"The trick, is to keep breathing "

A dedication to friends who are facing crappy times & those with the never-give-up spirit we draw inspiration from...

Sometimes, just sometimes, life gets to be so tough and so bad you can feel its weight on your shoulders and it almost makes your knees buckle. So i pray and sometimes I'll even call up a friend who i know will tell me to 'kaza rasa'. But almost always, i find myself muttering the below compilation of words like a mantra as i dig in and plow on.


"In the name of the best within you, do not sacrifice this world to those who are its worst. In the name of the values that keep you alive, do not let your vision of man be distorted by the ugly, the cowardly, the mindless in those who have never achieved his title.

Do not lose your knowledge that man's proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads.

Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not quite, the not yet, and the not at all.

Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desire can be won.

It exists.It is real. It is possible. It is yours" from Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.

***

"Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the Bludgeoning of chance
my head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul. - Invictus by William Ernest Henley

***

Aaaand finally, i turn to laughter; comfort food for the soul, dished out by the best of them.

"...Seriously. Jesus started the whole 'wait three days' thing. He waited THREE days to come back to life. It was perfect!
If he had only waited ONE day, alot of people wouldn't have even heard that he died. They'd be all, "hey Jesus, what up?" and Jesus would probably be like, "What up?! I DIED yesterday!" and then they'd be all, "Uhh, you look pretty alive to me, dude..." and then Jesus would have to explain how he was resurrected, & how it was a miracle, & then the dude would be like "Uhh oookay, whatever you say bro..."

And he's not gonna come back on a SATURDAY. Everyone's busy, doing chores, workin' the loom, trimmin' the beard, NO. He waited the exact right number of days, THREE.

Plus, it's a SUNDAY, so everyone's in church already, they're all in there "Oh no, Jesus is DEAD," then BAM! He bursts thro' the back door, runs up the aisle, everyone's totally psyched, and FYI, that's when he invented the high five. Three days. We wait three days to call a woman, because that's how long Jesus wants us to wait..true story..." Barney, in How i met your mother


....Suddenly, the world doesn't seem so blue; and that's the power of words ladies & gentlemen.


Mob wendos,


Nyambura

"Just Imagine..."

Ok, we could discuss the demerits of the 8-4-4 system till the cows come home so let's not.

But do humor me for a second & wonder; what if...just what if Kenyan Parents went the extra mile to nurture and encourage their kids to: be thinkers, creative, not shy away from hard work, appreciate cultural diversity & have a sense of responsibility towards community & the environment even if (or especially because) the 8-4-4 curriculum does not have these as its core requirements...


Now paint up a vivid world where reflective thinking, creativity, action, service & tolerance are part of the lifestyle of the Kenyan individual big or small...

...just imagine...

Speaking of imagination, last night i stumbled across some pretty awesome (not to mention) sexy 'you can do anything with your hair' ghd hair ads. Their depiction of Cinderella & red riding hood as sexy, self assured beauties was cool enough. Not to mention the two had some to-die-for kick-arse boots. But what had me grinning were the accompanying captions below:

"Cinderella's a beauty, her hair all a-curl,
no need of a prince for this stunning young girl,
she's saying goodbye to glass slippers forever,
And running away with a bloke dressed in leather"

Ok, so maybe the last bit would make my mum faint...


And my absolute fave:

"Little red riding hood, neither timid nor shy
whilst straightening her locks, a wolf she did spy
but far from fainting or running a fever,
she started to laugh and pulled out a cleaver"

And yes, there's the dead wolf in the background :-)


Don't you all just love Orange's imaginary street footie Tv commercial? I do.


Observation of the week: My sister vicky's take on Lil Wayne and i quote: "Hmmm...he'd make the perfect Kenyan kange"

Mob wendos,


Nyambura

PS:Currently reading: The picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde & Ink heart by Cornelia Franke

Currently watching & loving: Grey's Anatomy, Tru Blood & Vampire diaries.

Loved & added to my play list: "Down" by Jason Walker; "Try sleeping with a broken heart" by Alicia Keys; "Heartbeats" by Jose Gonzalez

"Are you there God? It's me, Nyamz"

Spiritually, I'm what you'd call a drifter; a wanderer of sorts. If you were being polite that is. You know, the kind that has set aside three Sundays in a month as sleep-in days (stepping out in daylight is optional), has probably broken-or attempted to break-half of the commandments, says bedtime prayers 'coz they feel strangely comforting and with a plan to cultivate a better relationship with God but just haven't gotten round to working on it.

Key word here being God. Not religion.

Now religion, leaves me a touch uneasy. It's been behind wars waged in the name of God, our history books are full of them. Hell, we're still at it. Religion had been used to bully, oppress and justify the lynching of those perceived by society as 'piss-poor morally' (I thought we left the judging to God no?). Put all the religions of the world together and you've got a spectacular tower of babel where everyone's shoving & seriously arse whooping the other because their way is right...

Yet despite the confusion and ugliness, i still want to know God & experience his wowness. But can i find him without religion?

Yesterday, a friend posed to me an interesting belief; you can only know God if you know Christ, anything else is just white noise. Fair enough, he believes in something and it's great. It made me wonder though. I have friends of different religious faiths and though we never pretend to understand each others beliefs, we do respect & appreciate the fact that we're all trying to find God in our own way. And the one thing we have in common is that we know there is God. We can feel his presence around us. We marvel at the everyday miracles and gifts he presents us. And some of us, even go as far as striving to immerse ourselves in the experience of his awesomeness.So, does their relationship with him amount to nothing if they don't know him through Christ? Surely, his love and grace unifies and transcends creed, tribe, gender and race...because he is the ultimate...because he is that great...

...He's got to be...i really, truly, deeply believe that....

I've got to...after all, I'm the girl who is: catholic but can't remember how to say her Hail Marys, is prone to fornicate, visit a cathedral only coz i enjoy the inner peace it gives me, swear and down a couple of tots with the intent to disturb public peace...you know, a spiritual drifter. If you were being polite that is.

And if he turns out not to be THAT great ....well, I'm basically fucked and so going to hell.


Mob wendos,


Nyambura