Tenacity to Purpose

In July I shared with my Instagram followers that 2018 was, and still is, my year of isolation. I think that for anybody graduating from varsity and moving to a new place, starting a new job, it requires a lot of adjusting. Whether you are moving to a rural area, or a big city, you have to find new people. New people that you can rely and depend on. As the age old saying goes, no man is an island. This year, however, has taught me that every now and again, isolation is needed. Some sort of separation from your normal routine, normal environment, normal crowd. This separation does not promise comfort. It does not promise a smooth sail. But it does promise growth, it does promise a lot of learning and unlearning, and it does promise adventure. A year ago around this time, I had just finished my final exams of my undergraduate studies. I was trying to catch up on all the sleep that I had missed out on, while trying to come to grips with the reality that I was now done with varsity. The...

It’s Saturday morning. I’m sitting in bed, reading a book while drinking coffee (because what’s a morning without coffee, right?). I live in a block of flats and outside my window, my neighbour’s kids are playing. I listen on as another neighbour hangs her laundry (the washing line also happens to be outside my window), and talks about how hot it is today. I stop reading my book for a minute to do two things. First, I wish that I could mute the sounds outside so that I can focus on my book. I quickly realise that I can’t, so I let that thought go. Second, I realise how awesome it is that I am in a season in my life where I can justify sitting in my bed at 9:30 on a Saturday morning, reading a book. I mean, sure, I also have laundry to do. I could probably also be outside playing, because you’re never too old to play. But on this Saturday morning I could choose to stay in bed and read a book. Choice is a powerful thing, very powerful. Every choice writes a story about your priorit...

Since I wrote the poem “How Girls Are Raised” (if you haven't read it, stop reading and go check it out, and then come back to this post), a lot of my thoughts have been centered around how I would want to raise my one day daughters. I believe that parenthood, along with a lot of other things in life, need intentionality. I am yet to be blessed with the honour of being a parent. From my experience as someone’s child and being on the receiving end of parenting, I believe that one cannot parent thoughtlessly and haphazardly. You have to decide before you become a parent how you would want to raise your children. According to research, we live in a world where almost half of reported pregnancies are unwanted or unplanned. Based on this, it becomes easy to see how most people are not mentally ready for a child and probably haven’t taken the time to figure out how they would want to parent. I was having a conversation with one of my close friends, and she was telling me that she w...

Girls aren’t raised to break. Girls aren’t raised to shake or show signs of fear or weakness. Girls aren’t raised to buckle under pressure. Girls aren’t raised to object. They aren’t raised to raise their voices or their concerns. Girls are raised to listen. Girls are raised to continue loving even when being thrown with rocks. Girls are raised to value the opinion of others and make them their truth. Girls are raised to remain strong no matter what. They are raised to forget their opinion when men enter the room. We are taught to be soft and dependant when needed, but told that we have the strength of a rock when life takes a swing at us. Girls are raised to stay indoors and keep the house clean. Girls are raised to be afraid of going out when it is dark. Girls are raised to not learn important life skills like driving, until it is absolutely necessary. Girls are raised to wait until everyone is served, and then they can help themselves. They are ...