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Based on the fact that I have been MIA and when I am around I have been posting sad posts, I thought today might be a bit different. Lean on some positive vibes for once in a long week.
I am also choosing to ignore the fact that a year has disappeared within the thin air and school will be over in two months and I feel so unprepared for the final exams.
Moving past all that, I want to talk about what giving back is to me. A topic my old friend will talk about while cursing those who don't get why they have to give back for in the first place. I pity such a crowd. Why? You ask.
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Giving back to me is healing to oneself. It revolves around showing kindness to someone without expecting anything in return. In Swahili, we say, 'ukipeana chochote, fanya hivyo bila matumaini yoyote'... This translates to, 'if you are planning on giving anything, do so without expecting anything.' That said, I give back what I can where I can.
Here on Steemit, I run a project that was founded by one @erodedthoughts to highlight deserving artists from this community dubbed @eye4art. I am still coming up with more ways to make it more interactive but currently I am reviewing a new artist on a daily basis.
Off this community, I work with CleanStart Kenya who started a creative writing classes' project inside prisons dubbed Beyond the Sentence. Though I started going there in July, I have seen the benefits of going behind bars armed with pens and writing pads and enough hugs.
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My team and I have collected over 500 pieces - poetry, short stories, prose, fiction, and nonfiction - from a group of the 15 most women in a class of 27. Most are drawn from their own life lessons and their depth is alien to my empty words. You can only imagine how much that alone inspires me to be there every Thursday morning.
Going there is helping me heal some dark past wounds and as I try to help them heal theirs in the process but somehow they can't see it that they heal me too. They only see what I/we do for them. Sometimes it feels like getting praises for being selfish if you understand what I mean.
The letter below is from a South African serving 4 years for drugs in Langata Maximum Women Prison. I can't tell you how much change I have witnessed in this woman all thanks to her engaging in writing. I can't express how humbled I feel to be a part of this transformation.
Giving back is everything to me ♥️
Thank you for coming.
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