Fly

Only you can do it for yourself. No one can flap your wings for you. You have to jump off the cliff on your own. That doesn’t mean you won’t see other birds in the sky. Everyone who or everything that deems flight, reaches for the Heavens. To keep you company, to be on their way. It requires guts and a whole lot of faith. You put more belief in yourself than a shrink. And you constantly confront your fear.

Flight. It’s something so few of us do, although we’re all capable of it. Many believe it to be fantasy, others give up on it, too damn easy. If anything in your life is worth having, then you’ll have to put up a fight for it. And if you lose, you’ll have to fight until you win. It’s that easy. Funny how dumb we sometimes choose to be. Entitlement doesn’t exist. It’s a tough world out there, and if you want it – go get it! It is possible to learn flight from the get-go and just build up the pieces as you make a living for yourself. There are times though, when you’re falling through great depths – and the only thing you can do to stop it, is to learn how to fly. I belong to the latter group, despite having identified with the former for a long time. In order to save myself and prevent disaster, I resorted to flight: Barely able to run, I spread my wings and reached for the sky. I flew to make it. Now I fly to be free.

Your biggest potential, your greatest skill, I do not know about. Your best achievement, your largest victory, I’m not aware of. You can be your key ally or your worst enemy. No one can live your life for you. Since you’re reading this, know that you’re incredibly privileged, because you’re part of a minuscule, global minority who can afford the luxuries you take for granted! I used to complain of having bad shoes – until I acknowledged the destitute with no legs and then I shut the fuck up!

It doesn’t depend on the world for you to spread your wings. Humans are angels, on a test to see how well they can co-op without wings. Believe and you will achieve. People are not a confirmation of your strength: It doesn’t matter if what you’re about to do, has never been done before. After my second year at university, I failed a first year examination for the overall third time. I was broker than joke and struggled bad to keep up. That summer, I got kicked out. When I met the student adviser about getting back in, he told me I had a better chance winning the lottery (Yes, he actually said that.). I refused to concede defeat, opened up to the campus counselor and wrote my appeal to the board of the business school. A few weeks later, I got re-instated. I never informed the adviser because I didn’t need to: That was the single most powerful where I realized my capability to greatness and vowed to become self-dependent from then on. Fast forward six years and I’m running my firm, won a World Summit Youth Award Runner-up for developing a superior e-project, called ‘Mother Nature‘, that was chosen among 30 winning e-projects out of 630 international youth new media creations; scored a total 90% grade in a highly competitive Internet Governance capacity building e-programme for high-performing technocrats & government officials, under the Internet Society’s Next Generation Leaders course and am releasing a brilliant product of my competence of brilliant creative writing & illustration, this year. My hunch was right because it came from my spirit, and whatever your spirit tells you (if you choose to acknowledge it) is right.

Am I done? Nah, not as long as I live. Versatility complements success: You re-define your game when needed and stay fresh. We’re conditioned in this world to compete others. Unless you’re using competition to improve some part of yourself, it’s the dumbest thing you can do! Only you can breathe for yourself, how can anyone do it for/with you? Where is the sense then to engage in an activity, that only you can ensure your participation of – by yourself, against other people, so as to see who will ‘come out on top’? Doesn’t that sound stupid? ‘Yeah, I can only dead-lift 100kg, by myself, but I’ll compete with ya!’ I think most people fear truly being alone, by only being able to do things by themselves, that they throw themselves into competitive activities, to take some of that ‘sting’ away. What you don’t know, doesn’t have to sting you, though. Isn’t ignorance bliss?

What they only need to do is gather up all the balls they can muster and give themselves that push. They may crash off that cliff but if they, in their descent, believe in themselves, nature will be but all too happy to see yet another rising star. I’m flapping my wings already. In the race against myself, I’m doing good: I think I’m ahead! What about you, how far are you? If you is still kicking your ass, it may be time to give that push to yourself. Don’t worry about that unknown, the people there know it’s humanly possible. So jump! Fly! SOAR!

 

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”

- Ephesians 1:3 (abridged)

Disclaimer: This article is for motivational purposes. I do not accept any liabilities that may arise on your part, for acting on it. And I include this disclaimer because a blogger who doesn’t take legalities seriously, is only a conviction waiting to happen.

Happiness

Simplicity. It exists in all of us. It abounds everywhere. Some see it, others cherish it, most ignore it. Smile. It uses less energy than a frown, and yet the majority of people choose to be sad than to be gleeful. Giving. Makes you feel recognized, you get appreciation and that is the most important need to your being. Love. Happens everywhere, everyone is capable of giving it, but it’s the commodity least given out by the masses of the world. Unfortunately, too many are taught to hate than to love. This world is in the mess it’s in, because that choice is happily made.

If you hate, you’re angry. Aggression is carcinogenic and/or can cause heart disease. With that in mind, you might wanna think about holding that grudge against someone. Emotions are like a continuum: On one end you’ve got happiness, on the other you’ve got sadness. This continuum is not horizontal but vertical. Happiness is at the top, while sadness lurks at the bottom. The better you feel, the higher your mood goes up the emotional continuum. That’s where the feeling of being at the top of the world is derived. When you’re feeling sad, you spirit descends down the spectrum, and cannot relate to anyone unless that person is or those people, are at equal depths. These abyss-like pits spawned expressions like feeling down/low, when describing sadness. After all, ‘Misery needs company’. Wallowing in pity doesn’t do you any favors, it just does your body harm. It’s virtually impossible to solve a problem by worrying.

I am a naturally happy person. This world darkened me. I allowed this world to darken me. Now I break ties with neg heads and chase my dreams. I recommend you do the same, if you want happiness, too. Leaving people you’ve known all your life or for many years, can be one of the most difficult things you ever have to do. You initially contend with fear of loss: That they are all better than you and that you need them because they’re so valuable. Regardless of what the listed benefits of you leaving might be for your happiness, you don’t stop repeating mentally what good things they may offer you, even though you (may) have gone your independent ways, aren’t in touch like when your friendship started and have become such different people that it really doesn’t make sense to remain connected. When you feel like you’re the person who’s got the most to offer in your circle of ‘friends’, it may be a good idea to look for new ones.

Failure makes you succeed. In Basketball for example, you can only become better by getting your ass kicked, repetitively. Playing against Michael Jordan makes you work up your d. I imagine the same thing in Football, when playing against David Beckham: Not the best day for your defence! Now, I understand this may make me come across as psychopathic and/or narcissistic. Most of my life, I’ve been secondary or an alternative to so-called ‘friends’. I was always in somebody else’s shadow and it didn’t stop until my mid-twenties. At 26, I said STOP – and never looked back. Most people want to use you unscrupulously or subdue you undignifying below them. I’m a peacock and realized my brilliant colors, at last. I broke out my prison because I’m that bird too beautiful to be caged in!

Sometimes in life, you have to break down to be built up. If you understand that, you’ll have no problems confronting failure ever again. Because failure is only temporary. What you do with it, that becomes permanent.

Happiness is the yearning to enjoy yourself, in whatever way you imagine. There’s nothing like living your life as your own person. Nothing. It is the most exhilarating feeling you can ever have as a human - because you’re FREE!

The happier you are, the more happiness you attract. The higher your spirit is lifted. A smile is contagious, laughter is epidemic and a good mood can improve a society.

At this point, I’m not gonna tell you what to do! What should I? Even God doesn’t: You’ve got free will. Being happy, you confidently tell the whole world that you know your value and won’t let it be diminished, by relating to pessimists. Like many hater however, you can also give the impression of your blissful happiness, by laughing forcibly while bringing this person or that thing down. And who would stop you? Go ahead! If your prerogative is to spend your finite time hating, best of luck to you! Or you could cut your losses, abandon negative people and abhor (their) evil forever. In doing so, you would commit to the continuous attempting of nurturing & growing YOUR happiness, regardless of situation, for the rest of your life. I’m on that path now, and what I can say, from my perspective, is that it’s worth it.

