In my last blog post, I mentioned that listening to podcasts has been one of the ways I've been coping with the lock down. Before the pandemic and the lock  down, listening to podcast takes 2hours of my time every day. I search for new podcasts that interest me and also catch up on the old ones. Podcasting is an amazing way to tell stories, it is very close to radio and sometimes its called radio's first cousin, its accessible anytime and it always makes me feel like I'm in a conversation with the speaker. An amazing voice is one of the perks of being a good podcaster and the anonymity of podcasting is what makes it intriguing to me.

So  here are my favorite podcasts at the moment:

• THE TWENTY FIVE PODCAST BY ONY ANUKEM-  This is topping my list of podcast because it is similar to what i will do if  i ever decide to start a podcast show. Ony takes us on a journey with top professionals in their fields, female leaders who have inspired her or their community in a positive way. They have discussions on life, family and the things they wish they knew when they were 25. I love this podcast because you can tell that even the most successful people you wish you were made mistakes, they had sad days, setbacks in their careers, some have changed careers in the space of 10 years unsure of what they really want to do, it just makes you want to do more and believe that in the worst of situations, you can still come out victorious if you’re willing to try and do the hard work.
  

• WHATS YOUR SAFE WORD:DECLARATION OF RESISTANCE - I found this podcast while searching for something new to listen to, the women at the center come together to talk about dealing with pain, grief, marriage, sexual abuse, relationships. Its an amazing podcast that dwells on our individual reality and our stories, navigating through life in general.  This podcast taught me to be intentional about living, how our actions can determine the direction our lives will go  and its been amazing so far. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• THE OTHER SIDE OF TWENTY FIVE-  This is a podcast held by five ladies discussing topics ranging from pop culture to black culture, relationships, current affairs  and what its like to be on the other side of 25. i love this podcast because it gives me the vibes of me and my girls talking and arguing about stuff on the internet, government policies, relationships and life generally .
  

• SELF IMPROVEMENT DAILY-  This podcast is held by Bryan Ford and it is the podcast i listen to everyday on my way to work and it kind of sets me in the right mood, i listen to it in Lagos traffic, it kind of distracts me from the whole drama Lagos wakes up to every morning. Bryan's voice is amazing, his voice puts you in the right mood and charges you to just do better daily. He talks about intentional living, living a purposeful and fulfilling life. 
  

• TED TALKS DAILY- A dear  friend of mine introduced me to Tedx talks, albeit, i wasn’t a fan of You tube, so i checked for it on google podcast and noticed i could listen instead of watching. I  listen to intelligent people talk about ideas they believe are worth spreading, people coming out to speak their truth and also, topics being lectured by some of the worlds most intelligent people.

• IN THESE MOMENTS- This  is a podcast that explores real life stories, extremely personal experiences, unique and stories that are so relatable. This  podcast gives me the chills every time i listen to it, you listen to people talk about moments in their lives that have changed them and have made them better people. if you're an emotional person like me, grab your tissue when listening to this podcast.

• NO NAME GIANTS- If you’re conversant with the Nigerian  entertainment space, you would know Pulsetv, Loose Talk was a product of Pulsetv , a team of 6 who came together to talk about the Nigerian entertainment space ranging from music to culture to trending gossip to shows, name it. The team here all left Pulsetv and decided to host their own podcast show called, the NO NAME GIANTS and they do the same thing they used to do on Pulsetv, only with less supervision and freedom( at least that's what i think). 
  

• STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW- Funny story here, my brother sent me an episode from this show that talks about anorexia and bulimia, apparently, he thinks I’m anorexic because i don't eat.  Well, this podcast educates you on different topics you probable wont find in the news or you never would have thought to go on google to search for. Looking  for where to learn new stuff, this is the podcast.

• WORDS AND NUMBERS- This  podcast is hosted by Anthony Davies  and James Harrigan, its a production from FEE- Foundation for Economic  Education. They talk about economics, political science, current affairs and policy in the most interesting way ever. I mean, if you subscribe to FEE's newsletter, you should expect this.
  

   
                                   Dearest Friends,



       The COVID-19 pandemic hit my home country on the 27th of February, ever since then, it's been rising. Who would have thought that we would all be in our homes for over a month, who would have thought our survival would depend on us staying away from social gatherings, for some, friends and families, for some, their partner, it is overwhelming. For most people like me, staying at home isn't a problem, its the constant news on tv, the rising death tolls, the constant talks from African parents that the world is coming to an end, is the trumpet going to blow anytime soon? it gets tiring as the day goes by and I know you can relate to that too if you live with your parents.

