Being a parent is difficult. Nobody really teaches you how to be one, you learn on the job. As adults, we understand this (hopefully), but you know who doesn’t understand? Your young children! When they are young, they think you are the most wonderful thing that happened to them, then they start to grow up and they have thoughts and opinions. Then they have dreams that…
For the next few weeks, I’ll be writing a series on reducing relationship tension during this period of COVID-19. It’s been over two months since the Coronavirus has forced us to limit social and physical contact. While some people living alone may be experiencing increased isolation, those living together may be ‘driving each other crazy.’ There are higher rates of domestic violence, and increased tension within…
Do you remember the stories your parents told you when you were a child? I remember the times in Cameroon when the lights went out and we had to entertain ourselves. Sometimes we told African folk tales. I'm sad that I can’t remember the details of many of them, they are vague memories. African storytelling is something cultural that was passed on from generation to generation.…
It was sometime in the afternoon on a sunny day in Yaoundé, Cameroon. I was about 10 years old (maybe younger). My mom was driving, it was just both of us in the car. I don’t think I was supposed to be holding her work papers while sitting close to a half-opened window. All I remember is seeing the papers fly outside of the window. Fortunately,…
Since this post is about storytelling, let’s start with the story of how this post came about. I had the idea to write about African storytelling three weeks ago and I wrote a few paragraphs, and thought to myself, “I’ll come back to it later.” I knew I needed to add to it before I post today. Two days ago, I resumed working on it, but…
My people! It’s almost May, the month of graduation for many seniors and graduate students. The month of May marks the beginning of the end of an academic year. I can feel that May 2020 is going to be a weird month because we are forced to do things differently due to the coronavirus. I am also reminded that this weird season is not just about…
I don’t know about you, but quarantining is getting harder for me. Last week, I was so full of ideas about things to do while at home that I wrote about it here. This week, I feel tired and in need of rest and self-care.A few years ago, I came up with the acronym below to help me remember how to tend to my needs. Try…
When I was a kid, my dad used to have us write essays as punishment. I remember having to write about family trips and other topics that I blocked out of my memory. I didn’t like it, but as an adult, I see how good of a punishment that was. Teach your children skills while also getting into their minds to see what they think. I…
Times like these can cause us to question God. We can wonder where God is and why God seems silent. In addition, staying home and spending a lot of time with self can bring us face to face with our own struggles.The spoken word poetry video below is on someone wrestling with God. (Watch till the second half to get the response to her questions.) After…
I’m finding it hard writing about the things I want to express because I can tell that our minds are somewhere else. We are thinking about coronavirus. It is difficult to divert our attention when the whole world is shaken by COVID-19. But then, we can’t stop the seasons from changing, we can’t tell the calendar to stop moving forward nor tell spring to wait until…