Grounded Narratives

Like everybody else, I began this year on a very positive note. I hoped for a better year than I had had in 2017. I had a plan that I laid out and I was determined to accomplish a lot of what was on my 2018 list. I once heard someone say that sometimes you plan and it doesn't work out not because you haven't put in enough effort but because God has other plans for you. So the first three months of 2018 were completely upside down for me. Everything seemed to be going wrong. I won't lie to you and tell you that I carried on happy in spite of everything that wasn't working. I struggled to smile, to wake up in the morning, to face my day, to be around people. However, I was determined to find lasting happiness. I wanted to find a way that would ensure that I remained happy even when life seemed to be going against me. I did my research and tried out a few things and found the 5 ways listed below that I have now been putting into practice for the last four or so month...

It's very hard having to select a few instances of my life and label them as my most cherished memories. Nevertheless, I have selected five events, listed below that I would consider very memorable mostly because they were either goals that I had or said events changed the course of my life for the better. 1. The first time I held Elly The very first time I held my daughter, I felt so much love at the sight of her. I couldn't believe that she was finally in this world. If I was to quantify them, this would be my most cherished memory. 2. Finally getting my driving license Going to driving school has been on my to do list for about three years now and something always happened that made me postpone going for classes. But this year, I finally did and I am so happy to strike this item off my to do list for 2018. 3. Starting my shop Having a clothing store has always been a dream of mine. One of my goals when I started this blog was to eventually have my own shop. Th...

It's been a while since I had to think about my fears. I recently went to driving school and on my third day my instructor told me to stop being afraid and I remember laughing and telling him that there are very few things that I'm afraid of in this life and driving on Nairobi roads isn't one of them. But in all honesty, there's maybe one or two things that I am afraid of and the biggest of my fears is regret. I'm the kind of person who would love to look back on my life and be satisfied with every aspect of it, the good, the bad and the ugly. For the most part, I look at the path my life has taken with a positive outlook. I cherish the good things that have happened and I have chosen to learn from all the challenging events that I have been through. I don't regret any of my past decisions. There have been certain moments that upon reflection I wished that I had gone a different route or that life had dealt me different cards but then I look at the events...

One of the things that is constantly on my bucket list is to travel more. When I think of travelling, it isn't only limited to going abroad. I am quite happy going to different parts of Kenya and Africa. This reminds me of a trip I took to the Egyptian pyramids way back in 2010. It was a short trip, a day and a night, while we were enroute elsewhere.  This trip was memorable because it was the first time I had been abroad and I remember being so excited. Egypt was hot! But that didn't dampen my spirits. I was too excited to be seeing one of the wonders the world. (My pics aren't that great. I was just starting out in photography.) Seeing the massive blocks of stone used to put up the pyramids really made me think, how did the slaves get them to the top? When I think about it now, I am amazed at how much determination and hardwork can achieve. This is a lesson I will carry with me throughout my life and that I will teach my daughter. When I think of all the trips ...

Mother's Day is around the corner and while this post would have been best suited for that day, I couldn't hold off putting it up any longer. As I have mentioned innumerable times here on the blog, motherhood is a continuous learning experience. There can never be a time when you think you know it all because with each passing day, your baby grows older and experiences things for the first time and you both have to learn how to handle the emotions that these new experiences bring up. For that reason, it is only fitting that as a first-time mum, you seek out other, more experienced mothers to guide you through these previously uncharted waters. I'm guessing by now that you can more or less tell who the person I admire most is; my mother. The older I get and the more I get into this journey called motherhood I have learned to appreciate her more and more and to learn from her. She is the strongest woman I know; she doesn't let life's challenges put her down. S...

My wishlists always contain something fashion related. Because my weekday outfits are usually on the more casual side, I noticed that I was lacking in the more smart department so I have started adding more structured, smart pieces to my wardrobe. Along with fashion, I have a few tech items that I want to acquire in the course of the next couple of months. Below are 6 things that are currently on my wishlist. 1. Structured handbag Not necessarily designer although those would be amazing, I would love a smart black structured bag, this Chanel one is top on the list, as well as a bag with a nice pop of colour.  2. Shoes For shoes, I have fallen head over heels in love with these embroidered shoes. I particularly like that they have a block heel because I honestly can't survive too long in stilettos. I would also like a pair of knee-high boots. 3. Cork board After all these years, I have finally started working on my vision board. I started by crea...

