Snapshots of Human Nature: An Unusual Glimpse at Mental Illness...

There are moments in life that are just frozen in your memory, as clear as if it had been printed as a photograph and stored in a physical album. One of these is this glimpse at mental illness I got one Christmas...

I loved Christmas growing up. My uncles, aunties and cousins from Kumasi would come down to Accra and we'd all be merry together. Christmas day would meet the house filled with assorted aromas to suit the peculiar tastes present. 

On one such day, dinner was being served when we heard a knock at the gate. It was a homeless, mentally ill woman. A wave of sadness went around the house as it's always sad to see lack, suffering and loneliness when surrounded by abundant food, family and happiness.

My Aunt went to get some money and offered it to the lady. She refused saying that she just wanted to eat a home-cooked meal and that she could not remember the last time she had a home-cooked meal. The nostalgia in her voice was heart-breaking.

As a portion was dished out to her, she washed her hands and began to eat with a delight that was heart-warming to watch. She began to talk of her children and husband and her life before she 'lost it'. It was a perfectly sane woman that spoke. 

When she was done, she offered profuse thanks and went her way with a spring in her step. When offered money, she refused, saying that by the food and the company, we'd done more than enough...

This is a snapshot of human nature. When stripped bare of everything, our true needs and desires manifest; all we really need is sustenance and some love (and compassion)... the rest is dessert.

Feel free to share a story, or situation that gave you snapshot of human nature, good or bad. I'd love to hear them. :)

Happy New Year

Happy New Year To You

Happy New Year to you!
May every great new day
Bring you sweet surprises--
A happiness buffet.

Happy New Year to you,
And when the new year’s done,
May the next year be even better,
Full of pleasure, joy and fun.

By Joanna Fuchs

This year has been an extremely eventful one. A lot happened that if anyone had told me beforehand, I would have said a la Nigerian, 'it's a lie!!!' I surprised myself a few times, found out a couple of things I'd never really noticed about myself, known great love, shed huge tears and learnt great lessons.

one lesson I think I will continue to learn each year is how gracious and faithful God is. My songs for this year have been 'Never failed me yet' by Jars of Clay and 'Great is your mercy' by Donnie Mcclurkin. I have sang these many a time as I walked to classes and exams all weary and anxious. And through it all, God has shown me His grace is indeed sufficient for me.

I realized I have quite a temper and being a person who tends to sigh more rather than speak out when wronged or offended doesn't help much in this regard. I have poured out bottled-up feelings on unsuspecting victims and truly learnt the meaning of the last straw breaking the camel's back because in my sober moments of reflection, I realized the offenses did not merit the outrages. 

I also realized I am not patient with certain things which is interesting because this same year someone called me the most patient person he knows. I guess It all has to do with motivation. As you can imagine, it is a new year resolution to work on these two kinks in my armor. 

This year was also a year of many tears. Seriously, I have never cried as much as I did this year, for as long as I can remember. My tear ducts seemed to believe tears were the best responses to betrayal, heartbreak, frustration, disappointment, anger  and fear. Most of my prayers were literally crying out to God and thank God, a broken heart and a contrite heart, my God does not reject. 

It was a year that had a lot of good too. New beginnings, love, rekindled friendships, so so blessings. What can I say? God is good!

I have had a great Christmas! I spent it with and old friend and her family and they are such warm people that it has felt like home. New year was ushered in at a quaint Ghanaian community methodist church where I got the opportunity to sing Methodist hymns, sing Ghanaian praise and worship songs and sing a testimony in church (what more can a girl ask for?). 

I would never have done this last year but I have realized that I don't need to be Georg Friedrich Händel or Cece Winans to praise God. All I need is a pulse, a heartbeat and a heart filled with gratitude and by God, I will sing because God has been good to me and I have all three. *sings off*

A Child Prostitute

No, this is not a child prostitute. She and I are crying for the loss of Childhood innocence suffered by many.
credit:synaptoman

They say it hurts a lot the first time

I do not doubt it

I have seen these men come and go 

And if they are in proportion to themselves

I can imagine how it would hurt

For I am twelve and but a wee lass

They say there's loads of pain and shame

But all I can feel are the pains in my tummy

All I can see are the tears of my dying mother

All I can hear are the cries of my baby brother

Crying in vain for food, breastmilk,

Which the desert of  my mother's ailing body cannot produce

They say, don't do it, you're so young

And beautiful with your whole life ahead of you

Not understanding I have no hope

of living to see this future otherwise

What use will youth and beauty be to me?

When I lie dead from sickness and hunger?

They say its an evil, I believe them

I wish i didn't have to do this too

The pot-bellies disgust me, i disgust myself

I've cried out to God till I have no tears left

And what is shame in the face of pain?

(hunger pangs, hurt, no lie!)

And what is pain (of deflowering) in the face of death?

##For all the Children who are compelled to become adults before their time...

#Put a smile on a needy Child's face this Christmas