Category: work diaries

December Updates on reading, writing and life

December 7th, 2025

It’s the seventh day of December 2025 and I am here thinking of all that has happened this year.

First, I did get to publish The Longest Way Home after revising and rewriting it for a year!

Second, my reading goal on Goodreads for this year was 100 books and so far I am at 65, looking forward to setting aside a day and updating the books I read on Netgalley as well since this year they ceased that partnership and it means manually adding the books.

I recently just finished reading Yinka, Where is your Huzband? by Lizzie Damilola Blcakburn and Yellowface by Rebecca Kuang. Two different books with very bright covers- and focusing on young women going through different relatable issues. I am currently doing my best not to grind my teeth or clench my fist as I read God of Malice by Rina Kent.

I have had a rich year in terms of the books I have bought, read and even enjoyed along the way. I have also had rich experiences at work- working with a large team, making more decisions, co-creating solutions with young people and traveling to different countries across the East Africa region- and as the year ends, so does my engagement with the organization and I look forward to the next part of my journey.

On health, well…the greatest scare and being ushered into emergency trauma response and frequent hospitalization has only made me more grateful for being able to keep my head above water. It’s the only time my Mom’s almost lost her sanity and it’s been a blessing to bounce back better, stronger and happier.

So here’s the rest of a beautiful week in December, and many more writing escapades.
Lessons in Rest: A Personal Journey

May 18th, 2025
I sincerely do not.

There are days when work takes the bulk of my focus and then Saturdays when all I want to do is sleep, eat, sleep and drink coffee while listening to my spotify playlist.

http://www.pexels.com

There is something about how I choose to live my life and what I value- and for the girl in me seeing my Mom bring us up on her own, taking on jobs, consultancies to be able to provide for us-every time I want to take a step back, I see her and I keep on pushing. Working, setting up goals and tasks to secure financial independence-and this has had me thinking of all the times I should have prioritized rest but never did- and whether I would know when to catch a break.

Until then, I am learning- I am learning to embrace that little girl and I am doing this by:
1. Treating myself to lunch dates/ brunch dates twice a month. There are amazing restaurants in Nairobi which I am yet to explore.
2. Journaling daily- I started this when I was 12 years old and I make sure to write a line or two about my day before going to bed.
3. Buying the books I want to read and not feeling guilty about it.
4. Searching Pinterest for beautiful kitenge, ankara dress designs and having them tailor-made for me
5. Sleeping at 10:30pm and waking up at 7:30am– this is most recent given that I am on medication.
6. Calling my close friends, showing up for them during their milestones- eating out with friends.
So, yes I do not have the work life balance locked in, and the greatest lesson I am learning is that it is okay.
May: Monthly Wrap Up

May 29th, 2023

We still have two days to the end of this month, but since I’m here I can’t just up and leave and wait for June to come bearing her awesomeness without sharing some key updates from May.

Reading: I got to read some books on Netgalley this month, and can’t wait to catch up on more books because I have exams in July and that would make the end of June a bit hectic for me to get anything done. So thus far, 45 down…138 to go!

I am currently loving Where the Waters Meet by Zhang Ling.

People: May is my Mom’s birthday month and she’s a straight up Gemini, so getting to sit down to lunch with her and have a laugh made this month awesome.

Work: A lot has happened and I am gearing up for an intensive June because there is room for new projects, new ideas and new direction in the way we work and it is exciting.

Entertainment: Look, this month there was no way I could go by without watching some K-Drama and top of that list has been these two that are soon coming to an end. There is Dr. Cha and The Good Bad Mother (which is described as comedy drama but there’s more heartbreak and pain and thirst for vengeance than there is laugh out loud moments)
Sunday Reflections

May 21st, 2023
It’s a Sunday and I woke up at six in the morning per usual and there was a blackout. My morning class was cancelled and for once I wanted to scream about the hours spent preparing for this class and the desire to go curl into bed and sleep..

Since I was up, I found myself downloading Season 2 of Alchemy of Souls on Netflix-because I was in the mood for some sword fighting courtesy of Jang Uk- again! But, along the way and on my second cup of coffee-I truly wanted to post some life lessons that I have been reflecting upon. This is because yesterday morning, right before class, I finished reading The Owner’s Manual to Life (In case you missed that day in school when they handed it out) by Michael Zajaczkowski. He shares one hundred life lessons and if you’ve gone through life, you may have heard some of them- so you’ll feel some sense of familiarity with it.

