Who knows maybe one day in this lifetime, if we still walk this side of the divide, we may yet reconnect.
Another childhood friend whom I wonder how she has fared with life is from Bangladesh and I had no idea that the name ‘Anu Misra’ was quite common until I attempted to trace her.
I found so many Anu’s, I have searched so many faces, but I couldn’t recognize any.
Maybe, this splendid exercise might yet yield some positive results. We never know these things.
Many of us had imaginary friends as young children. If your imaginary friend grew up alongside you, what would his/her/its life be like today? (Didn’t have one? write about a non-imaginary friend you haven’t seen since childhood.)
Let me tell you about Lady Grace. Â Fine one that arrives wearing filigree lace, Everything done with Grace always changes the race, When she comes, she must surely leave a trace, For your outward expression will certainly change pace, Reflecting inward harmony of soul around your space.
♦♦ Wields a lot of power, she does; our Lady Grace, Her power consumes, you wish not to be a disgrace, She can shape-shift just in case, You ponder how she will fit into your space.
♦♦ Grace is not blind even if she keeps a straight face, As she watches your scramble from low grass to trophy case. She is clothed in dignity with warm human face, Encouraging arms she extends to thee embrace.
♦♦ Should you ever seek to replace a false face A bone deep desire to erase can take place For there is always a meeting place To invite the mighty Lady Grace And she will touch base In your living space.
How can I repay the Lord for his goodness to me? I will raise a cup of Salvation, I will call on the Lord’s name! My times are in your hands and you are my God! Even though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil! Unto you O’Lord, I give my all!
I am thankful that I am seated here right now talking to you and not at the hospital nursing broken bones or one of my young.
Yesterday evening, as I went for a walk with the children, we had just turned round the bend onto the zebra crossing which is a few meters from the house, when a Mercedes sports with it’s open roof came barreling round the bend. It appeared as if it even accelerated as it bore down on us. We barely managed to jump out of harms way by the whiskers of our teeth!
Luckily, I was clutching my youngest son’s hand as we dove for safety because he tends to lag behind. A lady with her child in the stroller, tripped over her Abaya as she also hurried along and fell in the process; luckily she wasn’t hurt and the baby didn’t tumble, except for her startled nerves and a small scrape. Zooming around in snazzy cars with a load of impatience seems to be the bane over here.
I will try not to exaggerate here, but as I shouted angry expletives, the fine lady driver stuck out her lacquered finger in an effing sign at us and zoomed along.
It was truly a struggle to stop the stream of swear words that were bubbling up to my lips and I am not sure if I would have stopped myself if not for my children. I try not to scandalize their senses.
Do I have a reason to be grateful or what? So many ugly scenarios had painted a picture in my head.
The quote above is my third quote in the 3 quote series and it speaks for itself.
In my quest for positive transformation, IÂ try to base a lot of my actions and reactions on this guiding principle which also applies to everyone else.
This quote is simply not a biblical tenet or any religious balderdash!
It relates to everything that pertains to our lives, even this blogging exercise that we are engaged in. For instance, when you stretch out a hand of fellowship and engage others, 99% of the time, it is reciprocated and vice-versa! Keep your circle as positive as possible.
Our actions revolve around us as surely as the Earth revolves around the Sun.
When we are in search of happiness, the first question we should ask ourselves, is what seeds we are sowing?
Happiness is not something that we get from other people. The happiness we feel is in direct proportion to the love that we are able to give.
Take a peek at those embittered people who expend so much energy pulling others down; they forever remain miserable.
They fail to realize that in the attempt to keep someone else down, they hinder themselves from rising to their optimum potentials.
Be loving to yourself and others and you see that love reciprocated.
It is the law of Karma which works every time, whether we are aware of it or not. It occurs in the small things and in the big things that surround us.
It is also wise to remember that treating others right does not imply being blind to their shortcomings or giving them permission to treat you poorly.
Leannenz, I sincerely thank you for inviting me to participate in this quote series. It is a good opportunity to reflect on those things that matter and I think I am going to continue the quote beyond this stage 🙂
I would like to invite 5 awesome bloggers to share their favorite quotes in the series of 3.
This evening, I went grocery shopping with the children and as we traipsed lazily down the aisle, a young, tall, slim, beautiful lady passed me by with a young child.
The first thing that I saw was her hair that was shaved to the scalp and she wore the skin-cut with pride.
I tried not to stare, but I knew. My spirit grew disquietened.
In my heart, I knew that this lovely soul is battling for her life.
We walked past her and continued our shopping but my mind couldn’t focus.
After a while, I backtracked several aisles down to find her. I felt a bit nervous that she might not appreciate my disturbing her peace, but a little voice in my heart said Go! So I continued.
I approached tentatively and out-rightly told her that I noticed her shaved scalp and she confirmed that she has breast cancer.
My heart went out to this total stranger. I have witnessed first hand the heart-rending havoc that cancer wreaks on sufferers.
We talked for a while, it turned out she has a chemo/radiation session tomorrow and of course she is trying to live life as normal as possible especially for her young child.
By the end of our discussion, ironically, she ended up comforting me. We shared a blessing and a hug.
I admire her strength and really wish her well. I wish her miracles.
I wish more Grace and strength to those who are suffering at this time.
May faith, peace and healing hands be your portion.
If you don’t believe in Miracles, perhaps you’ve forgotten that you are One! The Miracle is in You!
In my second quote of the 3 quote series, I would like to share the often forgotten sense of ourselves as miracles.
I love to remind myself of this quote, which unfortunately, I have no idea where I learnt it, but when I started meditating on it with regards to myself, the sense of awareness of the miracle in me, simply grew and keeps growing.
Most of the time, we are seriously enmeshed in the entire drama of trying to eke out a living, the drama that unfolds around us everyday, the stories of our lives and the wishes that things should be different, that we lose sight of the fact that our mere existence, our every moments, are ”miracles in action.”
Our miracles start to happen when we channel as much energy into our dreams and being as we channel into our fears and shortcomings.
You are still a work-in-progress. Don’t give up on the magic in yourself.
Leannenz, I thank you for inviting me to participate in this quote series. It is a good opportunity to reflect on those things that matter.
I would like to invite 3 awesome bloggers to share their favorite quotes in the series of 3.
a cooking pot and twisted tales 