The Dawn of a New Era

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THE BEAUTY OF FRIENDSHIP

There is something about having a friend to talk to that just makes life so much better.The ability to share and express opinions,thoughts and experiences without been judged in such a comfortable and relaxed environment gives me somewhat of an inner peace and a feeling of reassurance that life is still worth living.They comfort me and keep me going no matter what position and place i'm at in my life.For every person there is an experience that teaches what having a good and loyal friend is.For me it was a loss of someone really close n dear to me,someone that i treasured so much and the way my friends rallied behind me just listened to my crying and whining was something that i will never forget.Their comfort,love and support kept me going.I love that i can be myself around them.Just be my crazy random self without judgement.They amaze me.Best thing is all of us are that one crazy friend in the group so when you hang out with us it's chilling with silly fun loving young ladies.We get each other.We cover each other's imperfections.It's a blessing that we have each other and i would not choose my friends any differently.Who we are and what we do is determined by the people we associate with and for me this is a such a great positive influence.Today take time to appreciate a friend,a companion,that one person you can't live without.For all those i consider friends i can't imagine life without you guys and am really grateful to have you.

WORRY....YAY OR NEIGH????

So i worry, sometimes, okay maybe alot. But everyone worries right? About the future, about tomorrow, about money and family. So much to worry about yet so little time to do anything about it. We spend time thinking, planning, strategizing about current and future events. It's interesting to note how much we worry about a future we don't know if we will see. About tomorrow that we are not assured of, This post is a reflection of all the friends that i have lost in the past few years, how their loss was unexpected, sudden, unplanned for. Loss especially of a loved one is really hard to deal with, it is confusing and leaves more questions than answers. Sometimes you are left with regret, the fact that you never got to say goodbye or spend that date you kept planning over the phone. The procrastination eats you and turns into guilt because you know you had a chance to say goodbye but you thought you had time so instead you pushed and pushed until they were no more. The news struck you so hard and you could barely hold back your tears as you were told over the phone. Then you realize that date you really were planning to have isn't going to happen. So why worry?Instead do. Worry is most times associated with fear, so what are you afraid of? Let me borrow some advice i heard over the radio today, that which you are afraid of,do it. And from experience it does bring peace. Worry is a prison that just chains you without much achievement. It holds you from achieving and believing in yourself. Don't worry just believe. So why worry while you can pray???

So instead of worrying about the future enjoy the present, your current situation is worth more than a future you don't know about.                                                                                                                   

Feel free to share your stories of worry and leave comments......                                                                  

THE REVOLUTION

 We were having a discussion the other day with my family about social media and all this kinds of cool technology that are coming up.My dad was basically complaining that i'm on my phone too much and my cousin is always on the laptop. Which got me thinking,is the essence of social media to bring us together in terms of communication or does it pull us apart from the people that are right there in front of us?I won't lie to you once am on my phone it's like am in other world and with my nocturnal friends whom i love very much, i can sleep very late just chatting and literally say nothing to mum or dad who is sitted on the couch right there next to me.We are ever on skype,tweeting,changing our status on Facebook and basically posting on instagram which is my current addiction but does it leave us ignoring the world around us???I was on a road trip the other day with my friends and they were joking that if an accident was to happen i would definitely be on instagram first posting photos about it and tweeting rather than informing the authorities.However if you seriously think about it that is who we have become, a society enslaved by technology.Am not saying technology is bad it's actually amazing but when will we learn to say stop and put boundaries?When was the last time you sat down with your family and actually found out how they are doing??Put away your phone and just sat down and had a face to face conversation with the person seated right next to you.Are we a generation that does not put emphasis on human contact while in real sense it's all we ever need to feel okay.Maybe the world needs a little bit more real hugs and less emoticons.A little bit more of real smiles than smiley faces on a screen.Come out from your cocoon of social media and connect with the real world,we need you.

REALITY VERSUS REALITY SHOWS??

