A friend asked me this question today. We were by the road waiting to hail a probox (a public means of transport here-meant to ferry four passengers, but usually ferries eight or nine depending on size) and she’d been thinking about the turn her life’s taken.

See, I learned that some ‘aha’ moments asail you smack in the middle of your daily hustle and bustle. So, when she asked “what happens when you set out alone?” Off the tip of my tongue came the response “you grow, and you’re never the same after that.” She shook her head and said “you’re always so deep, like who cares about that? What about never meeting the one you love? What about you know, never seeing all the countries or making money to live off in retirement?”

I smiled, my readily available reflex action, and answered “you asked me a question and I gave you an answer that speaks to me, if it does not do the same to you, then you are on course, find your answer.” We hailed a probox and got in the front seat- two young women, one’s hippy (she’s the one) and the other thinking of what’s happened in her life in the past one month!

So, here goes my update on this life!

• I traveled to Arusha, Tanzania and spent 4 days engaging in a forum on sustainability of projects in East Africa.

• I learned that I am truly a tropical person because it was 10 degrees Celcius in Arusha and for the love of me, I had two cups of black coffee between four o’clock in the evening and dinner time and another two before bedtime.
• Visited a beautiful resort here in Mfangano Island in Kenya- there’s something about being by the shores of Lake Victoria that’s calm and centered.

• Working with communities has been a real thrill and it is great seeing the work thrive- seeing the projects we’d talked about being constructed and people lighting up when they see me to simply say “thank you and we finally believe you,” that hurts more than it warms my heart sometimes. Development is a process.

• On love, I’m learning that I have love to give and sometimes…that’s all that matters and when I look forward to good, it comes my way. Sometimes, the unexpected comes and I am hurt but healing is also a part of growth.
• On writing, I’ve bared my soul a couple of times and if you’ve read some previous posts, therein lies the truth of my love, however- I am currently writing a novella, hope it will be something worth reflecting on.
• On aspirations: Got two regret letters from fellowships that I hoped to be a part of and getting turned down for Future Leaders Connect 2019/2020 hurt me more than I expected it to- so I remember walking to the mini-mart here in Mbita and buying a tab of ice-cream and eating it as I walked back home.

I seem to have grown taller, chubbier on my cheeks and I am still learning that life is more about the small wins you cherish because waiting for big wins is wasting away and missing out on what could lead you there.

Have a lovely week and I do hope that wherever your journey leads you, you’d blossom, like Grumpy always tells me!