So, some of the lessons that I am now reflecting upon are :
1. Focus on the twenty four hours ahead of you.
2. One sure way to conquer fear; make a decision and take an action.
3. The way to make a mountain out of a molehill is to add dirt.
4. When I feed the problem, it grows; when I feed the solution, it grows.
5. You are never too old to start something new
My absolute life lesson that got me appreciating how far I’ve come, as a person, with my relationships and work was:
Updates on the writing, reading and this life

February 16th, 2023

It’s been three months since I shared updates on life, more so on writing, reading and a whole bunch of experiences I’ve had along the way. This post is my attempt at some sanity after changing the theme of this blog six times. Trust me, I activated six themes before finally settling on this one so my mind is seeking refuge in this post.

On reading: February came with gifts and I got this trilogy set by N.K.Jemisin from a wonderful friend and mentor whose energy and love for others has me in awe. The set adds onto a number of books that I hope to read this year.

On writing: I need help! Truth is I feel at odds and unable to write and for a while I settled into it, but now there are two opposing forces in me- more like intentions- a part of me misses writing, yearns to write and demands that I do and the other part, does not want to do disturbed. I find myself unable to stop buying notebooks and pens-but gathering my wits to write has been unbearable. It does not help that I set one of my goals as writing and publishing a book in April.

On life: The first week of this month was busy because most of the people who support the projects I work on were in Kenya, some visiting for the first time and it was great showing them around while also visiting places I wanted to. We visited The Giraffe Centre in Nairobi, enjoyed many meals and evening talks by the shores of Lake Victoria while in Rusinga Island.

I always wanted to have some chicken biryani and tamarind juice and got to do this while at Mama Nilishe, in Kilimani-though now she opened up a bigger place at Kikao Place in Lavington. And while in Nairobi, we stayed at Eka Hotel along Mombasa Road where aside from exemplary reception and service I couldn’t help but be taken in by the glass bottles in our rooms.

On music: I am obsessed with Akoth Jumadi and Lisa Oduor Noah. Their songs calm my luo soul and makes me feel some type of way that’s got me loving the mood I’m in when I hear their voices.

That’s it for now on the life updates and maybe by the end of this month I shall have set my mind on what to do about the writing slump I find myself in, until then, have an awesome weekend.
Checking out of October

October 29th, 2021
This month has breezed right past me and one thing I haven’t done as much as I had hoped to is to write consistently. However, I know NanoWrimo is two days away and I have already signed up and started drafting the novel I will be writing.

On reading: I am discovering new writers, reading more books as I hope to see to meeting this year’s Goodreads challenge, so far I have read 161 books and there are some titles I read on Netgalley that haven’t reflected yet, so it means I have a lot more worlds to explore.

I am currently reading The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova which is giving me quite some history on Dracula and I can’t help but wonder how this will end.

I love love and cannot resist romance, which led me to this Italian series on Netflix and with just six episodes, I am already rooting for Alice, wishing her the very best in what she does and waiting to see her gain more confidence in herself. What this series did for me was give me a couple of hours to laugh, immerse myself in astrology (the Pisces that I am) and improve my eye coordination-keeping up with subtitles!

On work: It’s more of a balance that I definitely need because this month has been involving because of work and classes- and like my friend June keeps telling me, if you can study or work or travel now- do it before you take on lots of responsibilities- the only thing she forgot to tell me was that I would need more sleep.

I also learned a phrase that now I associate with “no, we are not doing that,” when I took part in some collaboration and in one of the briefs mentioned some key areas of improvement and was told “we’ll take that under advisement,” and let’s just say that 3 weeks and 3 days later- no improvement has been acted upon.
On fashion: I love kitenge. There is something about buying that 6-yard fabric, taking in the colorful prints and discussing designs with the tailor to finally get something I enjoy wearing. The downside to kitenge of course is that you have to iron it after you’ve washed it and I for one, do not find that act enjoyable. So here’s a jumpsuit I got and can’t wait to wear.

