Dealing with Procrastination

It is safe to say that as a writer, every life moment is material. Then why is it that writers still experience the oh-so-common ‘writer’s block’? Your guess is as good as mine.

I have been putting off writing an article for weeks now. Okay months, but please be lenient on me. I am here now. The procrastination bug bit me and it took a while for me to recover. I have not written for lack of material. If there was an award for procrastinating I would probably win it. The worst thing about it (procrastinating) is that even when you are doing other things, you cannot fully enjoy them because your awaiting task keeps lingering at the back of your mind. So why are we so self-sabotaging? You cannot watch your Youtube video having peace of mind but at the same time, you are not doing the damn assignments!

One reason could be that the task at hand is so difficult that you dread to tackle it. The other reason could be that the task is easy, but you find it boring so you keep on putting it off till the deadline is up. Whatever it may be, the only way to counter procrastination is to just do it. You could split up your task into manageable segments so that you do not feel overwhelmed.

Lets normalize setting systems instead of goals. If my goal is to write an article each week, then I need a system of how I am going to achieve that. A time slot for writing, study music to help me focus on my assignment or even rewarding myself after I have completed my task. I hope you get the strength to get up and go do that which you have been postponing for ages now!

How do you deal with procrastination?

Altruism

The year was 2020. The whole world was brought to a standstill thanks to Covid-19. Governments put in place measures to curb the spread of the virus; top among them being ‘Stay at Home.’ People were advised to wash their hands regularly for at least 20 seconds, wear masks while in public spaces and maintain a physical social distance of one meter. A record number of people lost their jobs while others had to agree to a pay-cut just to survive. Vulnerable individuals in the community such as the elderly, the disabled, the poor, widows and orphans had a tough time coping with the pangs of the pandemic. A number of organizations that were dependent on well-wishers experienced a strain in their resources.The situation was no different in our country, Kenya. It was at this juncture that a number of my friends and I in Kakamega county decided to pull our resources together with an intention of helping the less fortunate in our society. We channeled our contributions to a joint account and were able to raise a reasonable amount of money. We then picked one of the orphanages; Divine Providence Home and bought a few food and non-food items. With the consent of the Deputy County Commissioner of the region, we went ahead and managed to deliver the aforementioned items to the home.

On the 20th of June 2020, we visited the children’s home located in Amalemba, adjacent to Kakamega High School, 400 meters away from the Kakamega-Kisumu highway. We were accompanied by the area chief who would be there as the representative of the government as well as oversee that the set containment measures aimed at preventing the spread of the novel corona virus were adhered to. We were however not able to access the premises being one of the preventive measures set by the administration. We promised to go back and interact with the children once the situation stabilized.

At the time, the orphanage had a total of forty children. The oldest was 17 years old while the youngest was a day old baby. some of the children were abandoned at a tender age while others were born out of incest.Majority of the children were aged 1-3 years and their needs are very specific. The greatest challenge experienced by the orphanage was shortage in supply of milk and pampers. A majority of the population in the orphanage were very young children who solely depended on milk before the weaning period. Any future donations that would be made would be of great help if they included the said items.

The orphanage worked in collaboration with the Kakamega police and the child protection center. The area chief also brought to our attention the rising number of cases of incest in the region. It was evident to us that there was a need for an amicable solution to the challenge; increased sensitization, campaigns and education especially to the youth would be the core area to explore.

The orphanage also embraced inclusivity and had three children in the previous year who were living with disability. the children were however transferred to Kilifi since Divine Providence Home does not have skilled personnel to take care of the children seeing as they required specialized services.

The nun in charge received the donations on behalf of the management and the children. She was grateful and mentioned that would help in the running of the home. She also mentioned that they encouraged adoption of the children. Some of the children were also placed in foster homes.

All in all, the day was a success and it became apparent to us that there was need to visit more homes. We then agreed to be involved in more charitable activities henceforth. We came to a consensus to start saving up and visit more children’s homes come December 2020. An individual who is willing to join in helping out can contact us through our official email; altruismkenya@gmail.com or via phone on 0726298044.

Let us all experience the spirit of altruism, experience the warm glow effect and make the world a better place, an individual at a time.

Hey Dad, I Hate Sundays

Dear Dad,

Happy Father’s Day, Dad. It has been a while. I wish you were here so that we would bake you a cake. I feel lost. I have been dreading this day all week. Do not get me started on the incessant messages all over social media on father’s day. They are rubbing it in dad, please make it stop.

I hate Sundays Dad. It was on Sundays that we would thoroughly clean the house and end up being dog tired in the evenings. But sometimes you would ‘save’ us by taking us out on a ride in the yellow car. Worse still, it was on a Sunday morning much like this one when your daughters received news of your passing. At 6.40 a.m just a day to Christmas no less.

I miss you dad. How I wish I could borrow you on special Sundays like this one. Please talk to the Big Guy and ask if that is possible. You had such a comic way with words I bet if you asked really nicely, you would charm Him to let you stay with us for just one day. What a gift that would be!

You have missed a lot around here so allow me to fill you in. Remember that desk you made for our room some years back? I painted it white, with a black top. I bet you would have been proud that am following in you DIY footsteps.

Pockets, We Want More!

Have you ever asked yourself why ladies’ clothing do not have pockets? Even when they do, they are as useless as car washes on a rainy day. I have countless pairs of jeans in my closet that have those shallow pockets that cannot even fit a coin. Others have faux pockets (sewn-on pockets) and you wonder whether the designer thought that would be funny. Our jumpers and trench coats are not spared either. Ow the atrocities on women’s clothing! In addition to functional pockets, I would like to see the day when there will be a zipper crouch long enough for a woman to pee without dropping her draws, just kidding.

In the 17th century, both men and women carried around pouches which passed for pockets and they were tied around their waists. During the Industrial Revolution, pouches were incorporated into men’s clothing to form pockets. On the other hand, the full skirts for women went out of fashion and they had to resort to carrying larger purses. The Rational Dress Society was founded in 1891 in London to push for more comfortable and practical options for women and ditch the corsets among other restrictive clothing. One member of the aforementioned society, Charlotte Carmichael Stopes, educated the British Association for the Advancement of Science on the inequalities and the discomfort of women’s wear at the time. It was only after World War II that women’s garments had pockets; mainly because women took up jobs meant for men who were off fighting the war.

The victory over pockets did not last long since by 1980, blue jeans became sexualized and corrupted. The jeans became more tight-fitting and the pockets…out the window! To this day, women have to contend with pocketless clothing. It may be a scheme to get women to buy purses because let’s face it, if you bring back pockets, the designer handbags will lose customers in an instant. Moreover, the clothes are designed in such a way to ‘define’ a woman’s posture and what is regarded as grace in social circles. Giving women utilitarian pockets would distort her silhouette with items protruding out of said pockets. It is said that the renowned designer Christian Dior once stated that, men’s pockets are to keep things in while women’s pockets are for aesthetics.

Men get to enjoy the freedom that comes with pockets. For starters, they can fit their wallets, car keys and smartphones in their deep pockets. They do not have to carry purses to the restroom and this makes me so jealous. I swoon over any piece of clothing especially a dress or skirt that has a pocket since I know how rare that is. My parting shot is this, how do we get our complaint on pockets to the manufacturer’s ears?

Hello World

Hey guys, welcome to this little corner of mine. While I have a general idea of what we shall be upto, it is not exactly cast in stone so for the most part, we shall be making things up as we go.

On this platform, I plan to share insights and experiences in life that I find interesting. Hop on and let us see where this journey takes us.