New Beginnings
It has been an eventful year already and its barely two months into it, and I if had known that 2020 was going to be as eventful as it was, I would have documented every single day of my life in 2020.
A lot has happened, there has been a lot of introspection and self-realisations, a lot of healing, a lot of moving on and the year has already shown signs of lots of drama and I am excited.
Apparently, the New Year didn’t start today but there is an African adage that says, 'whenever a person wakes up, becomes his morning'. I decided to start a daily journal of my life on the 31st of January, it might not have been on the 1st, which would have had some kind of special undertone but 31st has become my morning on this journey.
There wouldn’t have been a more special day for these kinds of things than the day you decided to start, I figured. The starting in itself makes whatever day it is special. My life apparently didn't start today, but you started reading about my life today, so I am going to start talking about my life from the day you started reading about my life.
I will make remarks about my past so as to help you understand my present and see my future with the same binoculars I view it with, because it is going to be one hell of a boring tale, the tale of my life and how I live it. Here we go.
4 In the morning
I woke up by 4 am, as has been the routine for over a year now, waking up those nights, a year ago to work on my Amazon Kindle publishing had rewired my sleeping pattern, you would hardly catch me sleeping by 4-6am, no matter how late I had gone to bed the previous night, and it doesn't matter if I have anything to do that early or not, I would just wake up and that would be it for the night's sleep.
I woke up and reached for my phone to know what the time is saying, it was some minutes past 4 am, I dropped the phone and just stared at the roof, trying to get my eyes to adjust to the light and get my brain to wake up properly before I would reach for the phone again.
My mornings usually start with a little scrolling on Twitter and surfing the internet, then I meditate for a little while, write a couple of pages then moving on to some of the other things that need my attention around the house. But no meditation happened this morning, because I don’t like feeling forced to do things on weekends. I know meditation is beneficial and shouldn’t be tasking, but I haven’t reached that level of self-discipline yet, so I still see compulsory morning meditation as a task, rather than a normal daily routine. I guess I am going to need some more practice to move on from this level.
So, usually, I like to be lazy on purpose, it feels like a reward for all the hard work I had put in during the weekdays. Hey, don’t judge, it’s my life and I am trying to live it the best way I could.
I picked up my phone, went straight to Twitter to try to read the post-match reactions of fans and news outlets about the match between Arsenal and Manchester United. I am an Arsenal fan and I always seek out sports news and post-match interviews and reviews after a match, as long as Arsenal didn’t lose. On this day, they didn’t lose, but they didn’t win either, so my sense of pride is intact and I can seek out football-related news. There was nothing much on the internet about the match that was worth reading since the match ended in a goalless draw, so obviously, it was a bore-fest and there was nothing to write about other than how each team would have won it and how they had missed a trick and bla bla bla. But I got to know about some statistics involving both Arsenal and Manchester United.
ManU had set a record with that match by going 18 straight away matches unbeaten and Arsenal under Arteta hasnt conceded a goal in 3 meetings against Solskjaer's ManU. The past 3 results have been 2 zero, 1 zero and a goalless draw all in favor of Arsenal. Well, that was about it and I had almost about consumed everything there was to know about the match between both teams. I was bored and it was just about 5 in the morning, hmmm...
I decided to go to the parlor to get some more entertainment, because yeah, its a Sunday and like I said earlier, I love to be lazy on purpose and lousy about the whole house, no need being all serious. Note, this isnt how my weekdays usually start, I am more serious and goal-oriented during the weekdays but hey, a man deserves a day or two off, even God took a day off after he made the earth. LOL
I sneaked out of the room quietly so as not to wake my 16 months old daughter, else she'd want to tag along. She likes entertainment, and with her mum still asleep and I awake, guess who she'd prefer to be with if she were to wake up, me of course but I don't have the energy for her.
I went to the parlor and switched on the TV, flipped between channels, just like scrolling on my phone too. These things kinda make us act the same way around them, no wonder they are addictive. You are with the remote, you just keep switching channels, you are with your Smartphone, you keep scrolling like a mindless zombie. Not good at all, but the good thing is, this is just my life on weekends and not my everyday life, as I am more productive and goal-oriented during the week.
I spent a couple of minutes one of the SuperSport channels, to know what’s new in the transfer window and also get an update on match results.
Nobody interesting moved clubs, except for Jesse Lingard and Real Madrid lost at home to Levante. I see Zidane getting sacked at the end of the season, thats if he doesnt quit himself, his timing is always impeccable. This is certainly Atletico's league to lose now, what a season it has been for them and I kinda feel for Thomas Partey. Imagine his team flying high in the Spanish league and should be crowned champions come the end of the season and this is the season he moved? Unlucky for him, lucky for us Arsenal fans I guess.
I finally settled on one channel when I saw Judge Judy was on, yeah Judge Judy is one of my favorite shows on the satellite network, that and Restaurant Impossible. I watched in amusement as Judge Judy gave the viewers, the plaintiffs and the defendants some rollicking. Its always controversial in her courtroom and I am sure that’s exactly why her show is so widely viewed and she, so popular.