Happiness is life-enhancing because to attain it in the first place, you have to tell yourself that you’re worth it, which increases or validates your value. That’s why happy people always have so much to offer; they consolidate themselves in so many ways. True happiness comes from giving, it is found in helping people. That’s why I have no problems working as hard as I do for both my websites – yes, I’m providing value to people, but the gains I make from it, I couldn’t describe! Happiness doesn’t cut short another, in inferiority: A truly happy person appreciates value in others and does not perceive arrogance in humble celebrations of success. A hater reduces his/her quality of life by trying to undermine successful people due to his/her inferiority and/or insecurity. Haters don’t last. Lovers do! It’s only a matter of time for the hater to convert into a lover or be cancelled out by life.

A simple tip to become happy, is to do something. Motion creates emotion. The emotion you essentially feel when you’re active, is gratitude to be engaged. Why do you think so athletes and sports-enthusiasts do sports for decades, at least? If you’ve monetized your hobby, go find another one. Your world is only as small & finite as you imagine it. Think I’m crazy? OK, when Thomas Edison was attempting for hundreds of times, people thought he was crazy. Now, many take the existence of light bulbs for granted. Tell me who’s crazy! Boredom doesn’t exist. A person who is bored, doesn’t want to think of anything to do and/or undertake it. There’s no such thing as boredom in nature, write that word out of your mind now. (Yes, I AM telling you what to do!) Life is living. Living is progressive. To be happy - do.

HAPPINESS. Go create it. Successful business professionals often feel the more actively they work, the luckier they get. You create luck, you don’t just get it. Opportunity makes itself obvious to people who work on their dreams, and re-visits them regularly because these people are able to recognize her. Opportunity doesn’t give preferential treatment but knocks only once. If you’re too cool for school and demand a second knock because of your ego, by the time you open your door, opportunity may not even be on your street anymore.

Living gratefully is a good way to happiness. When you realize just how many blessings you’ve got, Nature starts throwing more at you because you’ve figured out the meaning of wealth. Material things can make you smile, blessings make you happy. If you don’t believe it, try it for yourself: Giving to others, unlocks the vital blessing to true happiness. So, you’re gonna have to become grateful, either way… and don’t stop giving.

I once typed give in a major search engine. I got over 3 billion search results. Then I typed take and got an additional billion more, about. Maybe that’s why true happiness is an endeavor for one’s self: The world will not find it!

Happiness is a decision: When you realize that you’ve made it through all your tumultuous eras and are still just as valid today, you can leave them in the past and consciously live in the NOW. Be happy & stay that way!

“He who gives to the poor will not lack, but he who hides his eyes will have many curses.”

- Proverbs 28:27

Disclaimer: This article is for motivational purposes. I do not accept any liabilities that may arise on your part, for acting on it. And I include this disclaimer because a blogger who doesn’t take legalities seriously, is only a conviction waiting to happen.

Acknowledge

As a teenager, I used to flex my calves anytime I walked past people by the side, whenever I wore shorts, to make them look bigger. I’m skinny & I’ve had lots of issues with my body type, ever since puberty. People in school would always laugh at my natural features: Long legs, thin arms and a tall frame. Growing up, I remember my parents struggling a lot to make ends meet. We never lived like the many affluent people of my school. We were always way below their spending-power. Family life was hard & I never really got stimulated by school. My spirit couldn’t stand the type of education: All scholastic, not creative. Skinny, young me had problems often in class & got poor grades, averagely. Apart from excelling in Fine Art, Sports & English, I sucked at school.

I used to expect negativity from groups of people I’d walk by. Feeling insufficient, not good enough and/or just not up to ‘their standards’ would make me anxious. Being one of the few black people in a German private school, I wasn’t everyone’s taste. I still get that anxiety from time to time. Paranoia.

I have a gap between my two front teeth and from a young age felt self-conscious about my ‘incomplete smile’, from a period a growing number of school-mates would notice it & pick on it. I am emotional, sensitive and could never really harness it throughout the bulk of my life. Though I’ve started, I’m still working on it today. It took me 26 years to realize that being emotional & sensitive is incredibly powerful. Self-teaching: When you win a battle, you remember how you fought.

I have a birth mark over a corner of my lips and my family regularly used to ‘tease’ me about having a characteristic of the supermodel, Cindy Crawford. Being male, I never really knew how to take that, and it caused issues.

I live very much in my imagination, ever since I was I was a toddler, animation used to fascinate me. Because animation is pure imagination, I sometimes had troubles living in reality when switching from imagination. I once placed a pin upside-down on a teacher’s chair and when she came in the class and discovered it, I couldn’t really distinguish the severity of the action in reality from the anything goes in animation.

I used to stammer from my childhood until my mid-teens. The older I got within that period, the more embarrassing it became to me. I got embarrassed because from the time it was first noticed, my classmates used to laugh at me and news spread quickly. Every time we would sit in class and the teacher would make us read a text out loud individually in turns, I would agitate loads all through the exercise, inside. When it got to my turn, I would just pause and not say anything until the stuttering inside me would recede and I’d be able to read fluently. I did that in conversations as well, regardless with whom. And people would be weirded-out wondering just what my problem was but I would just stay silent. I still do that, intermittently. Rather than pausing though, I try to think of alternate ways to say my words in order to suppress my stuttering, then just say it. Now I’m all grown up. I outgrew most of it, I suppose – but when I hear kids stammer, I can’t help but to feel related!

I used to play on the basketball team in school. One time, we had a championship with other schools and we played an important match. We were doing well until the last 7 seconds of the game where I was passed the ball, decided to go for a lay-up and traveled instead. The opponents won the game and the team never forgave me. Never having addressed that, caused a handicap mentally that knocked my confidence. I made other teams but never saw myself as a competent player again – I would prefer to pass the ball once it was given to me. My game has now changed & my ego is making me state that but the scars remain.

I love to dance! Ever since I was a kid I used to dance hardcore. As a teen, I looked funny often when trying to do what I saw in videos. I thought I looked good, but apparently reality & perception are two different things. Eventually I stopped perceiving myself positively and bought into criticisms of my wackiness on the floor. I would secretly drill hard on myself when I’d be watching videos but I’d never get up to my adopted, external standard. Disabled self-perception.

At about 12, I couldn’t do 3 push-ups. I was too skinny. I was ripped apart for it in class and that made me to always hang around with and compete against the more athletic guys in class, exclusively in sports. I felt I had to prove something to them. I’d be good at marathons, but would choose sprints instead, just so I could compete against the guys & prove myself! I would regularly lose (badly), but inside I’d feel a bit good for having done it with them. I still see ricochets of that in my adult life sometimes. The need to always have something to prove, to everyone but myself; for pains I suffered way back some time ago, tucked-in deep in the past.

Being skinny made me muscular. Being the dumb kid in class, made me work hard later in my studies. Being in education I couldn’t stand, made me dive into my strengths & interests. Being lanky, made me not stop dancing. Being indecisive and discouraged drastically changed my game. (Hello, Ego!) Being insecure, inferior & paranoid made me ferocious towards living my life. Being blessed & in touch with my feminine side made me gratifyingly love myself. Being a stammerer made me accept myself. Being imaginative made me confident in the world. Having a gap between my teeth, taught me how to smile.

We always hear about self re-invention, becoming the new you and re-engineering yourself. Personal development is good but what isn’t is when we’re conditioned to hate our ‘past’ selves and embrace our ‘new’ selves because that’s who we are now. And it couldn’t be further from the truth. There is neither a ‘new’ you, nor an ‘old’ you. Just YOU! When we start to see ourselves for the great big achievements we’ve earned, the things we’ve overcome, the behavior we’ve adopted, our ego takes over. And that creates problems. We start to only see ourselves for the changes we’ve made and/or gone through but not for the the great pain, hurt, tribulation, woe, sorrow, agony & misery we’ve endured, with all their negativity. One-dimensional monsters. How can we become one-dimensional, when we are truly multi-dimensional? We exist in mind, body, soul, spirit, art, time, literature, love etc, each of which combine not to make us one-dimensional monsters but PERFECT humans!

