A flare of hope shot up inside her, a sudden bright puff like the lighting of a gas stove.
Diana Gabaldon, Drums of Autumn
It may not seem like much to the casual reader but…I truly cannot believe the streak I am on in terms of publishing posts on this blog. I mean, if I’m being honest (and why wouldn’t I be since this is easy enough for anyone to fact check), it has been years since I have been this consistent with my writing. Years.
Dare I hope that my spark is back?
I think I will dare. After all, better to hope than to prematurely despair.
Speaking of streaks…Here I go publishing my monthly reading roundup on time! And since it’s not a catchup post, it will be nice and short. You’re welcome!
Articles
Can a bra detect breast cancer? This Nigerian entrepreneur thinks so. By Valentine Benjamin
I don’t write about this kind of thing much because, well, though this blog is personal to me in that I’m willing to share quite a bit about my own feelings and emotions…I’m less open with sharing the feelings and emotions of my loved ones. As far as I’m concerned, such private matters aren’t mine to discuss. So, I won’t speak for any of my family members on this but rather for myself. One of my greatest, and most specific fears, is breast cancer. My grandmother fought it off multiple times and I’ve always read that there is believed to be a strong genetic element to it. When I was in my mid teens, I was doing a regular self-examination in the shower (yes, my fear is so great that I started doing these self-examinations at a mere 12 years of age) when I was horrified to discover that I had a lump. I remember the moment distinctly. I froze. And then I began to cry. I was convinced this was it, I was going to die. Happily, after a very fraught and terrifying ultrasound which I had to attend alone, I was told that what I had discovered was a fibrous cyst and nothing malignant. But you better believe my self-examinations became much more detailed from that moment on. So, all that being said, a bra that can detect breast cancer? That could quite literally be a life saver. If it could detect the difference between benign cysts and malignant tumours…teenage Erin (and countless others) could have been spared a traumatizing amount of panic. I may not be thrilled with all modern technology but this? This is amazing.
I strongly believe that this device would be a revolutionary approach to the prevention of breast cancer globally, not only in Nigeria, because of the technology my team and I are bringing in.
Kemisola Bolarinwa
‘We turn waste into something golden’: the creatives transforming rags to riches. By Sarah Johnson
I remember when I first found out that the bags of clothes, toys and books I regularly donated to our local Salvation Army weren’t all guaranteed to find new homes that needed them. I was walking past the store in the small strip mall near my parents’ house in my teens, with my father, when I noticed the immense pile of garbage bag piled outside the store. I asked my dad how they could possibly fit all of this stuff in the small space of the store for resale and he responded that they couldn’t. They would go through it, keep what they felt would sell, and pass the rest on. It was only years later when I learned that “passing it on” didn’t mean to another Salvation Army location but, rather more likely, shipping unwanted goods (especially clothing) to what are sometimes called “Third World Countries” under the guise of helping them. What they are really doing is washing their hands of our…rejects. So many of these discarded items of clothing are in unwearable condition and even if they weren’t, they are far too numerous to ever be all put to good use…it’s like a tsunami of unloved garments are hitting the shores of these countries on a daily basis. How are they supposed to keep up with the inundation of textiles? Well, thankfully, some people have found a way to redirect and reuse what we see as refuse. They are creating beauty, and utility, out of something which was destine for the dump. An that is a beautiful thing indeed.
We saw there was a lot of textile waste – the landfill and beaches are a mess. It’s cheap or free to come by, so why not take advantage and build a business model with it? We took the cheapest resource and turned it into something golden.
Kwabena Obiri Yeboah
Blogs
Books: The New Weights for Exercising Your Brain – Nadia Sotnikova
My reading habits have long gone through ebbs and flows. While I was known to devour a book a week (minimum) in high school, sometimes reading through the entire night, I have also gone through entire years in my 20s having only limped through a single novel. Case in point: after I finished my Master’s in History, I could barely look at another book let alone crack open the spine to discover its contents. I was tired. A level of literary exhaustion that took over a year to recover from. Happily, I am fully back on the reading train after several years of hopping on and off and I’m so pleased to be back. Every new book I begin produces an unbidden squeal of excitement. Any my ever-growing “To Read” piles and lists inspire far more anticipation than anxiety. And you know what? I truly feel as if my brain is benefitting from my new-found hobby. I feel the improvements in my memory, attention span and stress levels in real time. You better believe I plan to keep training this muscle – the results are well worth the effort.
When we read books, we are taken to different worlds filled with exploration and adventures, but reading isn’t all fun and games; we are also strengthening our brains, expanding our vocabulary, and improving our writing skills.
Nadia Sotnikova
How to Deal With Rejection: Celebrate! By L’Oreal Thompson Payton
After reading this blog I immediately ordered Payton’s book Stop Waiting for Perfect. Procrastination an perfectionism are two things I have struggle with for most of my life; two personal flaws that I am hoping her book will help me to overcome. After all, her blog was an excellent reminder of my eventual goal: to have people actually read the words I’ve been painstakingly churning out for years in fits and starts in the form of my first-ever novel. And in order to do this…I need to actually sit down and, well, finish the work. When I feel ready to send this work out into the world, rejection is an almost certainty but that doesn’t mean it is something I need to dread. As Payton says, even a rejection is proof that you did something brave. And that is certainly worth celebrating.
You did a brave thing, a new thing. You took a risk, and it didn’t work out this time. But so many people talk themselves out of even trying. It’s easy to play it safe, play it small, and not put yourself out there. But the real magic—the real good dope stuff—happens outside your comfort zone
L’Oreal Thompson Payton
Books
I read 5 books in August. FIVE. And only one was an audiobook (but WHAT an audiobook it was – Daisy Jones and the Six read by a full cast…). That’s almost a return to high school form and I am so very proud of that achievement. Maybe there’s hope for me yet? As all but one were 5-Quill ratings (sorry, Julia Quinn, but The Viscount who Loved Me had a little too much alpha-male energy for my tastes which brought it down a peg, er, quill) I’m just going to leave this little graphic here and add these to my ever-growing list of books to properly review. One day…
It truly is an amazing thing to feel the flame of hope reigniting within one’s soul. Though whether I read or not might not affect the world…it certainly has an effect on me and my mental health.
Here’s to more reading and writing to come because:
Life is beautiful
xo Erin
Erin of the Hills 