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Discussing Activism. Plus, Allow Me To Re-Introduce Malala

Malala YousafzaiMalala Yousafzai

There are a lot of activists that I admire. Malala Yousafzai, however, is my latest favourite. You have probably heard the story of how she was shot by the Taliban at age 15 in 2012, for being outspoken about education rights for girls in Pakistan. Malala recovered. When I heard about that story, I was so proud of her for standing up for what she believed in. I must be honest, though, that I had not followed Malala’s journey till yesterday, when I read that she arrived in Nigeria last week to show her support for the Bring Back Our Girls campaign. According to the tabloids, while addressing parents of the missing Chibok girls, Malala said: “I can see those girls as my sisters … and I’m going to speak up for them until they are released”. I found it amazing and admirable how she is still a strong campaigner for girls rights to education and obviously, there is no stopping her. Note that she just turned 17 years old, last Saturday.

Very recently, I was questioning myself about when I actually started being an activist and what led me to activism. I knew that I started tending towards activism last year (2013) but what exactly led me to it, I was not sure – there were too many things. In summary, however, I was tired of the seemingly endless world issues that I was hearing and sad about. At a point, I started taking action, in the way that I could. I would take an issue to Facebook to express how I felt and to raise awareness. Then, early this year, I decided to start a blog. I felt that it would be a medium for myself and other people who are passionate about social justice, to interact. Hence, I started this blog – Blurred Creations. With a blog, I am more accountable to my heart’s thumping to social injustices because now I have a place where I can spill all my thoughts in as much words as I want, and give solutions to social justice issues.

Is activism easy?

Definitely not. Everyday in our world, very preventable social justice issues such as: senseless violence, racism, religious bigotry and others alike, occur. So, as an activist, you kind of have a full time job dealing with negative, saddening things. Thus, there are definitely intervals of hopelessness with this job, but passion keeps the activist going.

I encourage every individual, whether you identify as an activist or not, to be a peaceful defender of the oppressed and wrongly victimized.

Love & Peace,

Chiamaka. 

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Sometimes, It’s Okay Not To Spend Your Time On ‘Promising Opportunities’

Trying to understand when or what is ‘the right opportunity’ is definitely a task worth doing. Don’t say ‘Yes’, if you have not taken enough time to think about an opportunity and do not rush towards it, if you have not looked at its possible pros and cons.

I am one to lose sleep over a good opportunity and I will tackle it, before I sleep. In certain instances, the sleepless nights over rose-coloured openings turn out to be worth the while. Other times, they are unsuccessful. Recently, I took my time and even employed the time of others, in an effort to win two separate awards that I was interested in. I had experience for both awards that I wanted to win, however I did not have enough experience. You may be thinking, “Didn’t you know this before you applied for the awards?” Well, yes I did. I had the feeling that I only possessed some, not ALL of what it takes to win the awards that I applied for, but I wanted to try still. 

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It is good to make an attempt. That act is what makes people successful. However, when you know that an opportunity that you are interested in will take a lot of effort from you, make sure that you review all its criteria, the pros and cons e.t.c. Be sure that you meet at least 80% of the requirements for that opportunity. It definitely is hard to watch an opening that we find very attractive pass by, but never forget that a similar or even better one will come by another time. Life is full of unlimited possibilities. Use the time that you plan to put into filling a long application form, sending e-mails to possible references, writing a CV, waiting in line at the bank to withdraw some money for an application form e.t.c, to make plans on how to acquire more experiences that align with your dream opportunities.

The disappointment from my award applications has taught me that it is okay to miss out on one opportunity, if the probability of success at winning it is not so high. I was recently spending lots of time looking into an opportunity that I am very interested in. However, I know that I do not meet up to the requirements so much (not even up to 80%). So, I want to skip out on it till I meet up to even more than 80% of the requirements, when the opportunity comes up again in a while.

My Question For You

– How do you tackle opportunities that really interest you? Do you rush at them without much ado or do you look at the pros and cons of them and your own ability, before you give the opportunities a go?

Let me know!

Love,

Chiamaka.

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Why Are We Not All Free?

We live in a world where most people do not know what it means to be free – to be free to go to school, associate with a particular religion, attain their life goals and the list goes on. Most people do not have life security in their own country. On the other hand, most people know what it is to have the opposite of all the things that I have listed above. Sometimes it is just hard to face the reality that we are not all treated positively equal, although some of us live in the same country.

