What defines 'Happiness' for you?
Where do you find it? In the mundane and unexpected things? The fulfillment of great expectations (whatever it means to you) or the 'eureka! 'moments you've hinged all your sweat and energy on?
Well, for me, happiness has been relishing on memories of mundane things... Things so ordinary that they can pass for nothing yet remarkable.
I'll share...
For the memories, helped out an old lady push her wheelbarrow to her compound , the unexpected toothless smile and her subsequent prayer for me, asking God to bless me with a man with 'big money' that will take me to 'obodo oyibo' had me chuckle home. Or once, when I decided to hitch a ride with our youngest sibling eating doughnut and 'pure water' and any time a car whizzed by, we hid our faces behind a big brown manila envelope; laughing into it because we didn't want anyone to see us eating along the road. Or as someone who likes travelling, I would gently recline on my seat and smile at the swish sound of trees waving their branches as we drove past. The warmth that flooded my heart at sighting a cactus plant in Jos. Or my visit to Abuja, where my host could not pick me up one hour after arrival. Torn between weariness and hunger, I humbly sat among Hausa Muslims, observing how they performed their prayers: clutching tightly to their mantra and mumbling incomprehensible sentences. I would later watch as some Nigerians obeyed traffic lights at Maitama without needing a traffic warden to regulate their movements.
You know, those memories that cause you to let out a chuckle even when there's nothing to laugh or smile at.
Once, I walked down the stalls of Nkwor Nnewi alongside my dad, a man would call out from his stall 'Di anyi, give me this one to marry and I will take her to obodo oyibo.' I would pretend I did not hear and ask my father the next thing to buy. Other times, I would dress up as one going on a date, only for me to enter a cozy restaurant, order for a can of Fanta and meatpie, devour them quietly and head home smiling at myself.
I once had a 'romantic' walk with a guy in UNN. We would trek from PALG to FreedomSquare then settled behind Bartho's office. We would discuss a lot and finally ended with politics. He would later ask to see me off to my hostel holding my hands but I would refuse; created a wide space between us because I was so scared he would grab me and kiss me. Or as I watched a group of youths worship God, tears running down their cheeks and hands pointed towards heaven. I would later watch some of them paired, go home, maybe feeling satisfied. These and so many others. Yes, they may not be as grand, but they light up a part of you.
Once, I walked down the stalls of Nkwor Nnewi alongside my dad, a man would call out from his stall 'Di anyi, give me this one to marry and I will take her to obodo oyibo.' I would pretend I did not hear and ask my father the next thing to buy. Other times, I would dress up as one going on a date, only for me to enter a cozy restaurant, order for a can of Fanta and meatpie, devour them quietly and head home smiling at myself.
I once had a 'romantic' walk with a guy in UNN. We would trek from PALG to FreedomSquare then settled behind Bartho's office. We would discuss a lot and finally ended with politics. He would later ask to see me off to my hostel holding my hands but I would refuse; created a wide space between us because I was so scared he would grab me and kiss me. Or as I watched a group of youths worship God, tears running down their cheeks and hands pointed towards heaven. I would later watch some of them paired, go home, maybe feeling satisfied. These and so many others. Yes, they may not be as grand, but they light up a part of you.
A sweet journey I won't want to end....
Thank You!
Thank You!
Continue next week.........
Written by Chyoma Glory Iwuji
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