My early morning entertainment came to a halt when missus and my daughter came strolling into the parlor. I think my sneeze woke them up, or maybe the sound of the TV, because its around past 8 am now and I had increased the volume a bit to match with the noise coming from outside.
Anyway, they joined me in the parlor and I switched to cartoons so my daughter could partake, because we all love cartoons, her mother and I included. While my daughter was glued to the screen, missus and I chitchatted a bit and I asked about her sister-in-law who had embarked on a journey the previous day, if she arrived safely and she responded in the affirmative.
Problems at dawn
Then we talked a little about her elder brother who was facing some financial crisis. He has been put on the ropes by his landlord because his rent has been long overdue, almost a year and half. He has been quit from his house which is why his wife had embarked on that journey; she travelled to another city with their little daughter to go live with her sister till he can sort out a new accommodation.
Its been one big messy situation and he isn’t taking it so well, he even casually hinted suicide once. I am genuinely scared for him and I hope he can come back from this unscathed.
You gotta understand that its not just about being quit from his house, his finances has been on a downward spiral for a while now, business isnt what it used to be and him and his family has been living from hand to mouth. Some days are worse than others; some other days are just outright pitiable.
I think he is taking it so hard because he is the kind of guy that is used to giving, providing and helping others. Lacking and constantly being in need of all kinds of material help has hit him harder than it should and I really feel for him. Even at the verge of eviction, he still had squatters in his house, friends he is helping out, housing and feeding from any scrap he could get.
Well, what can I say, when it rains it pour. My rent is almost a year overdue too and my landlord is a lot more understanding than his, but I am sure his patience would equally run out soon if I dont give him his money soon.
How did we get into this whole mess with rents and landlords? Well I had lost my means of livelihood in December 2019, my job as well as my business. Some bad luck huh? New year 2020, Covid struck and kept everyone indoors, no new jobs, no new businesses, although I did some freelancing transcription and writing jobs, the pay was neither consistent nor stable enough to feed a family of 3 and pay rents too, so we just fed out of my freelance gigs. I couldn’t get any job after the lockdown and that was how my rent piled up.
When it rains, it pours...
Well, I hope nobody dies and nobody commits suicide, because life is full of ups and downs, there is no problem worth killing yourself over. I know its hard and we all react to stress differently, but when things are bad, we shouldn’t just thinking about ending our lives, we should only try our best to keep sane and work hard and smart enough to level things up.
Building the body and mind
Its almost 11 am now, I stepped into our spare room to go workout. Yeah, I have my weight room and I am a body builder and fitness enthusiast. It was chest day today, which is my favorite workout day. I worked out for two hours while I read a book I have been on, longer than I should - The Autobiography of Malcom X. I usually read in-between my rest periods, its like doing two important things at once. Feeding the mind and also feeding the body.
After workout, wify made potato and sauce with 3 hardboiled eggs for me and a glass of milk. Yeah, I gotta rack up on protein and some good carbs so as to give the muscles what they need to grow.
I had a very much needed rest after my workout and meal; the day kinda almost cruised away before wify got a call from a lady who owed her money. Wify had sublet her apartment to this lady, right about the time we were just still dating. She was supposed to reimburse her for rent and some properties in the apartment, but she reneged and I stepped in.
I seized an item of her's for two years, waiting to get our money from her. She finally called that she was ready to pay up, I handed her the item and she handed me the money. I had outrightly refused to hand her over her property even if she brought the full amount she owed, because she said some nasty things to me and made some threats at the time I seized her stuff, so I kinda wanted her to walk her talk.
But I kinda relaxed a little on my tough stance when I had an interesting encounter with a voodoo priest and I had made a declaration to him about my life, a declaration for new beginnings, a declaration of uprightness. I figured, this sort of spiritual covenant wouldn't be effective if I still hold onto someone's stuff, even when she is reaching out for it.
I will share my encounter with this voodoo priest on my next episode, as I still have to meet him again one on one on the 2nd of Feb. I had met him before and he had performed some traditional ritual rites on me and my brothers. I will tell you all about it.
Out and about, Wine, chicken and Voodoo
Its almost 4 pm now and the day kinda livened up again right after I had given the lady what belonged to her and taken back what belonged to me. It was nice exchange and it needed to happen, because it has been hanging over my head for two years now.
Well, with the little cash in hand, wify and I decided to go out for a bit. At first we had planned to just go buy food stuff and supply for our daughter, at least a month's worth. Then we thought about hanging out too...LOL. Things kinda always spring up when there is cash in hand, don’t they? Well, we just bought our daughter's supplies and went back home. But we bought some nice sweet red wine and some meat chops and some fried chicken to go with it, at least we could eat and sip in the comfort of our home...I always like that idea better, she, not so much. I like being indoors, she loves going out, but we kinda balance each other out though.
We were out and back and the day has obviously wound down to its tail end, its about 7pm now. We broke out the drinks, broke out the chops and had a big family dinner. Our daughter ate and drank with us. Yeah, we give her wine every now and then.
We had some nice family dinner to wrap up a truly interesting day, our baby slept but wify and I stayed up to finish up...Winks.
Dear diary, I would like to tell you all about my(our encounter) with the voodoo priest and what had transpired. I am tired now, gotta hit the bed.
Signing out on 31/01/2021