In Nigeria, a thief or suspected thief who is caught in public is beaten and burnt to death by members of the public, and the justice system does not frown at such behaviour. The practise of members of the public taking laws into their own hands has been going on for a long time, in Nigeria and that is very unimpressive.

That same backward attitude was the kind employed in late 2012, when four male undergraduate students of the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria were beaten and burnt to death. The four youngmen were accused of engaging in what I will term ‘basic theft’. They were suspected to have stolen a computer. Till today, it has not been proven that those young men who were cut off at their prime are guilty of what they were accused of doing. I cannot phantom what in the world came across the minds of the perpetrators of the murders. Did they think that they themselves were perfect? Did they consider themselves to be gods? Then I turn to the case of the on-lookers and wonder: why didn’t they rush to find help for the boys? Someone even took a video of the executions. There is yet to be justice for the families of those four boys who were taken from their families, from their schooling and from their dreams, as a result of barbaric attitudes.

In developed countries just like the one that I live in – Canada, such unauthorized executions will be evaluated seriously by the courts. The judicial systems of developed countries do not always serve what seems to be the right judgement. However, they must consider every law related to the crime before making a judgement. Why are we not all free?

Also, in Northern Nigeria, many people have been murdered for being Christians, and several youths have lost their lives for going to school. In the Eastern, Western, Southern and South-Eastern parts of the country, Muslims and Christians befriend each other, and secondary school children are not targeted for violence. Why are we not all free?

In parts of the Middle East, lots of innocent people are killed regularly. Why are we not all free?

I live in Canada and it is very admirable to see how multi-cultural the state is. Residents of Canada, including myself boast with that fact. However, not all cultures in this celebrated multicultural society are equal. Aboriginals in Canada for a long time, even since the 19th century, have been treated as unequal to other Canadians. Aboriginals in Canada live in very poor conditions. They earn less than the Canadian minimum wage and the rate of employment for them is very low. Why are we not all free?

The scenarios that I have discussed above are just a few of the injustices that citizens of our world go through. If you are free, help the captive know what freedom looks like. Take peaceful action to elevate the oppressed in your society and in other societies. We were all made equal, so we need to put a stop to the man-made structures that try to tint reality and group equals into different categories.

Read the reflections of my sister who is an experienced blogger, on the murders of the University of Port Harcourt boys here: http://www.kalaharireview.com/nonfiction/2013/4/2/the-art-of-mourning.html

Peace,

Chiamaka.

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Make that purchase, Flip that cover, Click on that post – Read lots!

“Knowledge is power”. Yes!! The more you acquire knowledge, the more powerful you become. One of the best ways to possess knowledge is by reading … by reading lots of things. Reading arms people with a great deal of knowledge. The more you read, the more confident you are in making arguments on a particular subject; the better you can connect with your audience on a particular subject; the more you succeed in your academics. To cut the story short, the more you read, the closer you move to the peak of your life goals.

Reading has definitely turned my life around in a very positive way. In high school, reading my textbooks was my one of my greatest pet-peeves and that attitude definitely affected my performance in some courses, adversely. I am an undergraduate Public Administration student now and I value my course textbooks even more than my course notes, sometimes. To the knowledge that I have gained from my professor during a considerably short lecture period, I gain more by taking more time to read my very detailed (usually) textbooks. Outside of the classroom, I confidently engage in conversations that revolve around the things that I have learnt in school because I have armed myself by reading my textbooks often.

Reading blogposts or newspaper articles or novels often are also ways through which you can increase your wealth of knowledge. Blogposts and novels in particular have a way of influencing our lifestyles. You probably have that moment when you read someone’s novel or blogpost and you feel like “Wow! So I am not alone?”, “Wow! That worked for you? I have been doubting myself” e.t.c. I especially find reading blogposts that relate to my interests very encouraging because they are not made up stories but real-life events and practices that the writer has been through or is still going through. It is easy to connect with people who share your interests, when they share their story because it might be similar to yours or it may paint a picture of what you can achieve by following your heart.