So there is reality and there are reality shows.Reality is the life we live now and here,where we work,we go to school,we hustle and we get broke.Reality TV is where things are a fantasy.The kind of life i want to live but i won't get there if am seated all day keeping up with the kardashians,the rich kids of Beverly hills and Partying on.I won't lie am addicted to reality TV.My dad hates it but i can't help it but be glued to the screen and watch a bunch of people live this life that looks so glamorous and amazing.It's like my own personal fantasy of the life i want.I can almost imagine myself attending those fancy parties in Morocco on Party On or be born in a famous Kardashian family but hell that is not my life.The reality of life is i wake up,open my eyes look around and think am not going to be handed things on a silver platter.I have to get out of bed and work and make my future or else i will have a very bleak one.So reality TV shows just present the life we wish we had and you can get lost in it for a few hours until you realize you have work tomorrow or go to class which is the real deal.So what is our reality as real humans??....and not robots.Which to totally digress,am i the only one who finds it funny that social sites ask me if am a robot and typing in a number or a bunch of words makes me human again?So back to the topic of our reality,it's the fact that we have to make our own destiny and future.We have to make our own legacy,leave a mark in the world.I wanna be Wangari Maathai who is forever remembered for speaking against environmental delinquency in Kenya.She will forever be on people's lips for something that totally counts.So at my young age i wonder what will be my mark?What will people remember me for?Will it be good or bad?I hope to make my signature move and have my name on a metal of any kind or paper because that my dear friends is the reality.

SHAKE THE DUST AND STEP ON IT!!

So its been a while since i sat on my writing chair.....oh! yes i do have have a writing chair and told you something i think you should know.Reason been alot has been going on in my life and i needed a break but now i have a new lease of life and i look at it very differently.Things have changed alot,my fairy tale belief of relationships has dwindled,faded and even changed.That should give you a sneak peak into what i mean when i say things have changed.The life i know live is a life centered on me,loving me,taking care of me,learning about me.I sound a bit selfish don't i??But before you judge me think about it. Am only twenty, self discovery is still a path i'm undertaking so why would i be thinking about someone else.Am still learning.Back in high school in one of those talks where we used to gather in the State House school hall with our tiny note books and pens eager to listen to the motivational speaker of the day.I heard a story from one of those speakers that has inspired me since then.There was a farmer who had a donkey as he rode one day through the fields with his donkey,suddenly it fell into a dry well.It was the only donkey he owned and he looked down into the well with dismay not knowing what to do.Luckily his donkey was not hurt but he had to find a way to get it out of the well.He tried reaching out for the animal's rope to pull it out but it did not work.He tried getting into the well to push it out it out but that turned out to be pretty difficult.As the sun set on the green fields with blooming maize combs everywhere he left and went home frustrated.On the next day he resolved to bury the donkey because  there was no way of getting it out of the well.He took the shovel he had carried and began to throw chunks of soil into the well.Then he noticed something very unusual,every time he threw soil into the well it would fall onto the donkey's back.The donkey would shake the dust off its back and step on it.The donkey clearly did not want to be buried alive.He continued to throw in more soil and the donkey shook the dust and stepped on it.The farmer called his friends to come see and help him throw in more soil.In a few hours the well was full of soil but instead of a buried donkey the animal was standing on top of the well.The farmer was re united with his donkey and did not loose what he had instead he got it.I know you are wondering what the moral of my story is?Every dark,impossible,doubtful,discouraging,self esteem stealing moment is that moment in the dark well that the donkey was in.Every moment you encourage yourself,you believe in yourself,you genuinely smile,you love yourself,you look at yourself in the mirror and say hi beautiful or hi handsome is that soil been thrown into the well.It is your stepping stone to self love, self discovery, writing your own story of success, your own love story,living your life to the fullest.Dark moments will come n go.Moments when you think you are not good enough will come n go. But you can choose to love yourself and get encouraged and not give up.So as you experience life with its good n bad, remember to always shake the dust and step on it.  

