This is it!

Another family day and it was raining kids. This weekend was pretty relaxed and I think spending a weekend with kids is so freeing. Ok, of course it is relaxing when the child is not yours…But you get the point.

This morning I woke up from a very awkward dream which I won’t get into. But while I prayed the weirdest thing happened. When I opened my mouth to pray, I couldn’t recognize my own voice. There was excessive depth, authority and purpose in my tone that I had to open my eyes. I had to make sure that there wasn’t someone else in the room with me.

It was like an out of body experience.  I thanked God for my BFF XOXO. And I had a eureka moment. She has set the path and now it is my turn to follow suit to jump at my dreams. You know we always talk about following your dreams, but the initial sacrifice, which may seem huge at the beginning, is scary.

The next couple of days will be spent working on the action plan for 2011. This is the beginning of purpose and most of all courage to take the first step. I am more at peace and confident with my decisions than I am afraid. I am more sober in my judgment.

Like the late great Michael Jackson said; ‘This is it!’

True Friendship

I hate self help books with 10 steps to whatever it is. But while I was writing the previous entry and after numerous discussions with many a Kenyan. I have discovered that very few people have genuine friends. And that just means very few people are genuine.


Here's a thing or two I have in mind on friendship; real friendship. Not that pal you like to drink with and share your sexual conquest tales with.

1. You’re friends will always be real with you. If you look bad, you do! So however mad you are about your pal telling you. They love you enough to tell you. Either that or you are stuck looking like confused bushman pimp or a vocally challenged artist on a reality show looking like a beached whale clad like a Christmas tree...catch my drift?
2. There is respect; your friend won’t shove their opinion down your throat. You will agree to disagree.
3. There is honesty and vulnerability. You can’t hold everything in you need to share. But this comes with time as trust and respect is built.
4.  Yes you made a mistake; but they will listen to you and not call you names and judge you. A good friend will be your counsel. They listen, advise, support and where need be force you to stand on your two feet and face the consequences of your actions or in-actions. If you have a friend who sees you go through fire and tells you after the consequences; ditch them like a bad habit. A friend will warn you and give you counsel. 
5. In addition to my number four a friend doesn't gossip. They are your confidante and they shield your weaknesses in love! A friend will fight for you!
6. A friend will always challenge you to be a better person. And challenge themselves and demand of you to keep them accountable. In my case; Ashley is the epitome of that! She leapt at Culinary arts and she has constantly pushed me to follow my heart and dreams! She is also my accountability partner!
7. True friendship isn’t earned. You work at it! You will argue, you will distance yourself. But a true friend is like that annoying mosquito who keeps you awake at night. They will be in your face. You need to communicate and spend time together. It’s not the duration of time; it’s the quality. You can sit on a windy roof top and just sit in silence; that’s quality time; believe me.
8. Friendship is about sacrifice. You want to bum at home, but your pal wants you to help them out to cook for relas.Go and help you can bum later. Friendship is like marriage. You chose to be friends with this person, you better make sacrifices for each other. Friendship is symbiotic, not parasitic. 

This is what my friendships have been revolved around. I guess what matters to me the most is someone who is true to me. Literally what you see is what you get.  I am glad that I have experienced the friendships that I have now. And I wouldn't trade them for the world.

Counting my Blessings

I have this rotten habit, well, I am not quite sure that I should call it rotten. But every time I am on my way home in the evening I start writing my entries in my head. And I end up forgetting things by the time I get home. And my grand intro for my entry is flushed into the world of forgetfulness.

It has been an eventful week, (read slave driven)! But such is the calling of the quest to get paid! The beauty of this week is a celebration like no other. A celebration that almost feels like my own. My best friend took a leap of faith about 2 years ago to change her career. Earlier this year she left to pursue her love for food and off she went to Canada. 

And now nine months later, she is not just a regular graduate of culinary arts school. She is the valedictorian of her Superior class at Le Courdon Bleu. I am so proud of her. I wish I was there to see her in all her glory, standing loud and proud. Girl I am proud of you! It wasn’t an easy journey for her. But it’s the courage she took. She leapt at the unknown that has given her a wealth of exposure. She has mingled with people she would never have dreamt of. She is on the path to her glorious destiny. I am humbled to know her.

You may have noticed that I refer to my friends a lot! With the few years that I have been on this earth having experienced over glorified acquaintances clothed in friendship. And most recently encountered true uncompromising friendship. I finally found a place where I can be my loud, expressive self! You tend to enjoy the beauty of being yourself, and not have to tailor make yourself for every moment and occasion. 

I have friends who have been my anchor and know literally everything about me. Just short of knowing the last time I farted. Gross I know. But Des and Ashley that is who you are to me. Mwenda, Julie, Wanga and Oscar; your patience with me, your counsel and genuine concern, and your endless creative discussions are timeless. Thank you and God bless you all! Love you all!

I am alive!

Four amazing days that will change my life forever! This week I was taught by remarkable individuals, teachers, mentors...friends! Never in my life have I been taught by people who can actually show you what they have done with what they are teaching you.

I met a CNN award winning journalist. I have been taught people who have interned at the CNN International Desk in Atlanta. These people have had there works published by the BBC, VOA, World Vision Crisis report. And all of these people are Kenyan! It is so inspiring! I feel alive, confident and full of purpose! I am ready to go!

I think my confusion is slowly beginning to clear up!

Things that make you go...Hmm...

 I have been doing a lot of thinking, just trying to figure out human nature. Why is it when you see a good guy or gal, or rather, when you finally get someone you can call beau. And as is commonly practiced; as a form of affection hop into bed with them. And in the process to your ecstatic moment your mind never yells ‘AIDS’, ‘HIV’, ‘CHLAMYDIA’ or maybe ‘SYPHILIS’? What really is wrong with us? Why is getting an illegitimate child more of a bother, than maybe going insane and dying from contracting Syphilis?

We wear our genitalia on our sleeves and I just don’t get it. The famous or infamous, depending on how you see it, ‘Busted’ prank. For those of you unaware of what ‘Busted’ is, it is a segment on radio where people ask a radio show host to act as a Private Investigator to see if their spouses or partners are having affairs.

The most talked about one is one where the radio show host acted as the wife of the unfaithful man and called up the mistress to ‘inform’ her that she (the radio show host’s character) as well as her husband were HIV positive. And the mistress confessed live on air that she never used protection, to the hearing of her very irate husband.  The husband who had requested the show host to ‘bust’ his ‘cheating’ wife.

I know in life there are some things that you should leave well alone and not try to understand. But surely why are we so quick to ‘shag’ and not protect ourselves. I am not on the morality high horse. But think rationally about it. Why can’t an infection or life threatening disease actually scare you to your senses to maybe even to never have sex? Why are we so overpowered? Sex nowadays is like an urge; you got to pee ,take a dump or maybe you’re horny; ‘got to go now!’

Surely, what can make me, you and the person next to you actually say you know what, sex is overrated and arousal is natural but I don’t have to act on it. Do any of those condom ads or ‘Nimechill’ campaigns actually do something for you? Or are companies just wasting donor budgets to get you back to morality, sensibility and being a human who exercises self control? Hmm! I wonder…