WHAT I SEE WHEN I LOOK AT YOU...

Its amazing what we see... as different people with different perspectives, we see only the things we have been conditioned to see.

You come from a place where You have been made to see Yourself, not as who You are;

but rather, who 'They' want You to be.

And as a resut of this, You think that You have got to change who You are to suit other's opinons of You.

But lemme ask you this; How many people do You think You can please?

The simple fact is: We are never satisfied; we always want more and often times, demand more from the people we care about.

The important thing is how You see Yourself.

But before You do that, let us take a walk through my eyes;

and make You see for Yourself, how I see You.

I see you as STRONG

                                           

You are a woman of amazing strength,

Able to stand up to what you fear and not cower in the face of opposition.

You put your feelings aside and take care of others.

It takes strength to know your mistakes and learn from them.

A quick reminder: Your tears are not a sign of weakness.

You are a pillar of strenth...

A fount where others come to draw from.

I see You as CHEERFUL and BRIGHT

Your gait, Your bounce, Your vitality and the very life You bring is nothing that can be compared with;

You exude such exuberance that it lights up a room.

You open your mouth and every sadness goes away.

The quality of life that You have is unfathomable.

It is something that cannot be learnt, neither can it be transferred.

It is what stands you out from the crowd...

A quick reminder: Don't ever trade this amazing quality for anything.

I see you as DEEP

 

The vastness of your intelligence is one that cannot be matched.

When You speak, you amaze me.

Its a very great wonder where these things come from; 

Your determination and Your steel resolve...

Your wealth of knowledge mixed with Your simplicity is unnerving...

I don't need to tell You how beautiful You are, or how lovely You are...

I do not need to remind You of how happy You make others...

Neither do I need to make You see how wonderful You truly are.

You are indeed a gem...

But all that; all these awesome things I have outlined wouldn't mean a thing if You did not believe them about Yourself.

So the next time You are forced to think of Yourself as something other than all these...

My shoes are always ready, You can take a walk in them and see Yourself through my eyes...

And see Yourself...

The way You truly are.

****** This was written as a dedication to a certain somebody, who holds a certain place in my heart and has affected me in certain ways that cannot be matched************

ON A LIGHTER NOTE...

In the recent view of all that has been happening in town;

I have had to literally fight my thoughts and fingers...

I'm fighting my thoughts because I do not want to join the teeming millions who are so quick to dish out their opinions and are comfortable just sitting pretty on their butts and never take the initiative to actually "DO" something bout 'em.

I'm fighting my fingers because once I get all these crazy thoughts going on in my head, my fingers start itching to write...

So its literally been a battle for me to keep my thoughts to myself and not bore anyone with the rumblimgs of a disturbed mind.

Either ways, its a battle that I'v lost considering the fact that I'm here writing this.
I'v been at home for literally a week now; bored stiff;
My daily schedule since the strike started has been: Sleep, Wake up, Eat, Take a bath, Tweet, Tweet, Tweet, Eat, Sleep, Tweet,
Chat, Watch the news, Sleep. (ok you get the picture).
The country has been nullified by the nation wide strike and mass protests.

It is admirable that we can embrace this sense of oneness and unity. As Nigerians, we have come a really long way.

It is something that we all should be proud of; we have not reached where we wanna be but we are definitely not where we started from.

The fact that we have lost some people in this struggle for survival ( Bless their souls) and we were still not deterred;
The crowd getting bigger with each passing day is a really great feat.

For those of you who have no idea about what I'm talking about; lemme explain to you.

On the First of January, 2012, the President of Nigeria made an announcement that the subsidy on fuel had been removed.

This led to the increase in the price of fuel and currently leaves it as 141 Naira per litre of fuel.
(160 and above in some parts).

Protests ignited in different parts of the country.

OccupyNigeria was birthed.

What started as a protest of simple civilians quickly intergrated into a unifying theme.

As for the governmental aspect, I'm not going to embarass myself with my lack of knowledge.

Point is, its heroic what is going on in my country today;

We just continue to pray.

PEACE... LOVE... AND ALL GOOD THINGS...

Marie.

MY SOILED INNOCENCE...

I notice Her as She walks in, She's beautiful, She's smart, She's confident...

She's all I ever dream of being, She's what I have always envisioned myself as...

Sadly, She's what I'll never become.

I am 7 years old, I should still be a child; yet I have matured in ways you would never imagine.

She takes a seat beside me and I can't help but to reach out to her;

I begin to raise my hand when She turns to look at me...

Her smile turns cold when She sees me...

I have encountered this reaction many times before...

I should be used to it by now;

They smile naturally when they see a child but gradually, the smile turns cold in accordance to what they are feeling...

Then they look at me more closely and They begin to see how old I really am.

Sometimes, its amusing to watch you know;

Sometimes, it gives me a little joy to know that I can guess what they are thinking; the phases their thought processes pass through.

It starts with a genuine smile, then turns to shock, sometimes revulsion, then anger and eventually...

pity.

I stop my arm mid way and bow my head, my eyes fill up with tears unshed...

I can see myself through Her eyes.

I know She's reading me like a book;

She's not fooled by my pretty pink dress that mummy bought for me...

Neither is she believing the story of how I got to the hospital with a broken arm.

She gently strokes my head, my hair has been shaved off...

Revealing old scars and new ones going through the process of healing.

I look up at her and She smiles at me.

I smile back, taking comfort in the fact that I have qualified for her attention even in my very pitiable state.

I am 7 years old,

I'm in the hospital with a broken arm...

Daddy says that if I am asked, I should tell them I fell from the stairs...

That if I say otherwise, I will be taken away to a house filled with strangers.

So I cannot say how I was beaten and dragged all the way down the stairs for staining Daddy's suit.

Yes, I fell down the stairs; but it wasn't accidental;

The force of Daddy's palm across my face sent me tumbling down...

My mystery lady keeps on scrutinizing me...

At this point, I know that She can see the bruises around my neck and arms...

Much more apparent are the bruises on my face...

And the tell tale healing wounds at the back of my shaved head.

I am 7 years old...

Yet I have seen what most people haven't seen...

I am 7 years old...

Yet my thoughts are those of a 30 year old...

I am 7 years old...

Yet I have seen and experienced adulthood...

I am 7 years old..

A child... yet an adult...

I am 7 years old...

And I have been raped.