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2017,

2017 Review


I know I am late to the party and everyone’s 2017 review is in, but hear my excuses and you can let me know in the comment section if they are valid.


I was ill from the 24th of December till the new year, I believe my body was determined to put me on compulsory bed rest. Knowing myself I wouldn’t have rested otherwise. Fast-forward to the new year, I seem to always be on the go and the changes in my life are hitting super-fast, they didn’t wait for the dust of the new year to settle in before life as I knew it started changing. Best to say the few days of 2018 have become an emotional roller coaster 

I apologize again for not getting my 2017 – year review in sooner 

Here we go;

At the beginning of 2017 I started a monthly goal setting task, which entail sharing my goals for the month with all my readers and sharing at the start of the next month if I was able to achieve set goals. I kept up with this for about five months before I fell off the wagon of sharing, I kept setting monthly goals I just didn’t share and report on them.

My monthly goals were basic, so I will be doing my review based on the monthly goals I set for myself.

Most recurring goal was to read two new books every month, I did achieve these goals because I read over 25 books in 2017, but I will not share all the books I read, I will just talk about four of the books I read that resonated with me and made me think deep about life and my choices. If you want a comprehensive list, please let me know in the comments below.

The first book on my list is one I have recommended to everyone I know, it is a well written book and the characters will stay with you long after you are done reading the book.

The book is Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo. I started reading this book one raining Saturday morning and didn’t drop the book till I was done reading it. Akinleye and Yejide have constantly found their way into my dreams.

The second book is Ghana Must Goby Taiye Selasi, this was my last read of 2017, I love the way Taiye Selasi explores family dynamics and the effect of isolated decisions on the whole family. 

The third book is Every Day for the Thief by Teju Cole, one of my goals for the year was to read a book written by Teju Cole. Every Day for the Thief came highly recommended and I wasn’t disappointed. The book is a love letter to Lagos and by the time I got to the last chapter I saw Lagos through new eyes, it made me slow down and notice the city I call home. 

The fourth book is The Right Kind of Crazy by Adam Steltzner and William Patrick, this book challenged the way I think about my job, team work and my contribution to the society.  I had an important career decision to make and reading this book at the time made me have a better understanding of what I want for my life.

Another goal for the year was to listen to a lot of new music and I think I achieved this, I will be sharing my top five albums of the year. 
  • Wonder by Hillsong United 
  • Good God by Folabi Nuel
  • Stark by Bemyod
  • In Memory of Forgetting by Wanawana
  • We Say Yes by Housefires    

My goal to visit new places was almost a total fail but I didn’t give up on it. Two of my memorable trips last year were to Badagry with my friends over the independence weekend and a road trip to Ogun state with the band RepJ360. Oh, I got to visit Dubai for the first-time last year and it was a beautiful experience. 


Events that will stay with me this year, RepJ360’s first concert, the Stark album listening, Art X, and Night of Worship. I know I need to experience more things this year. I will start by participating in the Lagos City Marathon.
2017 was a year of learning, unlearning discovering more about myself and I am glad I got to go on the adventure with you.

Here is to a great 2018!!
2017, 25,

Letters To July I

Dear Kike,
Why don’t we have any cute photos together? I realized this when I finally sat down to write this letter, we have one that we took at my graduation but I don’t think it counts. When next we see we will have to rectify this.  
Kiks, I am writing because I miss you, I miss having you in the same time zone – now I have to look up the time whenever I want to text or call and it is stressful. I miss painting our nails to match our moods, black nails for weeks we were unhappy, red nails for weeks we were excited and all the colours in between, my brain can’t remember what each colour stood for.
Every now and again, I am transported to that summer we spent together. It was the summer you graduated from University and your mum’s latest shop attendant was discovered to be stealing so she was fired. You became the shop attendant and I became your assistant. We sat in the shop and talked about your budding relationship with “B” and how my relationship with ‘’Do Not Call’’ was doomed, you never failed to rub it in that you were right.
My grandpa died that summer. The day he died we went to see ‘The Avengers’, it was the movie to see that summer. I got home late and my mum was furious, she kept saying “your grandpa is dead and you are out seeing a movie”, she said this like a broken record. I was sure my mum was losing it that night. We spoke to my grandpa that week and we planned to visit soon. I wasn’t ready to deal with my mum so I apologised reassured her that he was alive and went to bed, but I couldn’t sleep that night, I could hear my mum sobbing from her room, I was at a loss on how to comfort her.
My uncle showed up the next morning with red swollen eyes to break the news to us, I cried and couldn’t stop for hours. I couldn’t bring myself to make anything to eat, so I walked to your house which was a street away from mine and you fed me rice and fish and let me cry. You didn’t say any of those annoying things people say to comfort you when a person dies.
I told you how creepy it was that my Grandpa died around 7:00 pm and that was about the same time we got home from the movie to my furious mother. You know in the Yoruba culture you don’t tell a woman her father is dead if a man is not at home and my dad was away that weekend so the burden of telling my mum fell on my uncle’s shoulder. I asked you if I will feel it too when my parents died, if I will know the exact moment and have the luxury to mourn in private like my mum did. You didn’t have answers to my questions, you just sat there and let me mourn, you suggested that we should paint our nails black. So walked to the salon not too far from your house and we did that, you walked me home after we got our nails done, told me I will be just fine and you were right as always.
The summer was different after that. My mum didn’t want to leave my grandma by herself so we drove up to Ilorin every weekend. I wasn’t excited about leaving the house for the shop anymore, but you never failed to check up on me.  When “Do Not Call” broke up with me that summer because I was too moody, you told me it was his loss while we had yogurt drinks at your mum’s shop.
I am sure you remember all these events, but I am not sure I ever thanked you for that summer, I am not sure I ever told you how much all you did was important to me. You kept me from drowning and I am always grateful.  
There are so many life updates I have for you but, I will keep them for another letter or maybe share them with you in person. I am counting down till the next time we are in the same time zone so we can finally take cute photos.
Love Always,
Oreoluwa.

P.S. You should need to read ‘’Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo’’.