I am my pain. I am my healing.

I am the better moment. I am the painful memory.

I am all these things.

I am what I have experienced. I am what I experience.

ACKNOWLEDGE and you shall be set free. Because you never went nowhere – you were always you. Christina Aguilera’s Beautiful perfectly fits the bill here. When Lady Gaga appeared on Ellen, she explained her song ‘Marry The Night’ as the negativity you’ve had that is a part of you and made you who you are today. She was so eloquent, when she said people should not deny it as a part of who they are.

We are. We are our successes but we are also our failures. Acknowledging the bad, helps stabilize us in our perception, in our psyche, in our lives. Think & be positive, absolutely, but know it’s been the same you who went through your suffering. The discarded self, and there’s now no re-incarnated persona. We acknowledge our darkness. And that’s OK because Jesus saves. In the end, he will!

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” 

Jesus Christ, Matthew 11:28

 

Disclaimer: This article is for motivational purposes. I do not accept any liabilities that may arise on your part, for acting on it. And I include this disclaimer because a blogger who doesn’t take legalities seriously, is only a conviction waiting to happen.

Breathe

I forget to breathe. When I remember, I get paranoid & fret I may stop when my mind goes elsewhere again. That’s what this article is about, remembering that you have a chance to be with yourself and then letting go. My mind races most of the time, creativity calms it down, and I just bree-eathe. And man, is it good. Imagine being on Life Support – and not being able to breathe by yourself. What’s being in a coma like? All I know is there’s a bright side & dark side to breathing. The bright side is beautiful & the dark side is anguishing… to loved ones. Only nature knows what people in the dark side of breathing really go through. We use less than half of our brain. We must never forget that both the bright side & dark side constitute breathing – and how blurry their combination can be.

 

Do & Become are about chasing your dreams, full stop.This is about enjoying yourself while you’re at it. Breathe. Do it now, take a couple of deep breaths but before you do, think of a good thought for yourself. Go ahead! It’s not important what it is, what’s important is that you just inhaled goodness! Now breathe Hope. And then Peace. OK, now Faith. And now, Your Dream! Take a minute & pause. You just rejuvenated yourself with all the power that you have: YOU! You may feel like an idiot, but that’s only ’cause it’s your first time. Several times today in your quiet-time, will take a portion of that jackass feeling tomorrow. It takes a month to form a new habit; try it! I don’t think you will not change.

 

I forget to breathe not because I want to, but because I allow myself to. We all shut down in our regular battles & hustles through the world. Society tells us to aspire & reach for ‘the top’, but it doesn’t do our bodies any good because we slowly shut down: Obesity, hypertension, fatigue, mental illnesses & all sorts of sicknesses. You quite simply burn out. You have to do what needs to be done but many of us, unknowingly, (have) put ourselves on the back-burner. I’ll be the first to admit that about myself. If I could live my youth all over again, I would give myself more time – to be myself and allow ME. Just breathe. All my youth, I’ve struggled & felt I never really took the time to stop and smell the roses. I hardly took the time to chill and take a moment appreciating to be me. Maybe I’m being a bit unfair to myself but a great deal of my teens & 20s felt like, I was chasing shadows. Can’t change the past, can only accept it.

 

Look in the mirror. Aren’t you good-looking? No, I mean seriously: Aren’t you the best-looking person you’ve ever seen? Be honest! Think of 5 things that make you bad. OK, now think of 1 thing that makes you really good. Doesn’t that thing like crash out the 5 ills? (If not, you’re being too modest about yourself, THINK HARDER!) When we vibe to our own rhythm, the world is a better place. The big, wide world with all its problems. Yet, when we appreciate ourselves and feel good, that big, wide world doesn’t seem like it could hold us down, with all its problems. You just feel like, ‘Whatever! It’s all good and I feel good!’ And as corny as it sounds, you actually feel that way. Think of the person you are. Isn’t that something? Man, it must be awesome to be you! And you still wanna hold a grudge against yourself for this or that thing you did or that happened? X(

No one gets through life with a clean sheet, EVERYBODY IS A F*CK-UP! Despite the obvious though, aren’t you still exceptional? I think you know the answer is YES.

 

Some people choose to acknowledge this, every day. Some mistake low self-esteem for humility. Like me, I used to be that way. Now I’m happy that I just typed ‘used to’. Where do you fit in? There’s no pressure, you’re not doing it for anyone but yourself. Live life at your pace, give yourself all the time you need. And then live it. Live through it. Do what makes you happy, that makes your heart sing. If your soul is euphoric like a child on the playground, you know you’ve hit the right spot. Live! Appreciate all that you are and all that you are not. No matter how hard anyone may try, no one will ever be like you! So, count your blessings afresh. Fulfill your dreams and stick through it, every day. Take one step after another. Instinct ensures you inhale & exhale. But while you’re at it – don’t forget to breathe!

 

 

“Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.” – 1 Corinthians 8:1

Disclaimer: This article is for motivational purposes. I do not accept any liabilities that may arise on your part, for acting on it. And I include this disclaimer because a blogger who doesn’t take legalities seriously, is only a conviction waiting to happen.

Become

I don’t take ‘No’ for an answer, every time I’m given one, I try to overturn it. I don’t let rules restrict me, if they stand in my way. Am I preaching illegality? No, but I’m definitely preaching a ‘whatever it takes’ attitude. You live only once, so why not do what has to be done, that you really wanna do? Lemme tell you something, this world is not impossible to overcome. As hard as it is, you can withstand it, if only you go about it in the right way. There are probably a few of them. I’m talking about mine.

Mine: I’m DRIVEN! Like the devil is chasing me? Is the devil chasing me? Yes, because he doesn’t want me to succeed. This is no conspiracy ish, this is a pledge. And you’re not pledging to me or nobody, you’re pledging to GOD! No one makes it out of this world alive so don’t take your mistakes seriously. We live in a time, in which it’s cool to be bad but it’s wack to talk about GOD. Well, here’s me gonna make talking about GOD cool! Every time, I had an extra painful moment, I suffered a lot. Today, I’m so hardened by all those experiences that I can’t imagine growing up successfully without them. I’m almost 30 – ’til date I’ve had about 5 Near Death Experiences. The only thing I can say about N.D.E.s is that they make you so much more grateful and make you appreciate life, for whatever it is. You don’t know how much you cherish your life until you risk losing it.

While I’m alive, I want to make all the dreams in my head happen. I will rather DIE TRYING than die without EVER having given it a REAL shot. A loser procrastinates. A loser always makes excuses for everything messed up in their lives and is never to blame. A loser finds every single excuse under the sun, in any idea suggested to him/her. A loser has no self-belief – just doubts. A loser can be gifted, but will never allow it to flourish because the loser cannot face DEFEAT! A LOSER CIRCUMVENTS FAILURE BY NOT EVEN ATTEMPTING IN THE FIRST PLACE! THAT’S WHY A LOSER IS A FAILURE!

I’m not a loser. I have failed countless times, that I don’t keep count. But I don’t give up. A few times in the past, I have given up – only to turn back again and give it another shot! It doesn’t matter what became of it, what matters is that I turned around and gave it another shot! I have done what I could over the past few years. It is what got me here. I am doing what I can, because I believe in the future. I believe in MY future and by me trying my best as best as I can (and trust me, I don’t joke), I will realize my dreams that exist in my head. They may not be exactly what I planned, I dunno what the future will look like but I have every faith in myself that whatever the world “throws” at me, I will overcome and make it to my dreams. BECAUSE I HAVE SELF-BELIEF AND BECAUSE I’M NOT A LOSER! Nothing that goes on in “the world” can be controlled. Everything that goes on inside you, can be, by YOU!

