107 - Be right back with the things

A quick hello and goodbye (for now)

The past few weeks have been a real life roller coaster. The days have blended into one another and most times I have to check my watch to know what day it is.

Still, I miss writing here so I thought I’d drop a quick hello and share the things I have been listening to and reading lately.

Recently I read

Dream Count by the one and only Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. If you can not tell already, I’m a big fan. I have been in love since the day I read Purple Hibiscus.

I generally try to avoid reading reviews of a book before experiencing it for myself, however I had come across some not so positive reviews of the book before reading which helped to manage my expectations.

I felt like Chimamanda used the lives of the 4 main characters in the book to explore various themes from feminism, women’s health, sexuality, politics and more. The stories felt real and honest and a true depiction of living in a female body. It wasn’t a gripping read for me and the way it was written meant I had started to forget certain parts of one characters story by the time she picked up their storyline again. Still it didn’t take much away from the entire experience.

In my opinion it is a mark of good writing when the characters evoke strong emotions and her characters certainly did. I couldn’t decide who I disliked more between Zikora and Chia but Omelogor was definitely a bit of me.

I would definitely recommend but also, I’m biased.

Recently I listened to

An episode of Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso where he interviewed Chimamanda. My friend Taynement had shared this a few days ago and I’m glad I added it to my list. This was a very tender discussion. The interviewer was clearly a fan and had done some good research. He asked his questions respectfully and tenderly, even the hard ones.

Everytime I listen to Chimamanda sepak, I am reminded why I have such a fondness for her because she really does feel like a bit of me. I echo a lot of her opinions and feel a certain kinship based on things like her being a curious girl who grew up into a feminist Igbo woman, who knows she was born to write.

She talked about her parents, writers block, the trans women are trans women debacle amongst other things. She was witty and honest and didn’t try to back out of things she had said. Oh and she also cried during the interview so we are basically twins.

I recently celebrated my 7 year escapeversary on the 23rd of April, which is the day I left Nigeria for my new home country. To be honest the time has gone by very quickly. This reminded me that whether you do the thing or not, the time will pass anyway so just do the thing(s).

I hope life is treating you kindly. Here’s wishing you a week and lifetime of making the best use of time by just doing the thing.

Chioma.