Morning Jewels

“Each New Day is another Opportunity to Wear a Great Pair of Earrings”

Chido Dziva Chikwari

I love earrings, I literally collect them everywhere I go. I love their colours and how they can make any ordinary outfit pop. I love the way they can take different shapes and sizes and how sometimes I can actually wear a pair that matches my mood. Earrings are my thing; however, I am not a fashion blogger so you must be thinking, “What is this about?”

Well, this post is about getting out of bed in the morning and can be summed up in one question, “What makes you excited to see each new day?”

For me one of the things is that every day I get to decide which pair or earrings to wear. I also love my work and I see the purpose behind my 9-5. My sons’ amazing smile and warm hugs are another big motivator; seeing him is something I look forward to (although on most days he is up before I am). Different things help me get out of bed each morning and I think the sum total of them cumulate to why I love my life. This is not to say that everything is perfect in my world. A lot of things aren’t but each morning before I get out of bed I pick one good thing to “help me” out of bed and over the years I have seen how much of a positive difference that can make.

I cannot reiterate the importance of finding purpose and staying motivated – even in and for the seemingly small things (like earrings). Sometimes that one small thing can be the difference between finding yourself in a rut all day or having something to smile about. It doesn’t have to be that you have everything in your life in order; you just have to have something to look forward to. Find the things that set your heart on fire!

Keep Shining  

Just in Case You Come Looking

“I will put this here,

Where only those who come looking will find it.

Etched away in plain sight,

Exposed but in a safe place.

I will leave this here.

Just in case you come looking.”

xoxo

Chido Dziva Chikwari

I always put things that I think are important in a “safe place” for when I need them. Unfortunately, a lot of the time I forget where that safe place is and when the need arises I search and search and search in morbid frustration. I curse myself for being so foolish, for outsmarting my own self. It happens far too many times and I don’t know what to do about it.

Anyway, this post is not about my Barclays Visa card or my “special occasions only” pen. This post is about my heart. This post is about how I feel that in some ways I have treated my heart like that and tucked it away somewhere “safe”. I have tried to safeguard it but in such a way that when the time comes…when He comes, he will find it.

This piece was inspired by two things, a quote I read and couldn’t get over and a special man I met who I hope will read this one day and know that our chance or not so chance encounter inspired me to write! The quote reads:

“Never let anyone awaken your heart before they have shown their willingness to stay and let love grow, the last thing your heart needs is another tombstone.”

A. N. Moore

Keep Shining!

My Blogging Journey: Blog Post #100!!!

“A woman who writes has power, and a woman with power is feared.” —Gloria Anzaldúa,”Speaking in Tongues”

I started my blog in February 2013 and my very first post was an expression of something that resonates deeply with me now still: “I Am My Greatest Asset”. I wrote about how if the world took away everything I own - as long as I am still alive there is one thing that I will always remain with and that thing is Chido. My first post was a declaration of how I would find my identity, invest in myself, take care of myself and most importantly LOVE myself.

In an amazing and unintentional way, my blogging journey has been about all that. I have written pieces about things that resonate very strongly with me. I have written pieces when I am filled with joy and I have also written pieces with tears rolling down my cheeks while in bed at night. My blog has been my voice and a release for things I could not say publicly. It has been a template for many of the BIG moments in my life; having my son and the things motherhood has taught me, achieving things I did not think I could like getting my first and second degree, all the heartaches and heartbreaks I have suffered at the hands of men I was once in love with or thought I was in love with and also many of my crazy adventures around the world. I have blogged about my life and posted many things where I often felt afraid to share because they were such a candid expression of my soul and my life amidst so much uncertainity.

I look back at my old posts and I’ve found that over the years I have become more and more honest with myself and through the openness of my writing I have found that the things that I write and share here are experiences lived by so many other people who inbox me and share about how they too have experienced the things I have. I read a quote recently by Anais Nin and she says, “The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say.” This has shown itself to be true. Often the things I cannot speak, I write.

I have had years where I couldn’t write. Where I couldn’t bring myself to even feel let alone write my feelings down and when I look through my blog I can see those vacant spaces in my life. This is the part where you come in! On so many occasions, it has been a nudge from a friend that has brought me back to writing. I did not start my blog with the intention for people to read but it has been such a great reassurance to find that people do read. Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me to write and thank you to everyone who has read any of the first 100 posts. You mean so much to me and I pray that my rantings have encouraged, inspired or at the very least entertained you. Thank you.

The truth is I didn’t think I would keep this up for so long. The other truth is that I have enjoyed it immensely and I will continue to write.

“History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.”
― Winston S. Churchill

xoxo

Chido Dziva Chikwari

Keep Shining