To be human, is to be gifted. There are two types of people in this world: Those who have discovered their gifts and those who haven’t. Not having discovered your gift, doesn’t make you a loser. I only discovered my gifts three years ago. And ever since I was a child, I always knew what my strengths were, the things I loved  to do but never took seriously. I’m not a loser because after 27 years, I turned around and GAVE IT ANOTHER SHOT! And now, I’m here. And that’s all that matters. The only people we ever compete with are ourselves. THINK ABOUT THAT!

Why am I writing all this? I dunno, I’m competing with myself to improve myself – even though I’m already good, because I’m gifted. And my gifts are my personal blessings from GOD. He already planned me out, you see? If you follow the same path, the only thing you need to do, is to unleash your blessings, to avoid being a loser. You’re already a winner, but first you must become.

“You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.”

Brian Tracy

‘Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.’

1 Peter 5:8

FOLLOW JESUS CHRIST!

Disclaimer: This article is for motivational purposes. I do not accept any liabilities that may arise on your part, for acting on it. And I include this disclaimer because a blogger who doesn’t take legalities seriously, is only a conviction waiting to happen.

Do

It doesn’t matter what economy exists: Boom or Bust, in the end it comes down to you to prosper. It doesn’t matter what time-frame we live in: Modern or Old, ultimately it’s your choice, to be. Everything you need, to achieve, is already in you. What makes you succeed in your goals or not, is your disposition. It’s not bad to admire people, but it’s horrible to not recognize yourself. There is no such thing as ‘elitism’ because as beings, we all have equal resources to work with, naturally. Even, a disabled person has a purpose. Even the disabled person serves a purpose. And it’s up to that human to acknowledge it. One thing we all share, is the most powerful tool in the world: The mind.
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It’s a fact that you can reach an attainment; whether you succeed in it or not, is up to you. No two situations are ever the same but in each & every one, a simple rule is always applied, if progress is to be commenced: You do what you can & try your best. This principle, you apply to every task, at every point along the way. It sounds easy, because that’s exactly what it is. However, the application needn’t become difficult, if you fear it to be so. Words are mighty, abusing them can negatively impact your life.

Nothing is impossible because the mind has imagination, and imagination lives in the unknown. If we all have it then, why do so many people fear attempting the impossible in their lives? Imagination believes in you, why don’t you believe in it, too? It makes no sense. You must do what you can & give it your best. The biggest need of humans, is to connect. Many dread to be embarrassed before others. Nonetheless, when you reach for your goals, there is no shame. Just a person realizing a dream.

It’s called going to work - on yourself. Is going to work peculiar? Do you laugh at commuters going to work? Anyone who does, is not worth to be acknowledged. So go after your dreams! Seek what you can & give it your best shot. The output is part of a sequence that only you know the final looks of – so ignore how modest its status may appear. Despite its great achievement potential & limitless capacity, the mind still requires us to start any engagement with a first step.

Use your imagination. It’s your genius. You will disprove yourself that you’re not one, when you begin achieving with & through it. Use your mind. Use your creativity. Think out the box. If you don’t know what a box is, you’re doing good, already. Any feeble start is an advancement to something colossal because it comes from your natural customization of the largest, worldwide power: The human mind. Hone into your strengths & likes, then develop your skills out of them. Work hard on them like you never had the gifts in the first place. Procrastination is the foe of imagination, fight it! If you have to do just one thing – do something. Whatever it is, just do it!

Live in your world – that means don’t compare anything of your life to other people’s. Learn what you can from others, but be grateful to be yourself. Stick to your plan daily & celebrate every little success. In time, you’ll realize you’re worth it. Then you’ll look back & be glad you proceeded on that journey with all the ups and downs. The mind & imagination feast off achievement. What that means, is the more you achieve, the less you feel anything at all is impossible. Do.

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”

Theodore Roosevelt

Disclaimer: This article is for motivational purposes. I do not accept any liabilities that may arise on your part, for acting on it. And I include this disclaimer because a blogger who doesn’t take legalities seriously, is only a conviction waiting to happen.

 

Female (& Male) Exploitation Part 4: Pornography

Pornography is pretty influential on the Internet. Don’t believe it? The you haven’t been online long enough. Here are some interesting websites I’d like to share with you:

• Porn Stats
• Porn Info
• More Porn Stats
• More Porn Info

Watching porn reduces your living value. It erodes your morals. It burns your sense of decency regarding love/courtship like a light-stick to a fire-cracker. It animalizes you, if that’s a word but now it is, and makes you feel women are objects solely designed to provide men with sexual pleasure. It never makes you see the opposite sex the way you ever did before. Compare the way you were before you first got introduced to porn to the way you are now, having experienced whatever you’ve experienced. I, for a FACT, know I’m not as light & innocent as I used to be, before adult mags got lent to me. And No, I don’t think that’s part of becoming an adult. Unless I’m terribly misinformed.

Porn is like a black hole: Once you’re in, you’re sucked deeper & deeper, realizing it virtually has no limit at all. A good way of finding out is turning off the search filter of a search engine & searching for porn in general: By clickling through the links of the first page, you typically get some websites that contain dozens of thumb-sized porn pics. Every one of those links, lead you to another pornsite, often of the same format of the one you’re on. However the subject matter increases, meaning you get more ‘quality’ than you first got. What’s disturbing is that by starting from a niche like teen porn, for example, these sublayers of pornsites lurking  beneath the surface, can seem to show the teen actresses as younger & younger. It doesn’t take long before you come across a picture where you realize the actress is younger than a teenager! To the perverted, pedophile mind, therefore, some forms of child pornography are publicly available, and a lot more accessible than people think! Hurrah! We’ve made a section of the crime mainstream! Porn consumption increases your tolerance to more, higher-intensity porn, which in turns increases your acceptance level for anything twisted, like bestiality etc. You become a pawn of the provider, susceptible to ANYthing it deems fit to show you. Your individual ability to control yourself therein gets slaughtered ascendingly with every visit. Porn-sites are typically also infamous havens of Trojans, viruses & all other stuff to give your firewall a headache. It’s pointless to prosecute anyone though, as most providers only let the cat out of the bag, if you’ve consented your agreement to them serving adult content & you being of adult age. Blaming them for any damage caused by immorality is like complaining to a weapons manufacturer for developing a gun you just bought, for being able to kill somebody!

Porn is highly addictive. A lot of people who consume it, don’t even realize they’re addicted. Porn ruins quality of life/interaction-skills with the opposite sex. Something as simple & pleasurable as dating, becomes… Houston, we have a problem. Abort! Abort!

Watching excessive porn over longer periods confuses your sexuality: It’s not exactly normal to see naked members of your gender in your life, at regular intervals. For example, a guy at most sees another naked guy or naked guys when showering together in a locker room, as part of the sports team. Or when going to a public swimming-pool & changing/showering over there. Basically, there’s not a whole lot of amount guys see other guys naked. I presume so  about girls as well, but feel free to prove me wrong. Lots of regular porn introduces an artificially high amount of nudity of the same sex in your awareness & sustains it. The result? You become desensitized a whole lot more than otherwise, tending to see sexual practices on your sex by your sex as normal. If you’re not straight, then I guess viewing porn just reinforces your sexuality. Stating this, I’m not accusing any sexuality of good or bad. If you’re not secure in your heterosexuality however, habitually watching porn may not be a good idea. But suit yourself!

Porn gives unrealistic expectations of love & sex: In a nutshell, men think they have to be built like Vin Diesel to get laid & women think being like Angelina Jolie brings all the action. Thank you, porn!

Most porn is targeted at men. A large part of male-oriented porn is female-degrading.

