Uncultured Hybrid

"The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for." Maureen Dowd The fighting spirit in me wasn't always ignited. When I was younger I was bullied and I could never stand up for myself. All I could ever do was cry. So my experience of being on the receiving end of injustices ignited the fighting spirit in me.  You see, I don't know if it was always in me and I just didn't know it or if it is something I acquired over the years. I am not certain if I inherited it from one or both of my biological parents or if I inherited from my mom (aunt). All I know is that I fight battles that aren't even mine at times. I just can't stand people not being treated fairly. I can't accept people taking advantage of those who can't defend  themselves (not defending oneself does not mean that you are weak). It just says that people fight battles differently. Some, like Martin Luther King, will go out to the streets a...

My friend Isalina and I always beat ourselves down about consistency. She has a YouTube channel and her goal is to post twice a week but she often doesn't fulfill this goal. For me and my blog post I have a goal to post once a week but if you are here you know I don't do that.  So as I was thinking about this it dawned on me that we can be consistent in different ways. What prompted this blog is that I have started a podcast and I was second guessing whether I would be consistent. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary consistency is the quality or fact of staying the same at different times.  So if I look at this definition I see that consistency is not about time but about quality. That's what I want for my podcast and blogs; to be consistent with the quality of the work I deliver. I may not post every week but I want to ensure that when I post I post quality.  Often we try to stick to tight schedules. Like posting everyday so that our followers, reader...

I had to take a deep breath before I started writing. I don't really know what direction this post will take but let's see what we will end up with. Challenges, huh! The things that remind us that we are human and that we can do nothing on our own. So on the 18th of March 2021 I discovered what the lump, I have been feeling on the lower right-hand part of my abdomen, for the most part of a year, is. Let's go back a little.  Around April 2020, I was rubbing my abdomen because period cramps were killing me. Suddenly I felt something, so I continued to press and try to feel what was going on because of my history. I have had a cyst removed from my right breast and so I have a higher chance of cysts appearing somewhere else. That's just the problem of hormonal imbalance.  So let's get back to the lump. I thought it may just be a cyst. Due to the pandemic and my frail health I prolonged visiting the doctor. When I finally did, November 2020, the first doctor ...

Single? Lonely? Longing to have someone to talk to and to take long walks with or just someone to call your boo? Singleness is not a journey many can endure. Not many people can be on their own. I have been asked "How can you be single? Like how do you do it? Isn't it lonely?"  Here is the truth, being single has its ups and down moments. So whether you are single by choice or you were forced into singleness you have to be ready to go through all the ups and downs. I was in a relationship for almost three years but I can firmly say that I have been single most of my life. It's not that I don't long to be with someone. Trust me there are days were I cry, or hug my pillows a little tighter while I listen to love songs. But most of my days I focus on my work, my aspirations and myself.  Singleness is the best time to get in touch with yourself. It is time to discover what you like and what you don't like. For those who are religious it is a time to co...

"You would not undersell a product or service you really like. So why do you undersell yourself?" Have you ever walked into a store, saw something you liked, looked at the price and walked away? Yeah me too. I literally walk into a store, see something and say "This is so nice." When I look at the price I say "Nevermind, it's not so nice anymore." and walk away. Also I hate window shopping. I don't understand the purpose of looking at things I can't afford. It makes me feel miserable but it has been said to be therapeutic for some people.  Anyways, the fact that I walked away because I can't afford the product does not decrease the cost nor the quality of the product. So often when people walk away from us or when the people we care about don't care about us we feel like we have lost our value. The worst is when you find out that the person you like doesn't like you back. These things make us think less of ourselves. We ...

"What if ...?" That is a question we often ask ourselves. I personally struggle with that question often. I also often imagine how different my life may have been if my parents hadn't died.  Would I be a daughter to happily married parents or would I just be like my siblings; a child with two stepparents? Would I have lived long enough to have stories to tell? What experiences would I have gone through? Who and where would I be? You have asked yourself this question at least once! The thing about what if is that nobody knows what would have happened if things were different. There are a million possibilities as to how different your life may have been and no one has a guarantee as to whether they would like a different outcome. It's easy to complain and lose sight of what we have when we are unhappy with something. We cry, moan and wish our life was different. For some reason, we often think that a different life means a better life.  For the best part of ...

Have you ever been questioned about your sexuality? Have you ever questioned your own sexuality?  This blog post was inspired by recent events in life. What is sexuality anyways? According to the Oxford dictionary,  Sexuality  is about your  sexual  feelings, thoughts, attractions, and behaviours towards other people.  I know a lot of people who struggle with their identity also struggle with their sexuality. Some people explore just to be sure of what they like.  So earlier this year a few ladies at the office were talking about gender and how people choose to identify themselves. One of the ladies posed the question "How do you know you like men?" Another event that inspired this blog was Valentine's Day. On the day I went out with my friend Rheece and had a good time as we always do. Then she dropped me off at home and came in to say "hi" to another friend of ours. My one housemate asked me, "Erica, what team do you play for?" I looked a...