Tag: academia
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Keep your struggles.
I am always mesmerized by an interview Chinua Achebe gave on NPR back in 1988. In it he told a story about a tortoise and a leopard. The leopard meets the tortoise on a lonely stretch of road. He had been trying to catch the tortoise for a long time. Tortoise, being a trickster, always…
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Keep Mount Zion!
This is not for your feelings. Or mountains burning with fire. Or places dark and gloomy. Or unending winds and storms. Even if trembling or afraid. Smash those feelings against a rock. For this is not about you. Rather, this is for those approaching Mount Zion. Those dwelling in the city of God. Those surrounded…
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Keep what matters to you!
A couple of days ago, my daughter shared a drawing of all the things she loved. She call it her tree of love. Her name was nestled in the middle of a big green tree and surrounded by all the things that matter to her like playing music, writing, sleeping, swimming and doing somersaults. This…
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Keep grants as stories with lessons from Lorraine Hansberry!
Of what use are grants? If you think about this deeply, you will discover that it’s use are infinite. Of course some use it for their research. Some to propel their careers. I have always believed they can be used to tell stories. I remember the very first grant I wrote over 14 years ago.…
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Keep knowing that failure is an option!
Failure is always an option. That’s my mantra these days. I have failed in so many aspects of my life. The one that I keep doing these past days is motherhood. No, mothering is not easy. It has never been. It takes effort and patience and moving in some direction even if it seems like…
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Keep beginnings of grants!
‘Like desire, language disrupts, refuses to be contained within boundaries.’ These opening lines of bell hooks essay on ‘Language’ in her book Teaching to Transgress is my muse for today. Not only for the meaning behind these words, but for the simplicity of the lines. I am in the final stages of prepping for my…
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Keep the gift of misery with grant writing
Grant writing is writing full of misery. Suffering, despair, anxiety, pain, torture, even hell. It has taken years to see that this too is a gift, not pleasure. But a gift. I am on a quest to understand the purpose of this misery and why it matters for writing your best grants. Not your most…
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Keep this grace, so amazing!
Finally, this day of grace, so amazing, has arrived. This day will forever be etched in my memory now. Not because of what I get to call myself from today, A full Professor, but more so for the untenable reality I molded for myself, reduced to manageable, transforming essence, my way, now my knowing so…
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Keep knowing your Dharma!
What is your Dharma? It’s the one question Jay Shetty asks in his book ‘Think like a Monk.’ What is that thing you are good at? The thing that agitates you, helps you thrive, keeps you grateful or helps you serve others meaningfully. That thing that is a sprinkle of passion with some skills and…
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Keep Light!
Welcome to LIGHT. Welcome to the transformative force we call LIGHT. Welcome to its flame Welcome to its fire Welcome to its ray Welcome to its shine Welcome to its spark Welcome to its utter brilliance, Welcome to its radiant reflection Welcome simply to a day we hope to clarify that the public in a…
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Keep persisting Class of 2022!
I sat through my first pre-commencement graduation at Saint Louis University today. There were many many highs and tearful moments. Some made me smile and others brought tears to my eyes. Imagine working so hard for your degree, even knowing what you will do upon graduation, just for the Lord to call you back home.…
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Keep all your invisible inks!
The images you have of me. Mother, researcher, doing work in far away places. All of them are true. But those that are invisible. Everything hidden, under, and in between the lines like Toni Morrison’s invisible ink, are the bones that keep me tall and erect. One day, I will leave you hoping to see…
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Writing with Juliet Iwelunmor 