I am not the storyreading-loving person that I used to be when I was about 11 or so, but I am planning to make a significant improvement this summer. It is with that knowledge of the healing power of true life stories that I wrote about in the previous paragraph that I decided to buy the book, The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I bought that book in April this year; at a time when I was trying to heal from constant depression. I started reading it in May. I am still on the book – remember what I said about losing my storyreading-loving habit? Lol!

Arm your self with confidence and wisdom constantly – read lots!

Happy reading,

Chiamaka.

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Adventurous Over Being Ordinary

Imagined limitations can sometimes be the only obstacles in the way of you achieving success with your goals. Negative thinking, though not the preferable option over positive thinking is the chosen option, most of the time. Comparing your ‘out-of-my-comfort-zone’ dreams and your life to the dreams and the life of the majority of people around you can hinder accomplishments too. I think negative a lot of times – so much that in most of those cases, I need someone to talk me out of such a state of mind. My negativity usually affects my emotional state but not my productivity – this is not a advantage. No form of negativity is an advantage. The point that I should highlight is that I have moved beyond that stage where comparing myself with others, non-encouraging comments and negative thinking affected my productivity. There are lots of beneficial opportunities that can only be tapped into by those who move outside of their comfort zone, by the adventurous ones who know that failure and rejection are possibilities, but yet still want to try. No matter how old, poor, rich, healthy or popular you are, if you think of a great idea, put that idea into action. Don’t think of why your idea will not work out or how others are doing just fine by living simple, ‘non-out-of-my-comfort-zone’ lives. Here is a quote by the Late Steve Jobs that I found out about and which I like: “Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.” I definitely want to be “crazy enough” to believe in and go after those dreams of mine that seem unique and necessary. I want to keep challenging myself to move out of my comfort zone so that I can achieve my dreams. I want to keep being adventurous. How about you? I am hoping that your answer is “Me too!” 🙂

Love & Peace,

Chiamaka.      

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The Friendship Challenge

I have written a post on happiness before. In that post, I mentioned that one of my major happiness boosters is spending time with friends. My conception is that many people feel that way about having quality time with friends too. Making new friends also helps to foster happiness. As we maintain already built friendships, we should look for ways to make new friends too. Never feel like you do not need more people in your life unless the people that you have been meeting have characters that you find repelling. Being that I have a strong passion for social justice and entrepreneurship, I am determined to connect with people who share my interests, on social networks; go out to more events when I get back to Canada from my summer-long vacation and of course, be more outspoken about my interests. My aim is to meet people who share my interests, and build a friendship with such people. Also, by being more social I will have more sources of happiness added to my life. So, I encourage everyone to be well involved in their community and in life in general. However, make sure that you do not overcrowd your calendar with extra-curricular activities, even though they are useful. If you fill up your calendar with too much extracurricular activities in the midst of your daily tedious schedule, what should be fun would become stressful. Earlier this week, my friend, Jemmy, gave me a task which I have named The Friendship Challenge. She wrote: “I’m giving you an assignment: one new name by the end of the week”. “Hang out in common places and say hi! Should be an interesting experiment”. I was skeptical about it for a bit, then I thought it was a good challenge. I hate to be negative on this, but I don’t know how well I am going to fair on the “experiment” as I am in a new city for the summer, I don’t know the area well and using the pubic transport often, will cost some money. However, with the Friendship Challenge, I am determined to meet at least one new person every week. This challenge has given me somewhat of a happiness boost. I am transferring The Friendship Challenge to you too. The only exception is that you do not have to report to me. However, make a goal to speak to at least one new person by the end of every week. The person may not seem interested in following up with you, but give it a try. Give new friendships a try!

My Question For You

Have you ever had to do a Friendship Challenge? If yes, what was the experience like?  

Love & Peace,

Chiamaka.    

