Everyday Magic

Kenyans are always in a state of enjoyment—it’s always 5 pm somewhere, they will tell you as they exchange “Uko?” messages and all sorts of bottles appear on the table out of nowhere. But I am not talking about that sort of enjoyment. I’m talking about the magic in the everyday things that we often miss, find a nuisance, or take for granted. Here are five of mine.

The Rains

When it rains it pours and it has been doing that a lot lately in Nairobi, to the point where a section of my living room ceiling has started soaking. “That rain will destroy my ceiling,” I often think begrudgingly when the heavens open.

For those of you who have changed ceilings, you know what a nuisance it is. And so every time it starts to rain I start to worry. I am learning to enjoy the magic of the soothing sound of rain hitting the roof, the sleek roads, and the cleansing feeling after. And if it soaks my ceiling, so be it. Besides, worry never fixed anything.

Self-Discovery

I read somewhere (I can’t remember where) that we are as vast as the ocean and most people have only been at the shore of themselves. I am learning to enjoy the magic of taking a dip into the deep end of my life. Confronting the phantoms that lurk within and at the same time exploring and discovering the beauty that has been hidden from me for such a long time.

A Good Book

There is nothing like sitting with a good book, as it rains. A book that holds your attention and keeps your mind from wandering into the abyss of your soaking ceiling. A book that embraces you tightly and teaches you a thing or two while at it.

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle has been one of the books this year that has cracked a window into the magic that is all around us. It is true, the world is not happening to you, you are happening to it. I also opened the Sex Lives of African Women: A book that peels back the mask on women’s sexuality. It was interesting to discover that women’s sexual appetites are not far from ours.

A Schedule

They say an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. I am starting to understand the weight of that saying. Most of us believe that freedom is doing whatever we want, when we want, however we want. If you leave your mind to its own devices you will realize that it chooses the path of least resistance every time.

I am learning to enjoy the magic of scheduling my day down to a T: from work, scrolling social media, to a walk. It’s strange how 30 min of scrolling social media feels like a lifetime when it’s scheduled and how 3hrs pass like a blip when it’s not scheduled.

Stillness

Stillness sounds like a name a parent from the lakeside would give their child, ‘Stillness Omondi.’ Haha. Stillness is simply being with your own company. A status meeting of sorts with yourself. It used to terrorize me before, I couldn’t sit with myself in silence for 5 min before my thoughts overwhelmed me and I stopped. I am now doing 30 min of it every day and learning to enjoy the magic of acting on the thoughts that build me and ignoring the ones that don’t. I am learning that your mind will lead you where you focus it.

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I would like to hear your everyday magic. It’s okay if it is in the realm of, ‘It’s always 5 pm somewhere.’ or the Mandamano’s that are set to be happening every Monday. I mean, we work very hard and we are deserving of a three-day weekend.

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