People are different but in my experience, women consider foreplay as an integral part of lovemaking. Acknowledging how much the world has gone to the dogs nontheless, I concur that such stance may be viewed as subjective.

Men who watch porn over long periods of time, become unable of regarding females as equal human beings, simply because they think of their vagina. In this case, it’s common to ponder over what sexual benefit a female could provide, regularly than focusing otherwise.

The last point is a strong factor of sexual violence & rapes against females, worldwide. It’s often said it’s the last stop before committing sexual crimes.

Another great lie porn conditions its plentiful patrons is an orgasm being the most important part of sex.

This is not true.

The point before the previous one destroys the sex lives of many women because it leaves them sexually unsatisfied. Men, by nature, ejaculate quicker than women. I’ll say on average but I don’t think there’s anything to be ashamed of, therefore I don’t see any reason for my ego to kick in.

Women love sex just as much as men do. Unofficially, it’s believed they enjoy it even more,… I wouldn’t mind having multiple orgasms. Porn conditions porn-watching men that sex is geared towards male satisfaction.

Sex is an interaction, not a service.

The penultimate point gives a landscape of opportunities: Men can seek & get away with it because it allows them to degenerate & treat women like filth, in an almost countless variety of ways.

Don’t get me started.

For fear of SOPA, PIPA & ACTA, I will not name any studios because they have a lot of money & may shut me down.

But they’re out there.

And I watch them.

And this is what compelled me to post this article. I think women should be treated with respect & not turned into mindless, mal-treated, submissive animals during sex. I do like some of the porn stars, by the way. Ravishing women! I’m not gonna name them either because they have a lot of money too and might sue me.

Or just join the studios & shut me down.

But I like ‘em anyway. I see them as humans.

Not recyclable trash-bags everybody can come on.

Get it?

Yeah, women have their wishes, which usually have to be fulfilled if you want to get some but overall, a rather disturbing point is PORN DEGENERATES PORN-PATRONS, WHO MORE OFTEN THAN NOT ARE MALE, TO SEE & TREAT WOMEN AS TRASH WHO ARE ONLY GOOD TO GET THEM OFF.

Why do I keep saying trash?

Maybe because porn sees & treats women as such. Here are some recommendations.

The movie 8mm starring Nicolas Cage is an excellent example of the porn industry, albeit a certain layer hidden from the public (ironic), which thrives. Note how his character becomes more & more disturbed by what he encounters.

Snuff movies exist & they make the Internet a crime scene.

Imagine being murdered live, or raped live – or raped then murdered, live!

You think I’m sick? That feeling doesn’t even begin to describe a fraction of a percent of the total, twisted, demented, rotten & super-dark quality of that industry itself.

Therefore, I don’t care because you don’t know what you’re talking about.

Or thinking.

Don’t shoot the messenger.

I don’t even know what I’m talking about…or typing, I’ve never seen a snuff movie before. I wouldn’t know where to look , it’s very ‘insider’ stuff.

And porn is a part of it, even if they are not aware of it.

So the next time you knock one out, be aware of what you’re knocking out to. A lot of purely insane stuff are part of the machinery that drives this very, very, big, big, global, multi-billion dollar industry. Like the Titanic & the tip of the iceberg: There’s more than meets the eye!

P.S. I talk about grey areas because not enough do. By choosing not to, grey areas fester & linger in our existence, eventually becoming  inherent facets of our societies, if they haven’t already done so. So, SPEAK!

Female Exploitation Part 3: Shake It, Baby!

“I’m ugly. Your momma wouldn’t want me around you. I’m filth. People call me white trash. I used to dream but now I know my dreams turned against me. They weren’t even given to me – I saw it on TV. I used to be a huge pop fan, I’d do anything to see Britney. In the beginning we were just having fun. My friends & I would dance to videos & learn all the moves. We’ve got fake IDs so we’d go clubbing & perform everything. The guys loved us! Shots, drinks, VIP, sex in the ladies’ room, we’d try everything out. After-parties, everywhere would be a gig. If the boys were halfway cute, we’d go back to their place, their friend’s place, hotels, motels, parks, alleys, nowhere would be off limits. Girls just wanna have fun. Right? What’s wrong with that? I used to get straight A’s, I wanted to be an astronaut. The first woman on Mars. Hey, a girl can dream, right? I never had a male role model, my dad left us when I was 5. My momma’s been going from one bad boyfriend to another. She can’t stay alone. We never had much, momma’s never home. She works two jobs & a third on weekends. I watch TV, call my girls & surf on Bebo, Twitter & MySpace. Boys lie to you! They force you into having sex then tell everyone about what you look like. I lost my virginity at 12. He said he loved me so I believed him. Now, I’ve learnt to use what they want against them & now I make them beg. I’m never gonna marry, true love doesn’t exist. Boys are stupid & are too dumb to protect what they’ve got. We’ll always use them to get rich. Music is life. Britney is my favourite. I’ve got all her albums, I supported her during her meltdown. Real fans don’t just desert you when you’re down. I was the biggest Christina & Jennifer fan. I love them so much. I love glam & glitter. I dress like it & I’m hard to resist. But they do. Adults act like care about us, but they really don’t care about us. Nobody does! If they did, we’d not get ignored so much, they’d listen to what we have to say & take us seriously. Because we’re under-age we shouldn’t be allowed to have a voice? They’re adults & they behave like children themselves and they make the decisions! Society loves looking down on us, they don’t listen so they’ll never understand us. That’s why we shut ourselves away! I escape into my own world, my friends do too, everybody does! And that’s why my music is so important to me, because the artists know what we’re talking about, they’ve been there & we share it in their songs, intimately. Just them & us. If you don’t have money, like folks round here, other people don’t even look at you. They don’t take you seriously. How can we hang out with better friends when the clowns don’t even wanna hang around with us? We go to an overcrowded school, live in a small town with no future, everyone’s going away, and hold on to each other. We’re 5 girls in our clique – best friends! We’re always there for each other. We don’t do anything wrong. I never meant to start smoking… it just happened. Two of my friends are pregnant, one’s a pothead, the other’s clinically depressed & cuts herself since she witnessed her dad blow his brains out. He was a war vet, unable to co-op with governmental neglect & life back home. Stars are us, because they’re normal people like us. They’re not snobs like the middle-class. Yeah, so I watch music videos all day. I learn more about life than a lot of educated folks. We’re smart, but we’re not gonna go to college. They don’t let people like us in. Life is short & we’re all 16 but we know we’re older than our age. We’re gonna support each other always. This world doesn’t care about you so you have to own it: Make that money & then rub it in their face! ‘Cause then all the people who never even glanced at you will flock around you, wanting to be your best friends. All of a sudden they’ll be down with your lifestyle & where you came from & will claim to understand you so well. They’ll always think because they’re so educated & from ‘good homes’, they’ll be cleverer than you & you wouldn’t be able to tell they’re mocking & using you. And that will be the greatest revenge we could ever get!”

She looks out the window of the caravan she’s living in. Dilapidated, abandoned houses are dotted around the trailer-park she’s a resident of. Dirt roads, tall trees & crows circling over the dry farms across the landscape. No city-civilization far & wide. Just an old, tiny, gas station half a mile before camp entrance.

“When that day comes, I’m gonna be beautiful. Everyone’s gonna call me pretty & no one will call me a slut or say I’m easy. Women twice my age are gonna have face-lifts & implants to look like me & big brands will be offering me big deals. I’ll be living in a mansion & then they’re gonna film it & show it on TV. I’m gonna drive luxury cars they’ll only dream of & my lifestyle will be like that of my older sisters – the superstars who came from the bottom up! The girls & me will be different but would have never changed! Our families would be the rich people I hate, but with a lot of soul in them. Since this country doesn’t care about us, we’ll take care of ourselves… and only look out for the younger generations living in our lives right now, because we’ll share with them all our pains. They’ll have older siblings to look up to in us & copy everything that we do. And they won’t care & neither will we because we’ll all know we’re not gonna be judging no one. Not like society! They’ll show us true love so we’ll give them our hearts. Then, the society is gonna label them bad & knock down their confidence but never dare to call us anything like that. Because they will worship us like their GODS & they will fall to our every whim! All despite the fact that those very fans, our loyal, genuine supporters would simply be living the lives my girls & I are living now. And they wouldn’t see anything wrong with that… you cannot call them hypocrites – it’s a waste of breath! When that day comes, we’ll be offered a lot of money to publish our autobiographies & tell our stories. And you will be worth a lot too, dear diary!”