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What We Can Learn from Our Favourite Entertainers

Happy Summer everyone!!:) Every one has entertainers (**focusing on musicians for this post**) that he or she admires very much. The first thing that is most likely to bring about the attraction is their art – their voice, their lyrics, their moves; before anything else. In our eyes, our favourite musicians are perfect at what they do. It seems like their perfection is innate. However, if you take a moment to ponder on all those things that make your favourite musicians special, you will reach a point where entertainment becomes inspirational. At this point, you can understand their ‘perfection’ and you can believe that you can also be seen to be connoisseur in our own different or maybe even similar field, in your own unique way. Entertainers create from their talent and they build upon their talent through entrepreneurship. Let’s look at the steps one by one: – Talent: Every human being has a talent. The responsibility to find what we are good at and do it rests on us. If you are a fan of Michael Jackson, you would probably agree that when you watch him performing, there is usually a sudden rush of euphoria that takes over the body. Then there is also that period of perplexity at how a human being could be so talented. Some like me would say that no one can ever perform as good as Michael Jackson. However, just like Michael Jackson, anyone can explore his/her own talent unapologetically (like Michael) and be an expert in his/her own art. – Create: Entertainers create with their talent. No human being was born an expert at anything. As you live, you learn and amend. Successful entertainers have toiled to be professionals at singing/rapping or at singing/rapping and dancing because they found either of those things to be what they love to do. Discover your strengths, work on them and create from your talent. Be unapologetic with your talent(s). Don’t think of the negative things that people may say and must importantly, do not be negative yourself. Your talents are yours to explore, not to waste. – Build: This is that stage after you have determined what your talent is and you have started putting it to work. When you do what you love, you are automatically building. You are building up a list of admirers, a list of references, a list of fans and definitely, you are building for yourself, lots of opportunities. It is indeed true that nothing beats talent because that is the only thing coupled with passion that can yield positive results. People love high achievers, hence why I mentioned above that you will establish for yourself, a lot of useful resources by sticking to your talent and doing what you love. Also, when you create on your talent, you are automatically building a brand.

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Some of our favourite musicians build; they are entrepreneurs with them being their own brand. Their names fill up concert halls, sell tickets and their names persuade people, their stories have a deeper meaning to their fans and thus, their stories motivate e.t.c.  50 Cent is an author, Britney Spears has a fragrance business; Michael Jackson continues to make even money after his death – why? Michael Jackson, the human being was a brand, thanks to all his hard work. My task for you today is that you think of the exact things that make you admire your favourite musicians and find a way to connect those things that make them seem ‘extraordinary’ to your own interests. Make the best of your talents, my friends. Also, tomorrow will mark the 5th anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death. He is my top favourite musician and reflecting on his life inspired me to write this post. Thank you, Michael, for all the love, joy and inspiration that you put into our world. Keep resting in peace.

Love & Peace,

Chiamaka.        

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Between An Enormous GDP and The Possibility of A Catastrophe In B.C.

On Tuesday, the federal government of Canada approved of Enbridge Inc.’s Northern Gateway pipeline proposal. If you are not very familiar with what this proposal entails, here is a summary: – The Northern Gateway pipeline project if undertaken, will reportedly generate $300 billion to Canada’s GDP at the point of the project’s completion. – The pipelines if finally put in place, will constantly transfer oil from Bruderheim in Alberta, to Kitimat in British Columbia, for a while. The federal government approved of the proposal and have given it a ‘go ahead’ as long as some conditions are met. Those conditions being that: – the project must meet the 209 conditions suggested by the National Energy Board – B.C.’s Aboriginal community gives its opinion on the project These conditions are yet to be met. You might be wondering, “Why all these procedures?” Well, research shows that about 30% of the people living in the North Coast of B.C., where Kitimat is located, depend on the marine industry for jobs. Also, if you are Canadian or if you have ever been to B.C., you will know that the province is surrounded by lots of water and vegetation. A beautiful province. It does not come as a surprise that the province attracts tourists. In the North Coast of B.C. as is probably the case in other parts of B.C., people spend time at the waters for recreation. Research shows that residents get food from the waters too – that is cost-effective. TBCCWDisplay.ms

Now, there are talks of placing oil-carrying pipelines in the Kitimat waters for economic gain. However, what happens if the Northern Gateway project gets executed and an oil spill occurs? No other part of the country is bound to suffer like B.C. . The vibrant waters of the North Coast of the province will be highly polluted, jobs will be lost, tourism may be affected and the cost of living in the area will increase. A majority of British Columbians have opposed the Northern Gateway project including many of B.C.’s First Nations peoples. The government of British Columbia is yet to give the proposal a ‘Yes’. It has set out five conditions – http://ow.ly/i/5X3lX that must all be met before the project can be executed. However, with conditions or no conditions, the Northern Gateway pipeline proposal as hard as it is to resist, is not a project that should be given much positive consideration for execution. If the Northern Gateway pipeline project gets underway and something goes wrong, British Columbia’s environment and economy will be affected badly. Every Canadian wants our economy to keep getting better and better, but definitely not at the expense of so many important factors. To the Canadian public, our politicians and to all British Columbians, let us not allow the Kitimat environment and the environment of British Columbians as a whole, to be put at risk. Let us say ‘No’ to this Enbridge proposal.

