"This is not the Strategy we know", some of them said. "Àbi Strategy don backslide ni?", another person said. Even when Mama (that's what we call our lead pastor's wife) entered the church and saw me, she was shocked.
She told me to follow her outside and asked the same question. "What's wrong with you, Strategy?", she asked.
I'm sure you're wondering what happened, I'll tell you in a minute. But before then, there's something I'd like to talk about.
A lot of times, it feels very good to know that you're being noticed and people care about you.
Only that sometimes, their care comes from your acting contrary to what they believe or what they see as normal.
In Nigeria, a lot of people—especially the millennials— believe that only ladies should plait their hair.
So, once you plait your hair as a guy and you're someone they care about, they ask you what's wrong with you.
That was why they kept asking me what was wrong with me when I got to church on Wednesday.
I've been keeping my hair for over a year and even though it's not very long, I cherish it.
An hostel mate offered to use my hair as an experiment for Jerry Curl (àbi wetin dem dey call am), and I accepted.
The experiment failed and the relaxer just relaxed my hair and blew it. I knew I had to start the hair over again but before doing that, I wanted to keep memories. Hence, the reason I decided to plait my hair.
Make I no lie, the process was painful, but in beauty and pleasure lies pain (life na BDSM). As someone said,
Life is pain, it's fabricated into the very basis of existence.
So, when I got to church, a lot of people were amazed. I still don't understand why a lady can barb her hair without people talking or looking at her like a sinner but a guy cannot plait his hair. This life no just balance.
Enough talk about my hair. If you'll like to see it, here it is.
I shouldn't end this letter without sharing some of the things I learned in March with you. March was a beautiful month and I learned a lot.
Here are some of the things I learned:
Love is a terrifying thing, it's not safe. This is because when you love people, you have to accept the fact that you might lose them.
You'll never touch the sky if you're afraid to fall. The stars are high above and if you want to stand a chance to come close, you have to jump as high as you can.
Quitting on your people, it's never an option. Emphasis on "YOUR".
It's okay to not be okay regardless of who you're. It's okay to tell people around you what you're going through. Stop bottling your emotions because you think expressing them will make you weak. When you're not okay, say it out loud.
Don't wait for the stars to align, reach up and rearrange them. Create your constellation.
I hope you learned something.
I almost forgot. How’re you doing? I hope you're good.
Till when next I write to you,
Stay Strategic About Your View Of Life.
P.S: If you’re interested in Mastering the basics of writing and how you can monetize it, you can get this guide I wrote.
You can get it here. https://theonlystrategy2003.carrd.co/
This is great. I think it's only expected that when we go outside societal norms, the society frowns, especially when those societal norms have been twisted to appear like biblical laws.
Love is also a terrifying thing because the other person might hurt you pretty badly.
Thank you for sharing those lessons. And how am I doing? Good!
Thank you for this, strategy.✨
And yes, I'm very well. Thanks.
I hope you're good too.