Tag: writing
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Keep knowing how lucky you are!
In the middle of a very chaotic day, with my house literally in shambles, a stranger knocked at my door. He plowed snow for other homeowners in our village and wanted to know if we needed help plowing our snow. He noted that he used to plow for the previous owner and he would love…
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Keep empathy!
What would you do, if you had a water leak? In your home? On your ceiling or your brand-new kitchen, brand new cabinetry? Would you scream, yell, even curse, as you try to make sense of the endless outpouring of water, snow, ice, melting too quickly and bursting pipes? Or would you remain calm, remain…
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Keep your blessings in mind!
Yesterday, the front of our house, was full of birds. Robins are found almost year round in Missouri. At the back, there were deers. Mule deers with their antlers still on their head. To be surrounded by abundance, in my front and my back, by nature’s finest creatures is a thing of joy. Brilliant and…
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Keep our silent knowing!
‘Palm on the glass, touching. Face to face, I stand. Unspeaking, I look into my eyes. Silent, knowing.’ In the book ‘The Origin of Others,’ Toni Morrison shared a story about a trip to Vienna Biennale. She described being in a room with artworks on display. She was asked to enter a dark room where…
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Keep knowing where you are from!
We named our daughter Lotanna to remember our father, our son Chiwetel to marvel at the gift we got from God, our other son Olisadubem for God to be his guide, and our baby Ranyenna to be grateful and as a reminder to give God what belongs to him always. The names we gave our…
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Keep Anna Julia Cooper in mind, this Black History Month!
In the spirit of Black History Month, my family and I have been reading about Anna Julia Cooper, the 4th African American woman to earn a doctorate, something she accomplished in 1924. Anna Julia Cooper was as fearless as she was powerful, as sublime as she was effortless in her discussions not only on the…
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Keep motherhood like crawling and the ground in mind!
Have you ever tried to crawl? To place your hands on the ground, your knees as well, and slowly meander forward. Have you ever gone lower? This time, with placing your stomach, flatly on the ground and slowly meander forward. What if you placed an object afar? Then slowly, even effortless, meander forward, towards the…
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Keep the sighting of a deer in mind!
Imagine seeing a deer for the first time in awhile. On a snowy or dry day. Along a road full of tall trees or in a park or a village where people and animals co-live. What would you do? Would you pause and take in the beauty. Its gaze, its tenderness, its stride or even…
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Keep basking in your writing!
Insights into life of working mothers and the pandemic are rare. Not the stories of coping well, but the pitched battle of silence and survival. When I come across these insights (see picture below), I feel seen. The past 11 months of the pandemic has been debilitating slowly. It has taken a lot to make…
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Keep writing even when tired!
Almost missed a day of writing. I reminded myself not to. Yet it almost happened. Writing is indeed a tough business. It takes dedication and time and I applaud all writers who do this everyday non stop. This post also is short and reminder to myself to keep writing. I realize that it is easy…
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Keep understanding with mistakes!
In one of my daughter’s journal entry for school, she was asked ‘what makes her family special?’ She wrote: My family is special because we are always fun.’ I chuckled. But the next sentence made me alert. She wrote: ‘They also understand whenever I make mistakes.’ As a family, we are keenly aware that mistakes…
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Keep what matters still!
The past few days have been filled with work. Not the kind of work that academics love to do. But the one that people who truly love what they do. It’s sublime, forces you to be still, so the words flow. Word work is becoming my solace in the middle of this pandemic. It’s not…
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Writing with Juliet Iwelunmor 