She takes a deep breath, then turns & looks at her baby, sleeping behind her chair, in the cradle. His eyes are shut tightly, he sleeps peacefully in absolute harmony.

“I’ve now realized life is what you make it. I never thought I would have the most beautiful gift, so early in life already. In this world, I’m rags but my blessing is bigger than their entire worth. When you’re beautiful inside, you have to do it the way the videos show it because that’s the only way you get money. Then, you can protect what you have on the inside & deceive them with the outside. They’re gonna think you’re fake, a low-life, just a cheap, plastic whore! And that’s OK, because you’re playing them all for a fool. Then when you’re at the top, you become shielded from society anyway, because you’ll be in a fortress on a hill. And you’ll have your beauty protected anyway, so it won’t matter if your mask comes off. Society pretends like we don’t exist, so we learn to play the game the way we can: The way the stars, who came before us, did it & are showing us the way, exactly. We have to take what we want & own them. We’re smarter than them, but they think we’re dumb. They underestimate us & that’s why we’ll win. Everything we are now, is everything they’ll wanna be, when that time comes! Because we’ll make it look cool, like we watch it everyday on TV. Just like the system does it! Because behind the ‘bimbo-mentality’ of every dumb blonde, is a cunning & calculated puppeteer, playing them all by the strings!”

The above writing is a work of fiction from an overactive imagination. Any resemblance of the lead characters to any person living or dead, is purely coincidental. The themes the story touches upon are real & there to mirror the effects of the ‘sophistication’ of modern society on the least economically-empowered people.

Oversexualization of females

Jobs are liberalized to women but they are still oversexed to male delight. –>Tight, mini skirts, deep cleavages etc → Double standard → TV: newscasting, presenting, entertainment industry. This doesn’t create gender equality – it’s a double standard! Women may work along now but men are still superior by enjoying their sexual enslavement.

-Women employed as a commodity, a staple of global delight for men.

One man to many women & nobody sees anything wrong with that (prime example: Hip-Hop videos). What happened to monogamy? What happened to fidelity? It’s socially accepted when men do it: It’s a status symbol, it’s seen as an alpha-male characteristic of success (the ueber-provider). When a woman does it, the aforementioned virtues are thrown back in her face & she’s slutty, vile, a bad woman etc. This is HYPOCRISY! ->We may live in the Information Age, but we’re still primitive animals, deep down inside. Females respond to muscle! It’s genetic, wired into their DNA codes. In the Stone Age, it was the alpha-male who was more successful in ‘mating’ a female. Not because of his primate-good looks, but because the female felt she would get the two crucial virtues to her existence: Food & Protection. Mr tall- skinny-&-lanky wasn’t exactly a contender in that regard. As simplistic as it sounds, it holds a lot of weight, irrelevant of the diversity in body types today, or how sophisticated women have become. The frame of a muscular man isn’t there to stimulate a woman mentally, she’s not exactly going to cue on to protein-based-muscle-development conversations, is she? She responds to them in a subconscious way. Even if she’s not into hunky guys, she still notes psychologically that (if need be) she can get (some form of physical) protection from him… or manipulate him to use his brawn to her favor – whichever she prefers! The point is, women are attracted to muscle. So, this basic principle has become bastardized all around the world. Male non-commitment is the new ‘cool’ in (sexual) relations with females. Therefore, the misconception of success as a man, through fornicating with with as many women as possible, has been conditioned upon many members of recent generations (from Generation X to Millennials). Monogamy & fidelity are thrown out of the window. Men pursue lust & adultery because they yearn recognition in society, e.g. the ladies’ man. In a world of 7 billion people, who doesn’t want to stand out? Even if you’re not built like a wrestler: Sleeping with multiple women, as an averagely-built or scrawny guy, allows you to ‘walk with the giants’. You earn the respect of alpha-males & are increasingly given that respect outside that circle. You’re a STUD!

-Women don’t like to be 100% of the time, always ‘sexy’, half naked in kinky clothes, deep cleavages, tight dresses, etc. Pyjamas, sweaters, coats, jumpers, long-sleeved shirts – COMFORTABLE CLOTHES are a big hit too, because they’re not primarily wearing it to make guys happy, but themselves & what’s wrong with that? But this millennium must have not got the memo. It’s the 21^st century! Duh! Silly me.

It’s OK for a guy to look like he just woke up… all day long but it’s a mm-mm, no-no when a girl does the same thing. How many of you girls reading feel (enormous) pressure to look your best in these times… all the time? YOU? Well, your problem has  been halved because you just got some closure. Looking sexy 24hrs a day – does that even sound natural? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so to the admirer a woman IS sexy, regardless of what she looks like in the morning or appears like through the day! Why then still care about what other people think? Somewhere along the way of evolving to ‘modern society’, we decided to substitute our perception of beauty with trends of the wider public. The fashionable thing of the near future will probably be to revert to that original form, then we’ll really be oh-so-sophisticated. My, my – such class! Moreover, when a woman feels sexy, no one can tell her otherwise. So, people’s perceptions are just background noise; it’s what’s in your head that matters! The keyword of the day is SHARING: From everything in your personal life right down to your intimacies. What was once used to be private pleasure, has now become public right! I mean, come on, why aren’t I allowed to see what your boobs look like? Of course I’m not your boyfriend! See? I just qualified. Oh, get with the times, will you? It’s the 21^st century!

No longer is hot, raunchy clothing confined to the bedroom. Haute Couture is now excessively influenced by seductive-wear. Because sex is one of the oldest, most primal needs of humankind, it has become exploited ruthlessly to gauge everyone to it, coercing them to buy into the trend of sexy-everything. The result? SEX SELLS! The ‘lady in the streets, freak in the sheets’ adage has unfortunately been reduced to ‘slut in the bedroom, tramp in public’. Once again, I do not mean any verbal abuse to women in this regard, I’m solely directing my brutally-honest criticism to the rationale of the greater societal system we (have to) live in. Us people have nothing to do with it, live your life!

What was once ‘Kiss but don’t tell’ has turned to ‘Snog, tweet & facebook about it’. There goes the self-respect.

Oversexing & all the above condition females, especially young ones, to ultimately believe they’re aesthetic goods & are only there to satisfy male desires. They start to think they can pretty much only succeed if they become ‘sexy’, doll/kitten-like, in addition to voluntarily dumbing themselves down & repressing their numerous, multiple gifts & strengths. All hail the Bimbo-Mentality! There’s a saying that goes a man uses his intelligence to get ahead in life, while a woman intending to succeed, dumbs herself down. A tremendously chauvinistic statement to women, agreed, but when you think about it, there’s a lot of truth to it… because that’s the society we (chose/choose) to live in today. And this reality dawned upon a lot of women out there, trying to make it in life. Forget the fact you’re analytical & reverse-suplex most people down with your arguments in a debate; to stand a good chance at life-success, act really girly, wear kinky, sexy, (pink) mini-outfits with a big smile & act really dumb to general knowledge & common sense. You’ll be getting offers/referrals in no time. You see, contrary to what you may (definitely) think, you’ll be totally cute! Us guys love that stuff! I mean, who wouldn’t want to date you? Boys get schooled, grow up, become men – or overgrown boys, work (hard) & live their lives, doing their thing. The female version of that is increasingly succumbing to societal sexualization etc, not because they’re sluts but because they’re following the trend… of this sick & twisted world. OOPS, typo… how did that slip in there?