SKELETONS IN MY CLOSET

So we all have something we wouldn't like the rest of the world to know about.A secret perhaps,a fetish maybe or a habit we would rather keep to ourselves.We guard the secret so closely and jealously because of the embarrassment it might cause us or the problems we might experience if our friends,family or colleagues find out.The problems with secrets though is that they eat us away gnawing our souls,leaving us looking over  our shoulders so self conscious because we think someday someone will find out something they are not supposed to know about.I get the whole theory on privacy,but seriously what is the point of keeping a secret if all you are going to do is live with regret and insecurity.People will judge you despite doing good or bad so sometimes you just have to let your guard down and show the whole world who you are.This whole thing of faking it till you make it doesn't make sense to me because the moment people realize you are not who really claim to be they will never take you seriously.That means you loose your credibility and you begin to look like a scam.All what you say from that day forward will be considered a lie and many will doubt you.So forget that secrets are meant to be kept,forget secret identities....trust me those are only cool in movies and show the world who you really are.Don't be afraid to express yourself,to show your true identity because you never know it might be just what the world needs to be a better place.I know we all have role models,people we want to be like or wish we were.Role models are meant to be admired,pick a few things here and there that they do that you like but never to copy and paste and be everything they are.You are your own person,with a personality,likes and dislikes,unique in your own way so why give up all that to try and become someone else?Be proud of your own person and embrace it and watch the rest of the world follow suit....that's all my thoughts for today.

CHANGE BRINGS GROWTH.

Am at a place in my life where everything is changing.A going through a transition in my school work and career path of corporate communication,in my relationships with people,in my family and i feel restless.I feel uncomfortable with all these changes because i don't like change at all.Especially when the elevation is not clear and you can't tell what direction it is taking.When things are not black and white and all you are getting is shades of gray.It all just makes me so uncomfortable because i have to wait and see what is in the future.Waiting is not my cup of tea and patience is one of those virtues am slowly cultivating.One thing i have noticed about change is it comes with fear mainly the fear of the unknown.The fear of been pulled out of your comfort zone and having to adjust to a different environment.It applies to even the smallest things like moving out,changing to a different brand of the same product.Even something as silly as using the same route everyday in town to get to a certain building.I got this from a friend of mine who looked at me and said "You look like the kind of person who uses the same route to get this building everyday"and my response was "Yes i actually do i just don't like change."Am surrounded by people who like to live a little and they are all about adventure and taking risks while i would rather stay in my shell because c'mon its really warm in there.However,what this great bunch of friends has taught me is that you deserve to live a little.Let out the Victoria in you and allow her to breathe.Take risks and enjoy life because every moment should be extra ordinary because reality is nobody knows about tomorrow.All we have is today.Even though change makes me fidget and feel like am loosing my balance sometimes you just need to jump into canon ball waters without thinking as someone wise once told me.So accept change and move with it.I found this quote to be really encouraging "If we don't change we don't grow,if we don't grow then that is not really living"-Gail Sheehy.

THE BREAKTHROUGH MOMENT

That moment right before you get your big break from all your misery it could be debt,it could be unemployment,it could be a baby,it could be a business.Most of you can testify to this that its always at your wits end,at the point of hopelessness and despair that is your breakthrough moment.When your just about to give up,just about to let go of your dream.When advice from family and friends doesn't make sense and even prayer doesn't seem to work and you feel like no one is listening,that is your moment of hope.That is the time for you to know that you almost there and you are getting there each step at a time.I know you are the edge of a cliff but who said you have to jump?What would you loose having to hold on a little longer?Am surrounded by alot of breakthroughs in my family some  have come to pass and some are on their way.The greatest thing about any of them is that they never gave up n they are not giving up.From meningitis,to glaucoma and cancer none of them gave up.The strength in their eyes as they endured just gives you the grace to hang in there.My elder sister is a woman of steel for me,she always pursues what she wants,and nothing seems to stop her and i admire her for that.Believe that your moment is coming.Don't give up and never give in to the voice in your head that tells you,you can't make it.You are the only one who can encourage yourself and tell yourself that greater things are yet to come.Am a strong believer in the fact that if you are still alive then it means that God still has something in store for you.He can't just bring you into the world to idol around He wants you to do something and participate in something greater than yourself.As i always say when you believe you become.So the next time you feel you are at your end remember that its breakthrough time.

