IT AINT EASY

I make no apologies for who I am because it took me time to get to where I am today and the journey was not always rosy, not always fun. I still have a very long way to go but I'm still proud of the far I've come.
With help and without.

It's not easy being a human being: You've been given the gift of life and you have to make the most of the opportunity. Humanity is hard to grasp and the fact that you are there with billions of other people that you have to live and cope with make it that much more complicated. They say everybody is unique in their ways and interactions which means one needs to be equipped to deal with different personalities throughout one's life. Your three close friends, your twenty something workmates, your fifty something neighbors, your one hundred and something relatives...challenge much? And Lord knows there will be those people you will just not understand. The ones you talk to or come across that you just want to grab like a teapot and shake the bejesus out of them...or slap both sides of their faces..or just..... (ok you get the idea I guess). Its just not possible to get along with everyone no matter how hard you try. Be pious, be bad, be smart, be kind....there will always be someone who thinks you exist way below worms on the food chain. So just be yourself.

It's not easy being a daughter: Here you are born into a loving family and as you grow you realise there are certain things expected of you that they may not necessarily tell you. My parents were pushers, they always thought of the enormous potential I had in my 5"5 52kg body :) My first ever exam in primary school I was number one, yes they were happy but they left room just to make sure it wasn't a fluke of fate, come 2nd tern and 3rd term and the results were the same...aaahhh there was no going back from there. I had already set a precedence for myself. Late nights reading, extra tuition, 10 kg bags full of books on my back...the works..I had no excuse and I hope I didn't disappoint. All that's left now...maybe delivery of cattle hehe

It's not easy being a sister: In my family I'm a sister to five and the last born too. Growing up there have been fights, laughs, tears, insults, inspiration....just about every human emotion imaginable. Being a sister for me involved a whole lot of things and the most memorable ones were covering up for my brothers and sister when they went partying or took out the car without my dad's permission. In return, my brothers terrorised every Kamau, Onyango, Wafula who came to the gate and dared to ask for me :)I have a very wild band of siblings so someone had to be the totally good one in the house. It wasn't much fun but it sure did have its perks...blackmail (buahahaha *cough cough* hahaha *evil laughter)

This post could be much longer than this but I like to give tasty vibe in morsels. I will live to write another day even on that chariot (or whichever means of transport we will be taking to the pearly gates) *shug*

God bless

I LOVE MY CHICKEN BODY

I love my chicken body! Bet I got your attention with that one. :)

I recently read this book written by a couple of women who embrace their perceived inequities so I though I would do the same.

I LOVE my chicken body but shhh... don't say it out too loud lest it becomes my definition. I have those kinds of physiques that resemble a chicken: small head, big on the back and skinny legs that make you wonder if they provide much support. It sometimes makes me wonder what kind of criteria my genes used when they were sorting themselves out to create form.

My small head, a bit tricky to work with especially because I can't exactly pull off all the hairstyles on the salon poster. I love short hair, but then again I get scared of the unseen corners that might be lurking under there so I dare not. And I think my father knows this too because when I told him I had been toying with the idea of cutting my hair he flat out told me that I would look like ET's mentally challenged sister (ok ok he didn't say THAT...exactly) he just said that I should not find my way back home if I got rid of my hair. Frankly, I think he was just apprehensive that I might not be a quite a big catch after and hence deplete his future dowry cow stock :)

Big on the back..true heritage of a Luhya woman. Can be a bit of a burden sometimes. True story, especially when you wear totally flat shoes that place weight on your heels you tend to feel like you've wrapped a small sack of flour around your bum area. It reminds me of the Baganda who are famous for their booty gyrating dances and traditional outfits called Gomes. They elaborately place towels and pieces of blankets to enhance the size of the posterior. So who am I to complain? :)

Finally my oh so skinny legs. Sometimes i envy those women with fat legs because they look like they have so much character (the legs not the person). But I got to thinking, my legs DO have their own character. Just like me, a bit awkward, a bit offish but fitting. That's me.

I'm embracing me, chicken body and all. Figure 8's are overrated. And who wants to look like you've been pinched in the middle anyway.

Love yourself
Love your inequities and your offish qualities
You'll live better for it
Guaranteed.

Much love,
Chickeny :)