iyawos blog

You see a picture of me gaily dressed. Everything is on fleek, I look so flawless. You pause to like the picture (or love it as the case may be) but before you do, you zoom it a bit and look at the finer details of my picture. You see that my hair is a Brazilian weave and the finishing is so perfect it could pass for mine but of course it could be my hair because I’ve been known to flaunt my long, full and almost-black hair but then you take a quick look at my shoes and then decide in that instant that it’s a Brazilian weave because my shoes look like I can own a Brazilian weave. That settled, you look at my face. Your perception of beauty transcends the tenets of philosophy that states that there’s no ideal beauty: it’s in the eye of the beholder or better still, it’s from deep within, a function of the character of hearts and souls. Your perception of a beautiful face is determined by how much of make-up I can get away with and still appear to look natural. You squint your e

The things we miss out on, simply because we don’t know who we are. There’s this story (paraphrased by me) about the man who saved so much to buy tickets to get on a ship. He could only afford the tickets, or so he thought. During mealtimes, while others headed to the dining room to enjoy sumptuous and lavish meals, he would stay back in his room to eat cabin biscuits and the likes that he had managed to bring on board. The last night on the ship, a fellow passenger who had observed his withdrawal into his cabin at meal times finally decided to question him to find out why he chose to miss out on the mouth-watering culinary delicacies other passengers were enjoying. His response: “After paying for the ticket, I did not have money to pay for the meals” The other fellow was surprised and had to explain that the ticket was his pass on the ship so he had a right to the meals and much more. The man was shocked to hear this. He was also sad. If only he knew the statu

This is long overdue, I’m so sorry. So, there’s more to enjoying the African cherry (Agbalumo, Udara, Otien) than popping it in your mouth and enjoying its fleshy juices. That can’t be all. The curiosity that led to the first cooked meal must definitely have led to the discovery of the African cherry cocktail. I’m sure you must be wondering by now where the juice from the cocktail will come from, I wondered at first, but now I know. Without further ado, you need the following for the cocktail: 3 African cherry 2 Tablespoons honey 3 Scent leaves 1 teaspoon ginger powder A tablespoon of sugar 2 cups of water 1 tablespoon Angostura Bitters (or any other bitters) 2 shots of Hennessy (Optional) The Hennessy has a sweet undertone to complement this drink but you can it have this drink as a mocktail instead if you choose not to add alcohol. Method Wash and peel your agbalumo fruits scraping the seeds and the skin for all the elements of the fruit into a bowl. In a bl

"Then the Priests and Levites stood and blessed the people and the Lord heard their prayers from his holy temple in heaven" I Chronicles 30:27 God hears: This is the confidence we have when we call on him, talk to him and wait on him. He not just hears us, he responds. One of such responses is in I Chronicles 18-20 when God listened to Hezekiah’s prayer and did not destroy the people who ate the Passover without undergoing purification/sanctification rites. God saw the thoughts and intents of their hearts and the fact that that they had come a long way because they were determined to follow him. God heard Hezekiah’s prayers and responded.  Talking to God is therapeutic, you’ll feel better afterwards.  Talk to Him today

To be unemployed means to be jobless, to not be in a paid employment, to not be in use. Credit: Getty Images So, are you unemployed? The fact that you are not officially on the list of employees in a firm or organization does not make you unemployed. Even if you are not an entrepreneur in any form, you are still not unemployed.  Yes, the fact that you have something to do (you are not jobless) you are of value (in use) and can get a form of remuneration (be paid for what you do) means you are not unemployed. You are unemployed and in fact unemployable if you are totally jobless, have no value that makes you useful and cannot be paid in return for certain products, services or value added. So, are you unemployed? Credit: Unemployed image via Shuttershock  The fact that you do not have the job of your dreams does not make you jobless; it just means there’s more work to be done to get that job. This is actually supposed to make you look within an

Where have you been all these years? You seem to be awakening out of a slumber, the kind of slumber that is a dream within a dream, a reality within a dream. Wake up! Yes you. “I am awake”, you say. “You are not”, I reply. “How can this be”? You ask me “Prove it”, you charge me. “Alright”, I say. Do you know what it feels like to dream? To be caught in a situation where you want to scream but words don’t come out of your mouth. You want to move, probably run, but your legs seem to be frozen. You know you’re supposed to jump but the air is heavy. You cannot help yourself because it’s all a dream. The dream state is a state of helplessness. Your hands are tied, your voice cannot be heard, your opinion does not matter and whatever you do will not change a thing. You need to wake up! This is just one of the many sides to the coin of dreams. Sometimes you have it all good: your ideal job, home, friends and family [The (wo) man of your dreams and even