I DARE TO DREAM

In a country filled  with stories of fear,terror,hunger and unemployment i dare to dream.As an economic crisis blooms with the weakening of the shilling and terror knocking at our very doors i can still dream.I dare to be the voice of hope that tells my generation that all is not lost.We should not loose hope and begin to believe that we are confined by walls of fear and a harsh life.Life is hard truth be told,jobs are hard to come by and the "when i grow up dream" has faded away and all that is left is just bits and pieces of a vision that was once so vivid.However doesn't mean that your passion and your talent doesn't exist.Get up pick up your guitar and play a tune,take a mic and sing,focus n your sport and give it your all.Move away from the convectional ways of making a living and think outside the box.Use the tools you have in your hand now.Don't wait to acquire it because you have to be good at something and somehow that can help you make money.Polish on your skills and with patience and endurance you will get there.The journey of a thousand miles begins with a step so don't be afraid to take a step.Just because you can't get a job doesn't mean you are paralyzed without other abilities.Be a dreamer,never be afraid to dream because it can come true.If you have already tried and failed stand up,shake the dust and step n it until you reach the top.Our generation is gifted,our talents are endless and our opportunities are unlimited.Therefore see beyond the veil of doubt and believe and as you believe you become.Don't allow the negative comments to get to you,remind yourself that you can still be what you have always wanted to be.Anything is possible as long as your heart is into it.I dare you to dream.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

NEW GENERATION KENYANS

There is a new generation of Kenyans blooming. In this generation kids are learning to use I pads before they learn how to write.They are learning to speak English  before their mother tongue.Something i have noticed in church,in town.You over hear conversations between mothers and their kids and all you can  hear is  "mummy can i go get candy from the supermarket?" while a while back it was about KSL sweets and tropical.Anyway am not her to talk about sweets but to bring my readers to the reality of the change in our social life mostly.It has really diversified and become so dynamic.Yet the change is made my simple gadgets like smart phones. we are in a social world that is becoming more virtual than real.We are embracing all sorts of social media without really thinking about it. its all about trends. our generation is spending more time on the phone than on restaurants and family gatherings.Its easier to start a group on whatsapp with friends and chat all day long than meet up for coffee or lunch. we love trends and the fashion   world is becoming a huge part of us.Let me speak for Nairobi, we care about what we wear.Women are careful n they are giving a lot of thought to dressing.That explains the numerous pages on Facebook with fashion trends and  fashion blogging that is becoming popular.This is the different Kenya,we diet and care about what we eat.We rave and care about what we drink no wonder we are so eager to instagram our drinks.I love that we are embracing a new culture but i fear that we are loosing the old ones. my only hope is that we will cling to our old culture,our mother tongue, our heritage and social media will become not only a platform to interact but also a place to cement and remind ourselves of who we are really are.Lets not forget our mother tongue not as a tribal divide but as a uniting factor.This new generation should not let down the great history that makes Kenya.

90's KIDS VERSUS 21ST CENTURY KIDS

My childhood was what most of you could call normal. i grew up in the village though it's not really different from the kid who grew up in town. life was simple,cartoons and playing were the order of the day and we barely noticed life go by. It was routine you wake up in the morning your guardian or house help dresses you up in the midst of your tantrums and grumbling. you go to the table and have breakfast which for most if not all was bread and tea or porridge depending on what your mother prefers. afterwards depending on where you school the bus picks you up or if you were like me you walk for ten to fifteen minutes and you are in school. you learn and  your favorite part of school is the breaks in between,for me at least. then comes the best part leaving school to go play and watch cartoons. I loved cartoons and still do and playing especially "cha baba na cha mama" , "ajua" ,skipping rope, three sticks and many other really cool games. That was the 90"s kid life in a nut shell.
The 21st generation kids live a very different life basically centered around technology. all they care about is play stations and game boys everything they do is virtual and barely get up from the couch especially during weekends and holidays. they watch t.v all day without much outdoor activity. Mobile phones have become a necessity for 10 year old and those who don't have  are constantly nagging their parents for one. the type matters too is it a smart phone?Touch screen? that is the life of the kid today. there is no life beyond the confinement of the virtual world they are so engaged in. Who is to blame? parents, teachers, the society?? Parents should be very vigilant in encouraging their kids to play, be normal, to be kids. Technology is not going anywhere in fact it gets better by the day so rushing them into it only takes their childhood away. i was talking to my cousin the other day she is 14 years and all she was thinking about is going to Skype with her friends. What happened to genuine  meet and greet conversations? Let kids be kids and enjoy the innocence of been at that stage in life.