‘I’m scared’ said Piglet ‘A story will help’ said Pooh ‘How?’ ‘Oh. Don’t you know? Stories make your heart grow’ Life is so weird, so funny, so fleeting. Here today, gone tomorrow. For once in my life, in my journey to become a better version of myself, I created a vision board for the year, […]
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Mental Health Issues Apply to the Average Nigerian
We need to have more conversations around mental illness. It’s 3.11am in the morning and my phone is blowing up, I curse under my breath and pick up. It’s my friend Clarine and she’s breathing heavily and crying intermittently. The sleep clears from my eyes and I’m struggling to decode what she’s saying. She says; […]
Refusing to be SAD: How I Deal with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
“I pray this winter be gentle and kind–a season of rest from the wheel of the mind.” –John Geddes The change in season—especially towards the end of the year—can be joyous and festive for some people. In November, some will enjoy great—or not so great—food and company of their families and friends during Thanksgiving. […]
Coping with Loss During the Holidays
I remember like it was yesterday. I awoke to a startling call that my brother had not returned home from the previous night. We waited to hear from him only to learn that he passed away in the middle of the night. He died on the eve of Thanksgiving. I couldn’t believe it because we […]
No Man is an Island
Mental health issues are a huge concern in Africa, and as a Nigerian, it is safe to say we do ourselves a huge disservice in allowing ourselves to be blinded to it. The more we open up to discourse about what is really happening to people, instead of leaning solely on religion to take care […]
Because I love, I grieve
People experience loss daily. The grief felt as a result of loss is hard to deal with – let alone discuss and process. And, as a Nigerian-American, my experience has been that we often don’t talk about our emotions and many times veer away from topics that lend themselves to discussions about mental health. Unfortunately, […]
Bound No More
A number of aspects of Nigerian culture have maintained themselves as taboo throughout generations. Any iteration of mental crisis, like the suggestion that a loved one may be battling an unhealthy psychological state is often unacknowledged or stigmatized, and therefore not talked about in the ways that point towards healing. In engaging this topic we […]
Self-Care
#BringBackOurGirls – What Happens When Our Girls Are Brought Back
1,096 days. 26,304 hours. 1,578,240 minutes. It’s been one thousand and ninety-six days since 276 girls were kidnapped from Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, Nigeria by the terrorist group Boko Haram. One thousand and ninety-six days since hundreds of parents have last seen their daughters and since over 190 girls have known […]
After They Win – New Year, New You, New Failures
Never let them win. The first piece of advice I can remember my father ever giving me was “never let them win.” He never defined “them”, so my “them” was left up to interpretation. Them was any intangible and tangible adversary that could ever get in the way of my greatness. This desire to never […]