Peace,

Chiamaka.  

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Defeating Depression and Striving For A Fulfilled Life

On Christmas day last year, I saw a lady attempt to commit suicide. I was in Colorado for the December break. I can still remember the scene pretty well. The lady laid down on the road, where cars where supposed to be passing! Cars halted and finally, someone got her to stand up. The scene got me emotional. Why would someone want to die that way?, why did she choose Christmas day?, why did she want to end her life? – these were the questions that I asked myself that day. The answers to those questions, I could only imagine. One thing was for sure though – the lady was unhappy. Unhappiness is an inveterate degrader. It makes us think negative of ourselves and others. We cannot feel beautiful, handsome, hopeful or strong when we let unhappiness take the best of us. Don’t dwell on those people/those things that make you unhappy. If you can’t control yourself when it comes to dwelling on anger and unhappy events (a situation that I often find myself in), seek the services of a close friend, close family member(s). If all these people don’t seem to be very effective, waste no time and book an appointment with a therapist. A truth which may be hard to believe is that life is not perfect for anyone. Everybody has problems – they are an inevitable feature that comes with living. I like the following quote by Sam Cawthorn: “The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything but they make the most of everything.” Although I have this inner mantra that I can never kill myself, I have thought of doing it several times. If I had ever succeeded in killing myself, I definitely would have missed out on a lot of things that ended up bringing happiness to my life. I would have missed out on some amazing new people that have come into my life. Of course, I would have missed out on my passion for using my writing to try to make positive change in the human mind and in the world. Do I still get sad? Yes, I do. Do I feel hopeless at times? Oh, yes. Can I escape such feelings while living? No, but I would rather keep training myself to focus on the positive knowing that I, like everyone else was created to accomplish a purpose in the midst of obstacles. So, I hope that you will start practising to “make the most” of life! Also, be a helper to those in your life who are suffering from depression or constant unhappiness. Don’t look down on them. Encourage them to be stronger. If needed, help seek treatment for such people. Sending you all lots of happiness and positive energy. Wish someone the same today:)

Love & Peace,

Chiamaka.  

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Do You Ever Burn The Black and The Grey?

A 9am to 5pm job, schoolwork, family responsibilities are just a few examples of the many useful things that we focus on so much that we make them seem like bad things. We focus a great deal on such things that we forget about balance. We forget to make time to unwind –  work-out, have a good laugh at the movies, have a good time with friends, explore the city that we live in, we may even forget to make time to cook, e.t.c. However, we should not forget about such things and the likes of them that lighten the inevitable hard work and persistence that come with living. When you balance your life by making time to both work and play, you give yourself room to de-stress and be a happier person. Get a gym membership, join a sports team, join a book club, register for a fun volunteer job in your community e.t.c. Good planning is a great way to ensure that you are living a balanced life. Plan what you hope to accomplish each day and within each daily schedule, make sure you set out time to relax. Don’t fill your whole schedule for a day, with work. Making time to eat is not the same as making time to rest. Another key to achieving a balanced life is to believe that you deserve to be happy. Really, you do! While it’s great to work your best to make a name/a living for yourself, and also to maintain order in the household, it is not good to not have a plan B for when our positive goals tweak us. When we don’t have a plan B, we get stressed at failed plans and our mood easily becomes overcome by such failed plans. Rest when you feel like it. Don’t rest or have fun only when your plans get perfect. Gradually work together with your family members to make things right when there are problems. Never lose hope in success. Make plans to ensure that you are living a balanced life. Do away with the dullness of doing the same thing over and over again. Time will sort things out. If something doesn’t work out today – tomorrow, next week, next year holds hope.

My Questions For You – What do you do to balance your life? – If you have ever been at a stage where you did not make enough time to have fun, how did that feel? Let me know!

Love,

Chiamaka.  

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