I first came across this quote when doing research for a paper many years ago and it has been my life mantra ever since. I'm the sort of person who has to struggle not to please others. I have to make an effort to think about what I want in life and then go for it regardless of what others will say or I imagine they will say about me. Growing up, I felt like I was under constant scrutiny; maybe I was, maybe I wasn't. It wasn't until I went off to uni that I finally felt like I could make my own decisions without having to justify them to anyone. I enjoyed my newfound "freedom". I made mistakes, no doubt, but I didn't beat myself up over them because I chose to see them as a learning experience instead of a failure. It was at this point that I learnt how imperfect a perfect life is. Years later, life has been lived, mistakes have been made, lessons have been learned and I still consciously make an effort to remind myself that this is my life, the decisi...

In no particular order... 1. Lance Gross 2. Usher (the older version) 3. Winston Duke 4. Chadwick Boseman 5. Idris Elba Photo credits: 1 Thank you for stopping by.

Happy Friday loves. I'm feeling so encouraged having managed to do the first five days of my 30 day blogging challenge. I like that I am able to open up and let you know more about me. Please let me know how you are finding the challenge so far.  Day five of the challenge is all about my daily routine but in bullet form. I wake up at around 6:30 a.m. and go to bed by around 9:30 p.m. Because I work from home, I have learnt how to manage my time well and work smart so that I can achieve a lot in a short period of time. Without further ado, here is a break down of my day. Wake up Morning reflections and prayers Breakfast  Plan my day Make my bed & tidy up Prepare my daughter Workout Get ready for the day Work (Blog, shop or run errands) Lunch Spend time with my daughter Work Take a break to relax and spend time with family Prepare & have dinner Catch up on my Youtube subscriptions or movie or series Sleep I should point out that this series ...

Music has always been a huge part of my life and very much so lately. I had almost forgotten the power of music when it comes to improving your mood, getting you psyched up for the day and expressing yourself at any given moment. I have cried, laughed, loved, become motivated all with the help of music. I'm not too picky about what I listen to even though there are some genres of music that I am not the biggest fan of. I try to remain open-minded enough such that I can explore different genres and also bond with friends who might not listen to the same music that I do. Below are 10 songs that are on my playlist at the moment in no particular order. They are a mixture of more recent and older songs. This list is bound to change at any time so if you'd like I can share another 10 favourite songs when it does. 1. Would you still love me? - Brian Nhira 2. Made for you - Banky W 3. Echame la culpa - Luis Fonsi, Demi Lovato 4. IDGAF - Dua Lipa 5. Checking on you - R....

When thinking about my future, I often think of a day when I will have set up a few businesses, invested in different markets, bought a house or two and basically settled down enough not to worry too much about my income. I'm a hardworking person. I don't believe in sitting and waiting for someone to provide for me. I take pride in accomplishing my goals no matter how much effort I had to put into it. Albeit there are times when I struggle to remain positive, to keep to the grind even when results are hard to come by but then I look at my daughter and I remember why I'm doing it all. It's for her, for her future as well as mine. I want to be a great mum and not a perfect mum. I want to grow with Elly, to help her find her way in this world, to discover who she is and what she is passionate about. For my immediate future, I just want to get to a more positive place. In the last year or so I have been through quite a lot and I will admit that it drained me of my e...

When I was younger one of my lifelong dreams was to be a published writer. When I started this blog, I had my eyes set on a career in writing and guess what, even though it was a long time coming, I finally got my wish and was published! I have been working on my editorial career for almost a year now and one of my biggest accomplishments was seeing my byline attached to a story in a magazine. In the course of the last few years, I have sometimes felt like I was so far behind my peers, careerwise. But then I constantly remind myself that God has a plan for everyone and I shouldn't put deadlines for myself. Saying that by a certain age you should have accomplished this and that is not only limiting yourself but also a recipe for discouragement when you don't achieve those "accomplishments". Society doesn't help the situation at all but what I have learnt is to turn a deaf ear towards people who have such limiting thoughts and instead focus on working on myse...