My Tale of Two Colors

As one grows, so many new things about oneself are revealed. I am always excited to learn new things about myself. Sometimes I find that they’ve always been there, just that I wasn’t paying close attention to them. One of such new things I learned or rather, acknowledged about myself that I am excited about is what I would like to call “My Tale of Two Colors.” I’ll begin with a small tale of what I mean by that.

The first part of the year was stressful for me and not just because of school and work, but also a couple of family emergencies that came up. I blogged about the first one which I did my best not to stress over, then the second one happened. I remember that cold Sunday afternoon when my mum called me to give me the news. I was busy when she called so, I immediately told her that I would call her back as soon as I leave the place where I was at the time. Then she replied, “your uncle was in a serious accident and has returned to the U.S. Your aunt needs your help.” What - the - (you won’t need your imagination for the words that followed.)

Needless to say, I left the place in a hurry and went to my aunt’s house. I couldn’t help but imagine the worst and by the time I arrived at my aunt’s house, I looked as panicked as I felt. Never have I been happier to see my uncle and to hear him speak when he said to me through his pain, “you look panicked.” So, weeks of hospitalization and surgeries followed and my continued worry until he was well enough to travel again.

And now to the point of this blog post. My uncle said to me as we were preparing to take him to the airport: “a ga akpozi gi nwanyi bekee” which simply means that my complexion has become lighter. I smiled and said to him that I was beginning to enjoy summer and we moved on to other things. Then I visited my aunt last Sunday and she said the same thing, that I was lighter and my response was that I was no longer stressed. Then it hit me that this is something I haven’t acknowledged to myself therefore, my family and close friends may not know this about me - my complexion darkens depending on the level of stress (this time it must’ve been pretty high and I didn’t know it.) When I am no longer stressed, my complexion returns to normal hence, the title of this post.

Fun as it is to finally acknowledge this minor detail about myself, the reason it happens is major and there’s nothing exciting about it. Others have acne break-outs while I morph into a darker version of myself for which I am very grateful. However, I have made the decision to not allow myself to feel that stressed again.

So, if you’ve noticed this aspect of my external feature and wondered about it, wonder no more. Things would happen that are completely beyond my control and when they do, I’ll acknowledge them and do the best I can. There is a God watching over me after all who is always, and forever will be, in the details.

Solstice

On and on and on, along trails and vast fields
No one to talk to but guided by visions
Fearlessly marching on to the other side
Then all of a sudden, a pause
Immediately shines a light on the horizon
And a soft warm breeze begins to blow
Everything appears changed and renewed
The trails become smoother and straighter
The vast fields transform into seas of luscious green
The grasses and tree branches sway and dance to the wind
The fruits on the trees shine brightly at the kiss of the sun
Birds chirp loudly and harmoniously in the trees
Swarm of multicolored butterflies hover over the grasses
Then up in the clear blue sky, an arrow-shaped white cloud
Pointing forwards in the direction of travel
Then all becomes clear, very clear
That this moment, on a journey started long ago
Is the solstice of the goal ahead
And with renewed energy and childlike wonder
Fearlessly marching on