Circumspecte

Before I start, just a quick 'thank you' to Moi for reminding me that I even intended to share my Ramadan experience/lessons on here. Like you said, God sometimes speaks through people :) Okay, back to the scheduled program. Days two through five of Ramadan have been filled with so many lessons, I'm surprised I even have the energy to write this post. Unlike Day one which was essentially a physical test of my adaptation to the Senegalese sun and long hours, these three days have been a revolving door of churning out my thoughts and feelings. I keep going back and forth on this same issue, but this time it's a bit different. Actually, let me speak plainly. That was lesson number one: Say what you need to say. Speak your truth. Not THE truth, mind you. But YOUR truth. Most situations involve many truths. Hence speak YOUR truth. And allow others to speak their respective truths as well. I don't want to believe that God made life out to be this complicated, it'...

"Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death." - Anais Nin At different points of the earth, there once lived two oysters. Both were oysters, true. Yet one hailed from a small, pond in the middle of a grand forest, while the other rode the waves of the Atlantic. Conspicuously the same, inherently different, it so happened that the currents decided to let chance take course. -- A fisherman, well known for his skill on the high, reined in his net on a particularly promising day. However, try as he might, he caught naught but a single oyster. 'What a curious thing', he thought to himself 'The light is right, the winds on course, the shrimp is particularly fresh, yet the fish resist' Out went the nets again. And a second. And a third. But each time, only the oyster remained embedded in the criss-cross of coiled twines. 'Ver...

I'm tempted to agree with those who say that silence is the language of the soul, because words are not enough. I'm sitting on my bed, mac on lap, tryna think up the best way to express what I'm feeling right this moment, but I can't find the words. They don't do the feeling any justice. After a little hide and seek with the moon, Ramadan finally came upon those of us in Senegal. Others in France, Saudi Arabia and Ghana started yesterday, but we got another day to "prepare". But tell me, can you ever adequately prepare for Ramadan? Each year, it's the same, but slightly different. For me the consistency has been a calmness of mind, heart and soul that I can only call peace. I can't explain it fully, but over the past couple of years, my entire system kicks into auto-gear with the arrival of Ramadan and I just trust. Yes, there are still hopes, there are still fears, but over that month, it doesn't matter. Maybe its because of the heavenly pre...

 Inspired by a condominium of thoughts, and stylistically influenced by my interpretation of Regina Spektor's "Eet" They call it an outer body experience. And they're right, that's exactly what it is. It's like floating out in the universe, and watching the earth chug along on its axis. Like planning a speech to the very last detail, only to be tongue-tied when the grand moment arrives. Kin to doing the very thing you said you would never, ever, for the life of you do, and being achingly conscious as you're doing it. It's like being a mannequin on Fashion Ave. in NYC, oohed and aahed at, but never quite understood. -- They call it an outer body experience, but they forget the inner-body element. The fact that each is a universe onto themselves, and that's what makes living so  annoyingly complex. Eerily similar to that Grey's episode where a woman awoke during surgery and stared  down at her entrails. Unable to move, unable to scream, unab...

Jemi: You are soo cheating! RealJemi: No, I’m not. J: Really? RJ: Yes. I think. J: Didn’t you feed the same lines to the other fella from yesterday? RJ: Yes…but, it’s not the same. J: [Raised eyebrow] RJ: What?! This interaction has the potential for something much more different. Much better. Much more…challenging and stimulating. J: Doesn’t change anything. You’re still cheating. RJ: Ei, why? Did someone patent the lines I’m using and hire you to police the rest of us? No? Well, last I checked, there was freedom of expression and association. So mind your own business. J: What do you think they will say when they find out what you’re up to? Two-timing them the way you are. RJ: [Mischievous grin] But who says they ever have to know? -- And so it goes. The guilt-trip that follows the ritualistic love dance, mating call, whatever-you-want-to-call-it, that is West African price bargaining. They say everyone likes a good bargain. But what they don’t mention is that the true art...