On music: I have been residing in the K-Pop world for a while and the one album that I highly recommend as a mood/energy booster would have to be No Easy by StrayKids.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiTwg9qtSbE

And that’s it for October, 2021 is almost coming to an end and the curfew was lifted in Kenya, and a huge part of me hopes that we stop acting like we are out of the woods when it comes to the pandemic.

Have an awesome weekend, this girl has got an assignment on Strategic Management to submit before her class tomorrow.
Updates on the writing, reading, Covid-19 and everything in between

August 22nd, 2021
It’s the last week of August and Covid-19 containment measures have been in effect in Kenya for 524 days. We have had lockdowns, curfews, issues and we are still experiencing the upheavals and grief.

A few minutes past midday on a sunny Sunday and I am on my second cup of coffee listening to Usher’s song, Trading Places, thinking of how best to share what’s been going on in my life in the past two weeks or so.

I got to travel to Nairobi twice, sometime in Mid July and on August 13th and discovered art and food at The Nairobi Street Kitchen eatery in Westlands.

On Writing: If there is something I have been loving this month, it’s writing and rewriting scenes of a book that I thought I would not publish but something about going back to a story you let gather dust has me loving the characters and working on completing their story.

On Reading: I have been reading more books this month. Perhaps the greatest shock to me was how brief Annie Proulx, Brokeback Mountain is, 55 pages! I nearly had a heart attack just wondering how a 2hour movie could be born of 55 pages! Other books I’ve read this August are:
I am currently reading: The Illuminator by Brenda Rickmann.

Aside from enjoying reading and writing, something that I have been deeply committed to is watching Korean Dramas on Netflix and this August, there have been awesome shows that kept me glued to my phone late into the nights and let’s just say that once you start watching a K-drama there’s no stopping until you get to that finale! So, here are some shows that I absolutely loved this month:

There are rising concerns about the spread of the Delta Variant and for someone like me who has to work in communities visiting public schools, I find myself always traveling with hand sanitizer and masks, so much so that now when I get home, I shed off my clothes and take a bath before doing anything- somehow, I find it interesting how people in the rural areas respond to Corona, one old woman told me that ‘death is the one thing all of us experience, if we live in fear, always looking over our shoulder, we may stumble and fall to our death because we look back and not forward.’ Schools will be taking a break for 3 days from this coming Thursday and I look forward to traveling home, just to have tea and evening walks with my Mom, maybe she’ll weigh in on the current book I am writing.

Have an awesome week ahead!
Updates on the Writing life, June scares and July expectations

July 4th, 2021
I choose to be happy on this day. It’s a sunny Sunday with highs of 26 degrees Celcius. I woke up today at 6:34AM to do laundry and finish braiding my hair and since then, I have been listening to songs on my playlist and drinking cup after cup of coffee. I am officially on my fourth cup.

We are 4 days into July and June was a scary month for me, for I realized how weak my body could be and the mere mention of being on supplements to keep me safe scared me. However, I did manage to get in more sleep and read more books but write absolutely nothing when it comes to my WIP. What I excelled at was watching Korean Dramas on Netflix late into the night and working on my work reports.

I would absolutely recommend the following dramas: Warm & Cozy, Man to Man, Healer, I am not a Robot and Tomorrow with You.

From March I have been buying more books to read and my June and July book hauls demand attention and I look forward to reading them in the coming months.
I am also looking forward to starting a professional certificate course to further improve my skills and knowledge in my field. It feels great getting back to some kind of structure and I can’t wait to see this through.

On future projects: The Miles Morland Foundation Writing Scholarship call for applications have been released and I’ll do what I always do, submit my application and keep my fingers crossed. I have been working closely with my Mentor/Professor who always critiques my writing to see to the release of the next book “A Hundred Little Things” in the first week of August.

My expectations for this month are:
1. To improve on how I take good care of my body, from eating healthy ( more food rich in iron and calcium)
2. To think positively of myself and what I do.
3. To wrap up most of my work projects.
4. Visit family and friends
5. Have a weekend road trip- just to see another town, experience somewhere other than where I am right now.
6. To watch some more K-Drama. My absolute favorite being Nevertheless– because in a way, Na-bi reminds me of a water-sign. She’s been hurt but she is still hoping for love, and with Park Jae-eon, she knows he’ll disappoint her but she is willing to give it a shot.
Looking for excuses, finding them and missing out on life.

