Once Upon a Time in My Oceania

It's been an exciting journey thus far sharing my words here on Blogger! The positive feedback from readers that have faithfully continued to check out each new blog post has meant the world to me. Unboxing many tough memories and revisiting life in my brand of Oceania hasn't been easy, but the introspection has been equally important. In pursuing this idea prompted by those closest  to me, I promised myself my battle plan on tackling a project like this would entail two things: 1) a commitment of at least six months; and 2) inspiration. I'd add one more and that's patience. Patience with my brain as writing block is no joke and patience with myself as life goes on, bringing what life will bring. I feel that I have overall met these three goals. I'm on month seven and life, as the bitch often does, demands my patience needs to be tried. I'm down with this. So, between revisiting and tackling tough subjects, hearing from one or two long ago critics, and emb...

I never encountered something so terrifying than being faced with decision-making. Not only are life changing decisions intimidating, but sometimes, so are even the average, everyday minuscule variety. I can't lie, it can be frustrating and overwhelming, this byproduct of living in a fundamentalist environment where the only "decision" you made was how quickly to obey the top guy. As a child, I recall a children's tune that was quite popular in our group where youngsters would spell out the word obedience in a joyful voice. I still remember it now, "O-B-E-D-I-E-N-C-E. Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe!" At 10 years old, I finally memorized it properly after my 4th grade teacher was left dumbfounded while I struggled to hack a spelling test using her suggestion of referring back to that commonly sang song. I was left embarrassed because not only could I not spell the word, but my Sunday school class from my primary days was more obs...