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Ideas and Ideals
I didn’t recognize my talent until one day my kindred spirit, Kun, said to me, “Summer, you are a confident person. And I like the idea of you.” “Am I?” None of my friends had ever said that. They praised me for being smart and friendly, but none of them would have credited me ‘confident.’ I nodded because I didn’t want him to know how insecure I felt when surrounded by a bunch of talented elites. But his words changed my life. I have not spent time wallowing in self-pity ever since. I flipped the desk and dismissed all the skeptics, as being true to myself, I am confident. When I fail, I...
From a child to an advocate - 7 things I learned working in UNICEF
Six months, half a year or one hundred eighty-two days – this may seem like a short period of time but for me it is a mini-life journey, filled with challenges and new insights. I have been with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Kazakhstan as an international UN volunteer working on communications. As such, I have contributed to improving the visibility of the organization and the important work it is doing for every child. My contribution has varied: from writing and editing to pitching a partnership proposal and contributing to the launch of a new programme on volunteering. As I...
You can!
Not everyone has the opportunity to listen 'You can!' just at the moment we need it most. If no one has told you, then you should know that there is a force inside you that drivers you to do incredible things and make the impossible possible. You just have to believe in yourself, have confidence in what you do. You are able to realize your dreams and everything you set your mind to. If something does not go as expected, do not give up! Persevere. The secret is often to insist. Your opinion, your actions, your dreams are important and the world needs them. Some situations that occur in life are...
Take action and help fight COVID-19
A Mixtape for Hope: Youth Poems for Change
How Do Negative Words Impact People?
Words can have a great impact on people. Whether spoken or via text, it can affect us in both good and bad ways. Words can affect us in a way that we may not realize sometimes and it can emotionally scar us too, even if we do not like admitting it. Believe it or not, even the toughest of people can be hurt by words. They may not show it to you, but it does a lot of hurt to them sometimes, even if they don’t care most times. When we tell something to someone and they react badly, we may think that our words are not a big deal, but they really are. We may think that we were joking or we did not...
I hate depression
Due to the increase in suicidal rate all over the world, I was inspired to write this. Please note, the following may be triggering. I am tired of life, I hate this life. I am scared that I will wake up one day and feel that I am alive and not alive. Depression is catching up with me. Anxiety is drawing me in. The demons are in control of my life. I am running away from the invisible demons chasing me, but I can't escape them. Depression made me like this. It took me until I hated the rising of the sun because I believed the world would see me for the deceitful person I am. I have lost hope in...
The significance of art & its effect on mental health
With a knack for arts and a passion for psychology, my dream is to use my art to contribute to real change in the community. By portraying my ideas through art and putting important topics on display through tangible artistic pieces - such as abstract sculptures and visual art representation - my messages get communicated to people. Since childhood, I have loved art and always looked at it from different perspectives, ranging from painting, drawing, and more. Illustrating cartoons with a beneficial story for kids, in addition to making miniatures (size of a coin) that show the significance and...
The Memory of Touch
Who knew that 2019 would be the last year when we would actually experience touch? Who knew that in 2020, touch would become such a negative verb? Who knew that something which used to calm us a year ago, would become the reason for millions of deaths? Well, a lot has changed since 2019, and sometimes it feels like the time from 2020 onwards is a completely different era; not a good one though. We all would agree, that touch is one of the major sense organs, and without it, humans wouldn’t get any sense of emotions, right? But, were we prepared for the time when a day would come when we wouldn...
Why Body Positivity on Social Media is More Important Than You Think
For a long time, the socially accepted beauty standard looked like this: blond hair, blue eyes, pale skin, and legs with a noticeable gap in between them. Victoria Secret angels, runway models, and TV ads plastered this image of perfection to the American public for decades. With the rise of social media, it seems that these images are nonetheless inescapable. Lately, however, it seems that women are starting to push back on this type of marketing. While certainly not the only culprit, this type of unrealistic beauty standard that is largely still being advertised adds to feelings of self pity...
Mental Health
“The mental health is the priceless fuel that energizes the soul, which controls all the elements in the realm of existence and pilots the body systems. Life exists between two resting periods. The sleep resting period and the death. In each phase, the soul loses connection with many elements save for the mental health. The healthier the mental wellbeing, the safer is for the soul; and the lengthy a life becomes.” ~Bamalum Buji Mustapha
Beautiful Scars
Whenever I try to reflect of how my life has been going, tears never fail to fall from my eyes. On my perspective: life is not at its best state for the past months. Life has not been good to me. Life shows its unpleasant side all at once. Everything fell apart, including the people i love(d), the things i enjoy, and ME. But what i realized— life needs to hurt me at times in order to let me grow and accept that not all things should come perfectly as planned. It is not going to be what you thought it would be. It will destroy, break and scar you first. And if you are strong enough, you shall...
Define you
Year 2018, that was the year I was going to live life true to myself. At least that was what I thought I was going to do. What ended happening was much more different. I continued to fear revealing my true self unapologetically because I thought I would be rejected for it. I continued going with the crowd flow and putting up a front 'cause everyone expected me to be something; so much more different to what I actually was feeling. Hiding my true feelings, I continued on. Until the breaking point later in the year. November is a hectic month. Just a month before the end of the year, everyone...
Our Responsibility For A Healthy Earth
How can we maintain mental health and wellbeing post COVID-19? I hope my poem reaches everyone. :) Open your eyes as the Sun rise, "Meditate", whispers the angel on one side, "How??" Angrily on the other side, the Devil cries. Ok. So freshen up and take the easiest yoga pose Yeah, for first timers it's difficult But try and see how fast and away the devil goes! Now there are always some people complaining about "Oh! With so many weird thoughts hovering in Can I ever meditate? I doubt!" For them too I have something to say Keep the pose, yes, the yogi one, And think what good you can do today...