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Wet kisses on a wrinkled face
Sometime last year I had a vital grown-up conversation with my slowly aging dad. I hate to say aging because well, he is daddy and I want him to forever show no signs of aging at all, to stay strong and healthy as I’ve always seen him to be. I have the fondest memories of him. Like, I remember him bringing us vanilla and chocolate wafers anytime he came back home from work and us running to his open hands, him picking us up without staggering and one by one throwing us in the air and us landing back into his arms. At times we would cling onto his body…
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No-body
Maybe I just have to accept that my body is a topic I will always be confronted with until I leave this body. Maybe I should just accept that even strangers can have an uncalled for opinion on my body. Maybe some people sleep better after they have uttered hurtful statements towards bodies that aren’t their bodies. Maybe I have to realize that some people think their body image opinions are the standard and that every body should be like their body. Maybe there is a perfect body and maybe there is no perfect body. But no-body is perfect. Maybe I should uphold my body in dignity and not scale…
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We lived and to more years
Sometimes I am a bit naive not to believe that there is evil in this world. That some people can be so hard-hearted and jealous in a situation they wouldn’t even gain from. Honestly, I don’t understand how someone can be so evil and negative minded to actually sit and plot someone else’s downfall. How they can wish for the worst to happen to another human being. How they utter hurtful and painful remarks on someone’s life. At what cost? At whose gain? I have been celebrating the birthdays of my two amazing younger brothers. Born back to back but different years. My mind took me back to when they…
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Unappreciated efforts
You do try. You use everything in your reach to make your life livable. You often juggle to make the lives of those you care about „easier“. You make a lot of sacrifices for others. You give back to people you don’t know and have never even met. You extend your resources over and over again to those who feel entitled. You want to be accorded respect for that. You want your name in everyone’s breath. At times you feel unappreciated, taken for granted but you still do it again. Think of all the good you have done. Oh, you can’t stop. Think of all the times anyone appreciated…
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Life taking its course
It has been a few months of so much unraveling before our eyes. Like literally the whole of 2020 has given us a lot of aha moments. I have had my share of struggles which seem less daunting when I compare with other people’s struggles in different parts of the world. But a struggle is a struggle. Big or small, right? A lot of times we disregard what we are experiencing in our personal spaces because it seems not to measure up to other people’s definition of problems. It sometimes becomes clear that you are struggling when someone points it out to you, or when your body sends you signals…
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Filling my tank.
Whew! Even I hit a block. Geuss who is back? I am. Can I explain? Well, we make plans, God laughs. Anyway I’ll get to the point now. I discovered that writing was my safe haven. Writing has literally saved my life. (I wish I can say that out loud) I cannot imagine not being able to write. I am very intentional in what I decide to put out there however unconventional a topic might be. I believe in the wholesome of every article I publish and in every sentence, there is usually a deeper meaning that I hope resonates with someone. I am always overjoyed when I put up…
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Did you turn out just fine?
I do not have children of my own yet, yet I find myself vexed by this topic of mercilessly beating children. Some people ask me to wait until I have children to see if my standards based on this will shift. But how can I wait for this unpredicted time to speak on something that affects, has affected and continues to affect a lot of us directly or indirectly. I honestly can’t ignore how I feel when I learn of a child being abused in the name of discipline. Maybe I am trying to speak out on child abuse because I am very passionate about children. Maybe I am trying…
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Lovestruck in hopeless hopeful places.
We have all probably seen a movie where people meet in a hospital, fall in love, become a couple and the rest is history. The most fascinating of these stories is when 2 people, both likely suffering from terminal illnesses meet at the hospital wards or hallways and connect so deeply that all there is to see is love and not what they are suffering from. I love beautiful love stories. (Wait, I say that as if there are ugly love stories. I guess for me ugly and love shouldn’t be in one sentence) Well, let me not get into those who are trapped or stuck in toxic relationships in…
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Mummy in heaven
Today is that day, Just like a worker without pay, The emptiness in my soul, Feels like the universe plays foul, And every cell in my body screams sadness, For I miss my mother’s kindness. Sometimes things happen at random, And it becomes so hard to fathom, For a moment we lose our identity, To the depth of loss and growth of curiosity, Until in our hearts there is no space for light, To guide us we try to find ourselves and fight. I remember your youthful and beautiful face, So full of life, love, and grace, Your commitment to everything you loved, Your radiant smile as your…
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Cruelty or Love?
I have wanted to write about this particular topic for the longest now and finally, here I am sitting by the riverbank, taking in the much needed fresh air as I watch these beautiful unbothered swans swim. Near the water are these two doves hungrily feeding on the leftover crumbs as if they haven’t had food for days. It is calming to watch the little waves on the water and feel the wind on my brown skin. “We turned out alright” they say. But did they really? I ask myself. A question only a victim of physical abuse could answer by being completely honest with themselves. Digging deeper into my…
true storytelling from personal experiences and inspiring stories from my perspective