Musing

What do you do when every principle you ever stood for gets tested?

How do you react when lies, deceit and obscenities get juxtaposed as your new truth?

How do you defend the very thing that once was all you ever held onto as your belief?

How do you set up new values to substitute for what your very character was built on?

What explanation can be given for the fact that all the efforts, all the hard work seem to pass right through your fingers with no reward?

How do you face the world with your new findings about life?

How do you face the world after all the strength you ever had has come out of you from the tears that have ceased to stop flowing?

How do you explain the pain that sits in your gut and never seems to go away from the loss?

How do you explain the fact that peace and contentment seem to elude you?

Why do people tend to take good people for granted? Or why do the good ones die first?

How do you explain that sometimes love just won't be reciprocated?

Where is the world headed to with all the horror we see, hear about and live in?

How do you explain that all the trials and tests are meant to make one a stronger person as the say?

How can you explain that life comes with no manual but each person has to stumble, fall then find his/her way?

Her beautiful secret

He reappeared in her life just out of nowhere, the same way his calls came every now and then. They used to be class mates. He proposed that they meet up for lunch. While they waited for the meal, they talked of times past and filled each other in on what their lives had become; it was great to catch up. Their food was finally served and he began to stare at her in such an odd way that it made her uncomfortable and she started to spill her food. She couldn’t take it anymore so she stopped eating and stared right back at him, intensely. Then they both burst out laughing. ‘What?!’ she finally asked. He confessed then that he had always admired her but she always seemed out of his reach. She asked what changed and he teased himself saying that he only just became man enough.

Not All The Way Home 3

Part 3

Growing up was a trap Kate concluded! Life was so much easier before. Now she had to fight for what she believed in, she had to stand up for what was right and unbelievably, demand in some way  to be respected where she was looked down on. Finally, she was glad to have Mrs. in her corner as it took less energy now. Mrs. was a handful to deal with if you were not in her good books. Kate was not there to make best friends but to work, however, a cordial environment would certainly help.

The office was definitely different since six colleagues were laid off, there were mixed feelings, there was anger, people were still not convinced that the true reason was given why so many were let go. The case was reported to the National Human Rights Commission by two of the people who were let go. The Commission wrote to make enquiries of the case but was given a flimsy, very well thought out response that paralysed the Commission from taking any action. Knowing that this was an international organisation in a host country, there were restrictions as this organisation was covered by diplomatic immunities and privileges, there was not much the Commission could do.

Uncoupling

The last thing he felt like doing was wearing someone else’s skin today. He stared at the face looking at him in the mirror. It was an image he had seen every morning before he went off to work. But today, his eyes lingered over each feature. Wide eyebrows, deep brown eyes that were framed by unusually long lashes, cheekbones that were so high his cheeks hollowed out noticeably. His mouth was full with lips that thrust forward in a natural boyish pout and his skin; it was a blemish free, a smooth dark complexion that shone with health. He was perfect; on the outside.

With a determined glint in his eyes, he swung away from the mirror and walked into his private study and locked the door after him. His sleek apple desktop waited for him on the polished mahogany table, its blueish light casting an eerie shadow around the dark room. He glanced at his watch. It was almost time. He sat down in front of the computer and with one click he signed in on skype.

Her face came into focus quickly, fair and beautiful as always. Her bare pinkish lips were the first thing his eyes settled on. Her light brown eyes crinkled with a smile when she saw him.

Not All The Way Home - Part 2

Kate was left alone to her thoughts and burst into tears in shame, pity and God knows what other emotion she was feeling… Life as we know it is so unfair she thought to herself. She could not explain why she was so emotional, but her heart was fully in this. She knew the family of one of the men who would be laid off and wondered how they would cope.

She was a single woman, living the life of her dreams, earning so much money that she almost did not know what to do with it. She liked her job but not as much as she did her last. Then, she made tangible impact but now, it was more theoretic. 

She had a meeting she was not fully prepared for, so she pulled herself together as she needed to get her presentation finished. She had worked tirelessly to try to make her dear colleague see that she knew her job and was good at it but the Mrs. was adamant and had her mind made up. Some other colleagues had warmed up to her but would only refer to her as the pretty girl, her work was hardly spoken about. Mrs. was equally good at her job but was just being a WOMAN! 

They both reported to the same person, she was also a woman but was extremely pleasant. It was sometimes uncomfortable to be in the same room as Mrs. and the boss but Kate was not in the job to compete with or harm anybody.

Not All The Way Home

On a hot ‘summer’ afternoon, she sat at a corner watching her colleagues eat, laugh and chat away, but she could not bring herself to join them, not after the kind of news she had just heard. Today the divide struck her so hard and it was most challenging for her because she belonged to both sides. She hated that she would have to choose. She was local but on the other hand, completely foreign. She did not appreciate the dynamics at work. The divide between locally employed staff and expatriates was wider than she imagined. As an outsider, she could see that it was there but she did not know to what extent it existed. 

My Recent Discovery for Glowing Skin

Have you ever wondered how some people have such beautiful and glowing skin? I have asked myself so many times. I am part of a group where some information was shared about this so I decided to try. I have done this for a month and I am loving the results so far. 

The ladies were all about natural ways so the suggestions were to use homemade oils – coconut oil, lemon oil and carrot oil. There are different ways of making the oils but here are the methods I use to make my oils:

Coconut oil

-          Break the hard peels off the coconut then grate or blend (which ever works for you)

-          Soak in water for about an hour

-          Get the coconut juice/milk out by kneading (for lack of a better word) in the water

-          Use a sieve to extract the milk

-          Put the milk in a fridge overnight

-          By the next morning, the milk would have solidified, leaving the water underneath

-          Take the milk out and put in a pan

-          Use low heat while stirring to get the oil

-          The oil will come to the top while the milk would have solidified and will remain underneath

-          Sieve the oil and out and throw remains away

-          Allow to cool and voilà! You have your coconut oil