Tag: blogging

 “We do not remember days, we remember moments.” — Cesare Pavese

Bloganuary writing prompt
List five things you do for fun.
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Hello hello! Welcome back! I had to check the dictionary to ensure that my definition of fun fits the description.  Fun is defined as “enjoyment, amusement, or light-hearted pleasure.” I do pretty average stuff for fun.

1. Read

This is my favourite thing in the world to do. I love sci-fi, mysteries, spy novels and historical dramas. I have bought a few African-authored novels to read this year and am currently reading Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie as a start.  I hope to get through at 4-5 this year.

2. Visiting new places

I don’t do this often enough. It’s also the one thing that my son will most likely give his games up for. He also enjoys exploring new spaces and having new experiences. It feels like it broadens our perspective and experience of the world we live in.

3. Walking

My friend and I try to walk in her neighbourhood at least once weekly. She has the hills to challenge us and is surrounded by beautiful scenery. We are often awed by the stunning sunsets we witness every week. No two sunsets are ever the same.

a sunset
A sunset witnessed during one of our walks

4. Spending time with friends and loved ones

I find nothing more soothing for my soul than spending quality time in the company of my friends and family. I feel anchored. I feel loved, and I feel at peace when I am with them. 

5. Spending time with the cats

They entertain me with their array of personalities and the antics they get up to. They are a real blessing when my son goes away because I can focus on looking after them rather than wallow in the fact that I am missing my child.

Creator unknown

There are other things I enjoy doing as well, like playing Scrabble online, doing crosswords and sudoku, listening to and dancing to music, etc.

Do you enjoy any of these activities?

Thanks for stopping by. Be blessed.

Prejudice is a mist, which… often dims the brightest and obscures the best of all the good and glorious objects that meet us on our way- Lord Shaftesbury

Bloganuary writing prompt
If you could un-invent something, what would it be?
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We are more than halfway through January, which means Bloganuary, too! 😱. Where does the time go? Well done, everyone, for getting this far! Thank you to all who have participated in my journey by reading, commenting and/or liking my posts. You are helping to make this an awesome experience.

Hmmm…back to the prompt. I have no idea what I would uninvent. If I were really forced to pin something down, it would be prejudices. I have just read a blog where racism was mentioned, and I would like to add ageism, judging people by their level of intelligence, or their facial features, or their body shape. There are so many other ways in which we judge our fellow man. It is so ingrained in us. I am definitely just as guilty.

Image: created on Canva

Imagine a world where we just accepted each other as fellow human beings and respected each other for our strengths rather than deliberately “creating weaknesses” to judge each other by. Here’s the thing: together, we all make this world work in some way or another. 

So yes, I would definitely uninvent prejudices. What would you uninvent?

Thanks for popping by! Be blessed!

“One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.” — Paulo Coelho

Bloganuary writing prompt
Can you share a positive example of where you’ve felt loved?
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I have read this prompt over and over and I keep asking myself if people have negative examples of where they have felt love? Anyway…I feel loved every day and I only realised this while contemplating a response to this prompt. I don’t think i have ever felt unloved. I have felt unappreciated and perhaps like my presence is unwanted in certain spaces (as can happen), but I have never felt unloved.

Throughout my life, I have been the apple of my dad’s eye. Knowing this, I never had reason to question whether I was loved or not. Knowing that I am loved by someone and, more recently, understanding and accepting that I am loved unconditionally by God has ensured that I don’t need to seek love anywhere. For this, I am eternally grateful, as I know that not everyone has this experience in life. I do find that I have a need to be seen, appreciated and respected. 

There are quite a few ways that this can happen that works for me. An example would be when someone acknowledges something that I have said. It doesn’t matter whether they agree with me or not; what matters is that they hear me. I don’t know why, but that is very important to me. I guess if I looked at my life through the lens of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the bottom three rungs are taken care of (physiological, safety and security, love and belonging), and I tend to look to others to take care of some of my esteem needs, in particular, recognition and respect. 

I am actually blown away that this has been quite an insightful little exercise. I think I have discovered something important about myself! Whadda you know! 🤪 I must admit that until this moment, I hadn’t quite been able to internalise the quote from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Now, I can finally say, “I get it.” 😊

Image: Created on Canva

What insights did you come up with when you contemplated this question?

Thanks for stopping by. Be blessed.