December 21st, 2020

I am in one of my moods, or as my sister says “in my feelings,” because I have been on the road non-stop for a week.

I love my sleep and can recharge for hours like a cat. So, this past week had me travel to Nairobi, then Kisumu and now I am back in Mbita because my best friend was getting married and I had the honor of witnessing her wedding as a bridesmaid. It was more of a firsts for me because it was the first time I had on: block heels (3.5 inches) for the whole day, had my eyebrows trimmed, and wore make up!

Days have gone by so fast, and I had been looking forward to being selected as a 2021 IREX Community Solutions Program Participant and for a program that’s very competitive, I felt ready this year, made it past the first round and got my regret letter after the second round of interviews. I was crushed. And what I learned about that moment, reading that email is that my mind completely played out various scenarios for me: I play a role in something I am passionate about and with a great team I get to see public primary schools improve their structures, I see it in the eyes of the children in rural communities when we are constructing classrooms how eager they are to step into new, permanent and well ventilated classes. So, not getting into the program this round, does not mean that I stop working.

On writing: I have been writing a new book and in my head it is complete and perfect, but on paper, let’s just say that I need to go stationery shopping and get everything going right. I have perfected giving excuses every time I want to write and this has resulted in downloading more DJ mixes, drinking more coffee and reading books🤦🏾‍♀️, help!

On reading: This year has been the best for I have bought more books and this has also seen me not read as many titles from Netgalley, and I hope to catch up on the reading soon. I have also read more titles from Pulitzer Prize winners in the fiction category.

I am currently reading Should You Leave by Peter. D. Kramer and he’s writing from the Psychotherapist point on view on advice, when it comes to the age-old question in a relationship, “should I stay or leave?” Coming from a Psychology background and training, reading this is like learning and rediscovering my love for therapy and what it means to help someone work through the dilemmas they have.

I have been making excuses on working out and writing and now I am reaping what I’d sowed and it’s started with a guilty conscience and every time I see the schedule I stuck on my wall, I cringe. Part of me is acting like it’s not bothered and the other one is losing it’s marbles, and the wisest of them is slowly coming to an understanding that I am focusing on the output but not the input and could try and see the growth or set tasks that could lead to the goals I want to achieve, now if only I knew how!

Have a great week, I’m still working until Wednesday when all schools are supposed to be closed here in Kenya.
Goodbye September and Hello October!

September 30th, 2020

It’s the last day of September and I often feel a certain kind of warmth when a month ends mid-week because I am guaranteed a weekend in the first week of the new month! Well, that was before COVID-19 struck and decided to shake us up!

So, on Monday our President decided that well, the curfew is still on for 60-days and stretched the time to 11pm- 4am. He also granted permission for bars to open and my absolute relief was that schools would still be shut until we are better placed to contain the virus. What sucks about this is that the funding they received from the World Bank and other donors goes into their stomachs and not towards the health facilities!

On books: I was going through my Goodreads “READ” page and discovered I have read and reviewed 165 books so far and some of the best titles I got to read were in June (34 books in total). This month, I read more paperback copies and here are some of the titles that kept me company:

I am currently reading “EndGame by Derrick Jensen” and enjoying drinking lots of tea as well…

On writing: I am taking part in the 10k-Novel Writing Challenge that would mean writing 1000 words every day for the first 10-days of October.

I have been watching Never Have I Ever as well and in a weird way, I am now #TeamPaxton because at least he’s single and his sister called him out on how awful he treated Devi, whilst Ben is cute and considers Devi equal and brilliant- he’s still got a girlfriend, an athletic one as well, so hey…that means he’s got a decision to make!

My September song is definitely: Be Praised by Aaron Moses & Naomi Raine off Maverick City’s Vol 3, part 2 album

And, the greatest thing I have done this month is keep up with my laundry! It’s been refreshing knowing that I don’t have any dirty clothes waiting for me to clean them up and fold them!

In the previous update on life and staying at home post, I said I was struggling with consistently working out and this past three days have been a good run for me, I get to do some squats, push-ups, mountain climbers and 20-second planks in the morning and evening and I feel pretty good about it.

I am looking forward to October and we’ve got 93 days left until 31st December 2020, so live as best as you can, love as hard as you can and be kind- the world needs gentleness.