DENIAL OF SELF-FULFILLMENT IS ENSLAVEMENT TO OTHERS!

 

So then, they’re called bimbos, gold-diggers, cold-hearted b*tches, corporate prostitutes (sleeping to the top) etc. If chauvinism, the glass ceiling & gender inequality didn’t exist, they wouldn’t have to (among other things) do that, to begin with! So women understood the game & are basically making  away with the gains they can. That, in turn, goes to show how immensely cunning & intelligent they are. But they’re only living in such reality because men overwhelmingly put them there, in the first place!

Women existing as aesthetic commodities contributes in part to human trafficking & sexual slavery. I recommend further reading eBooks Sex Trafficking of Women in the United States & Trafficking in women for sexual exploitation, they’re ridiculously informative!  There are more obvious reasons the organized crime is carried out, particularly from socio-economic points of view, but trading lives just to get laid plays a big role nonetheless. Mail Order Brides are mild examples of sex slavery, many of the girls are in it to escape poverty. Now, are you telling me every one of those girls genuinely want to spend the rest of their lives, serving a master, then kneeling before him, unzipping his trousers and… ? Didn’t think so.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING & SEXUAL SLAVERY = FEMALE EXPLOITATION! I highly recommend grabbing a copy of & watching ‘Shuttle’ & ‘Taken’. They treat the issues fantastically & are great movies.

In Showbusiness, women are de facto forced to exploit their sexuality, by revealing their anatomy & private parts provocatively in public. Think about it: Women are regularly in half-naked attires, barely covering their bits, while the men in showbusiness are almost always completely cloaked up in suits, coats, jackets etc. If a man wants to be sexual in public, he’ll leave the first three buttons of his tailored shirt undone. Wooh, get ‘em tiger! In contrast, this clearly makes women a staple for men’s sexual gratification & the participating women seem to be fine with it because that’s the industry & the industry is gender-inequality-promoting to females! Even when it’s ‘advocating’ girl power, it showcases it in a, to females, sexually-exploitative way: Yeah, go ahead & take on the world, but show some skin while you’re at it, hunny! Need a general example? Try glamour modelling.

Women are influenced to pose their rears, while making sexual innuendos to snapping-photographers. By making this the norm of the day, it’s desensitized Western-pop-culture-embracing societies (including the one I come from) to universally accept such subtle elements of soft pornography. And you thought there wasn’t a perv in you! How many women engaging in this charade actually want to act ‘sexy’ for hours on end in public & have a thoroughly good time doing it? Even adult stars have their reservations deep inside, I bet – they’re only human! Doesn’t that signify a blatant form of female exploitation? When you’re, however, offered a hefty cheque with more zeros in it than a loser, I guess even the most prudish Goody Two-Shoes will unhesitatingly bare & shake it all for the paparazzi. When you pimp yourself out, you strive to look sexy because it has been made to look glamorous for, at least, the past two decades. The images in mainstream media entertainment shows, motion picture, music videos & showbusiness – they all depict successful women being really happy with life because they’re oh-so-SEXY!And everybody else outside that glamorous bubble wants in & works hard to become sexy as well because that is, after all, where the success lies: The big break; the escape from the rat-race. What (seemingly) the majority of the masses fail to realize, is that the actors in the bubble are just that – ACTORS! Because the life they represent in those worlds don’t exist – THEY’RE ALL FAKE! That’s why their smiles are fake – from the lips. The events they showcase are : “Superhot guy meets summer-model babe & the sun is shining. The sky is is blue & the GDP of the neighbourhood is like $500 million, despite the recession. Everyone is young, attractive & super-rich! The guy & girl glance at each other & instantly connect, it’s LOVE AT 1ST SIGHT! They smile at each other & ooh, they look so good, it’s obvious they’re soulmates. They jump into his bright-yellow, supercharged, limited-edition, convertible sports car & drive off into the sunset, care-free to God-knows-where. She fully trusts him, this absolute stranger & they share the most romantic evening ever together, in his lush, city-centre penthouse overlooking the city lights. They then spend the night making hot, sizzling, endless rounds of utter-passionate love, with no indication of using any protection since you never see them stop to fetch condoms out the bedside-drawer. HIV/AIDS probably don’t even exist, they’re all SUPERHOT, SEXY & OH-SO-SUCCESSFUL and embody EVERYTHING everybody else who’s human in the world would desire. We’re not stupid, just stuck in the rut between a bad economy, a dead or dying job market & a lousy job that’s barely keeping us broke. So, we invest our consciousness into the quest to sexiness because THAT’S THE LIFE & EVERYTHING BECOMES PERFECT WHEN YOU’RE SEXY! SEX SELLS, both ways. It’s not like you don’t know what to do: Shake It, Baby!

Female Exploitation Part 2: ‘Seperated Unity’

“… I don’t know the reason but I always feel persecuted, whenever a person disturbs my area, I feel like it’s an attack on me. I learnt that word yesterday: I overheard my father pronouncing it from the dictionary, he spoke out the meaning… persecution.”

(She pauses )

” Here, there are many birds, but they only come out in the morning. Once it’s hot, they rest in the shade. My mother says they’re like people, they’re lazy!”

(She pauses)

“In school, my teacher knows how to use her GSM like a computer: Sometimes she sends letters & then my other teacher’s phone rings!” 

(She pauses)

“One day, I’m going to have a big house that I will have a big celebration in, with all my family. I’ve seen it before: Sometimes, I stop in the town centre & watch the TV. It has satellite & all the people sit on the ground & watch the TV. You can watch films, the men like to argue whenever football is on the TV. But I can’t stay when they show other women, they have a time when you can see fashion but I must return to fetch water because my mother is sick. “

(She pauses)

“I don’t know anywhere, this is my home. We have some farms around us but everywhere is bush. Sometimes snakes come to visit us but the neighbor’s sons kill them, because our house are together.”

(She pauses)

“Snake meat is good, they can sell it for very expensive. In the city, they like to eat python.”

(She pauses)

“My brother is after me, then I have 2 sisters. They’re very young, so I must take care of them a lot. My brother helps to clean the house. He can boil water & cook some food from the stove. But we only use that when my father is around. The kerosene is expensive, so we use the firewood that the traders sell us. They pass by every two weeks.”

(She pauses)

“It doesn’t matter if I don’t go to school a lot, my mother says I have to be a woman so that they will find a man for marriage & provide for the family. We sleep together in one room, I’m waiting to make it better. They don’t know because I don’t tell them but one day when I’m going to get money, I’m going to build a new house for them & we will have smooth floor & windows & iron door. They will think I’m rich because it’s going to have a generator set & a ceiling fan & radio. My brother & sisters will have a big bed & radio. My mother will have her own TV, a new one, so she can watch all the fashion inside her bed.”

(She pauses)

“My father came back yesterday but he has returned in the afternoon. He works at the coast in the town, he collects rubbish & sells. Whenever he comes back he always brings something along. We’ have collected a wall clock, a teddy bear, a little table, even pots to cook. Yesterday, he brought some books with the dictionary. Daddy was a postman, the post closed down & sacked him. When the war broke out, we lost everything. I was little, my brother was inside my mother’s stomach when we ran away with my father, into the bushes. We were hiding from the militia. I still remember there were other families with us, all of us were crying. When anyone would hear something, we would all be quiet. Then when it go again, we would cry again. We lived in the bush for 9 months, my brother was born there. All the families supported my mother & they prayed for my brother. They always said he was special, that he is a blessing to us. One of the men told me to watch after him because my brother will become our guardian.”

(She smiles)

“After the war, we did not return, everywhere was burnt down & it was not safe so we returned to the coast. They formed a community there & this our home. My sisters were born here, they are twins. Some girls here have been taken far away, to the city. They are going to sell their body to buy food. Their mothers here are upset but they are feeding their children. One of them, I know, is from my class. She is 13, the rest are 15, maybe 17.”

(She pauses)

“I haven’t eat since yesterday. I always get headache & my stomach hurts. When we were hiding in the bush, we would eat big pig & everyone would eat together. There was plenty food because there was no money, many animals & bush. We had a fire in the night and slept because the animals were afraid of fire. I can’t give my body to a man & collect money for it. I am special. I wouldn’t know how much to tell him to pay. My father is abused sometimes because he smells bad, when he returns from work, but they don’t know he used to work in an office. He was a postman & he can read & write. He has finished school! Many who abuse him don’t work, they just sit around all day & look at people everyday. My mother tells me to stay away from them… I don’t like them!”

(She pauses)

“Money is bad: People kill each other for money. People steal & do bad things, all because of money. But I want money! So that I can have a lot, to buy my father an office again & a car. He will wear nice clothes & smell good all the time. And then I want to marry a gentleman. He will take care of me & treat me nice. I want many children & my brother & sisters will know them very well. And when they have their children, they will all play & grow up together.”

(She smiles)

“I dream one dream & it always return many nights: That I will be a queen of town & a very important lady. I will be on TV & not the one sitting on the ground. I will wear a long, royal dress & many jewels. I will provide work for all women & all the girls will be given many good meals every day, so they will not be hungry anymore. And they won’t have to sell their body for bad price. Because they’re special, too. I will make a school for them, where they are taught to do anything they want & when they leave, they will become everything they want. I will make peace everywhere so that there will be no more war & nobody will have to live inside the bush. And they won’t have to sell snake for money or kill big pig to eat. My mother will have a doctor visit her & treat her at home & she will become well & play with us. I won’t be walking early in the morning before school to fetch water from the next town, again. I won’t be carrying heavy jerrycans for 2 hours every day to my house, so that we can eat, drink, cook & bath. I will buy a water pump, like they have in where I take water.”

(She pauses)

She looks out into the bright, empty, dried-shrub-covered landscape, marked by a few Baobab trees, amid the scorching heat. In her hands, she’s holding a little branch: She had been peeling at it ever since. She’s clothed in rags: Her blouse is so dirty it’s brown & her shorts are, in several places, patched up – her father’s work. Resting against the wall of her home, she sits on the ground outside, in the shade; listening to the eagles vocalizing & watching as they glide through the sky, hardly flapping their wings for minutes. She looks at the poster on a wall, opposite her. It’s a news article, tattered, with the bold headline ‘SUPERSTAR: AFRICAN POP PRINCESS ON WORLD TOUR; PROMOTES OWN RURAL POVERTY ALLEVIATION SCHEME’. It’s got a large image of a smiling adolescent girl in large sunglasses & designer clothes, holding a naked child & surrounded by local villagers cheering her. That must be what it’s like when you’ve arrived! Next to the young girl is her jerrycan, ready for refilling from the next hour’s walk.

She looks deep at the image, gradually returning to her reality. Her stomach is still churning & her headache’s worse.

“I know you understand what I mean.” she says, still looking at the poster, in a heart-breaking tone. As she looks back out again, into the open, blazing-hot, barren wilderness, she mumbles quietly to herself:

“We are the same!”

The above writing is a work of fiction, based on real issues, to paint a picture of the combination of sociocultural & economic conditions that breed abject poverty & create the ecosystems necessary to torment & exploit rural girls, in the 21st century. Any resemblance of the characters to any people living or dead, is purely coincidental. The writing is composed in subtle forms of African vernacular English.

Female Exploitation Part 1: The Glass Ceiling

Mandy is a career-minded, driven, intelligent & ambitious young woman, in her late twenties. She’s highly educated, hard-working & tenacious. Her track record is intimidating: She consistently outperforms her older colleagues employed longer than her & isn’t afraid to boldly be the best. Not easy to beat as she rarely takes no for an answer. She’s turns over tens of millions for her company annually & jumps to every new challenge. She’s a go-getter. She’s vying for the top. She’s a flea in an empty, lid-covered glass.

In her eight years of working for a major blue-chip organization listed in the top 20 of Fortune 500 companies, she’s trained over 40 interns & junior staff, retained 2 of them for her own team, been instrumental to the subsequent impressive performances of 30 of them & has ensured a fast track promotional program for one of the them to join the handful of business intelligence analysts, in the private equities wing of the multinational group. She oversees a few billions in customized investment vehicles for an aristocrat dynasty in Northern Europe. Over the past four years, she has grown their profit by 35%. She’s  the dog’s bollocks. If you gave her a buck to invest, she would ask you in what denominations you would want to receive the five-thousand-fold increase the week after. She is top of her league & everybody knows it. Mandy is the business.

For the past four years, she’s been a capacity building mill. Batch after batch of newbie, ivy league college grads, she’s been training, to the enormous growth/performance of her division. When the in-house, elite training program started, she was picked to run it, from a short list of three: 2 men & herself. She didn’t have to do much to get the opportunity in the first place; she had been doing way too much ever since she started to show the firm she was nothing less than perfect to become the next CEO. And much to the Board’s dislike. She trains young professionals with heart, complete devotion & earns a healthy bonus from every training installment, that grows the happiness of her euphoric bank account. Mandy is eight months away from turning 30. She’s already made enough money to retire into a quiet, suburban lifestyle for the rest of her life. But she is a wealthy slave. As powerhouse as she is to the company, she has no power, just enormous capabilities. And they’re driving her mad!

Mandy represents a movement, a dangerous movement to the senior technocrat custodians of Old Money. Wherever the Board works, they implement their traditions/culture underpinning their values/beliefs of work & reward, with them. If they go into e.g. mining, the company will be built in a hierarchical order that complements the way they lead businesses: totalitarian, colonialist, chauvinistic & heartless. The top one percent of Mandy’s multinational group are nonetheless well attuned to our time & perform to pinnacle standards every year. Even when they have a bad year & miss their profit margin, they’re still in the top 10 of best industry earners. Mandy is denied her right to take part in that; to excel in an extremely high level of management, leading & performing, because for the past three years, 20% of the total number of trainees she’s developed have been placed on promotional paths, that lead to that echelon – and they’re all men.

Mandy’s vexed! She’s realized that she’s reached the point where she’s about as good as she’ll ever get. And that’s for the rest of her career. It doesn’t matter if she gradually notices more workers rising to the top whom she she knows aren’t up to her caliber; they fit the profile & as far Mandy is concerned, from the Board’s perspective, she’s payed her dues & is given her reward: A fat paycheck, time & time again – just no breakthrough! Indignation; it’s happens to the most of us. It happens to the best of us. It happens to women! From the outside looking in, Mandy hasn’t got much to complain about. She owns a new S5, a lush 2-bedroom apartment, has the looks to get any man she wants but is waiting to fall in love & can afford a Black Card (if she only eats & works for the rest of her life). She does better than most & that’s not just women! So, what could she possibly be missing? Isn’t money everything? In a retail, consumerist world, yes! Just not in the world of movers & shakers, who have the real power to effect things & set standards. Isn’t that what we’re all about? To blossom in our full potential? And money by itself doesn’t buy that. That’s why top athletes leave inflated contracts, in the hunt for that missing championship medal they haven’t earned yet. That’s why actors choose ground-breaking roles over blockbusters because they’re looking for that accomplishments (the really good ones anyway). That’s why Wall Street brokers quit to open small restaurants & Mandy is getting partial-psychological, postmortem blues with her depression about the invisible atrocity that’s preventing her from soaring any higher: The Glass Ceiling!

The above writing is a work of fiction, based on real issues, to paint a picture of the concealed extent, to which women are ruthlessly exploited in the ‘modern’ day. Any resemblance of the lead character to any person living or dead, is purely coincidental.