          Sometimes I go to sleep at night wondering what it feels like to be infected by the virus.
On this beautiful day, I woke up listening to the pigeons my dad feeds every morning, the sound of their beak against the hard roof of the shops downstairs where I live. I scrolled through my twitter feed only to find out one of my social media mentors is a COVID-19 survivor, read her full story here. It was shocking at first, I thought to myself, can anything good happen to this lady for once?. Reading her story gave me insight to what it felt like to be infected by the virus, it answered some of my answers but I was curious as to how other people were surviving, the poor, the less privileged, the ones whose survival depends on the daily hustle.  My mind wandered to the handicapped man that sweeps the bridge at Oshodi, I remembered the beggar at Yaba, the fruit seller I patronise on my way to work. How will they live?





          Many celebrities started out by giving money on social media, some NGOs distributed relief packages, the government said they distributed relief packages. I encountered the frustrations of Nigerians when I decided to volunteer to conduct the house to house search in Lagos state, my best friends were furious, questions like; is this the kind of volunteer job you want to do? do you want to die? arent you scared of contracting the virus? I knew all of these and I honestly was scared  but I just wanted to do it. Moving from house to house in the area where I lived, I never believed people lived in really bad environments, environments that could aid the spread of any disease or virus. I almost got lynched by some people who thought I was a government official, I listened to old people tell me how they've been living, I saw young children looking at me being able to walk the streets of Lagos oblivious to what my mission was and jealous I could move around. At some point I cried at the condition I met people, I cried at the level of poverty in my country, the gap between the rich and the poor, I prayed for better days, prayed for better and conscious leaders but all these cannot alleviate their sufferings.

Another thing I recognized is how fast fake news spread in the communities, people asked me questions like, is this really true? Are our leaders just trying to use this to steal public funds? Have you seen any dead person? Have you met anyone that contracted the virus?  All these questions and I had no answers to give. I think of ways we could contain the spread of the virus and also allow people to go by their daily activities, an article from stears business sheds more light on that here. the article explores two solutions and how each of them can help with the containment of the virus.  Share your thoughts with me on what you think

The death toll increases globally, we are in constant fear and I can't help but be afraid for those with a mental health history, are they alone right now? how are they coping with all the information on the news and on social media? how do they feel about everything going on? do we have to fight to keep their own sanity?. My two cents—avoid social media, listen to music—this helps me a lot, read books, visit only trusted news websites even if you want to be updated about the happenings around the world, learn a new skill, pick up a new indoor hobby, call your friends and families, mend that broken relationship, donate to a cause, help feed the needy. At the end of the day, just do whatever makes you feel better. For me, I listen to podcast shows, they help me a lot, I am halfway through my reading goals for the year and I hang out with my siblings and talk to my friends. This period has given me more time to think about life in general and the only thing I can say is LIVE.

Is there anything you've been doing that has helped you? Share with me, I just might be adding that to my list of things.
Remember; we can only stand together by not standing together. practice all preventive measures, stay safe. This too will pass.

Hi,
I'm sorry for running away, the thing is I'm such a lazy writer, hence the name.

 Last month was my birth month and to be honest as excited as I was, I couldn't help but think of how far I've come, where I am and where I am going to be in the next 3years. Often times as human beings we are ungrateful for some of the privileges life gives to us, the gift of life, the gift of food, water and shelter. I find myself doing this, seeing people younger than I am, people my age, doing amazing things around the world but the issue is that I can't even get myself to do most of the things I love doing, it's like I've got so many beautiful ideas but laziness and procrastination won't let me do them.

while I was reminiscing and lost in thought I came up with three things I am proud of doing in the last six months of my re-awakening (i like to call it that).



GOING BACK TO READING.
Growing up as a child, I used to read anything that came my way, from newspapers to magazines to blog posts etc. I loved books so much I would pick up a pamphlet just to read the content in it. Then all of a sudden, I lost interest. you'd wonder if I picked up another hobby, no I didn't, did I do what every regular teenager did, NO. It is really hard to tell but I'm grateful, my final months in the university I picked up interest again, started buying books and reading them.





MEETING NEW PEOPLE
All my friends will disagree with this, but truly, I am a very shy person. Over the years, I never liked going out (i still don't), all the people I know from the university are friends of friends. I don't think I made one friend on my own and grew that friendship to where it is today. For every person I met through a friend, I try as much as possible to maintain that friendship especially if we get along and it's been amazing so far.  I made lots of friends in my final months in the university and most of them remain my top ten friends I could cry to anytime, they've helped shaped my decisions these past few months and they've pointed me in the right direction. I am grateful for each and every one of them.





GROWTH
Growth as a human being on a personal journey is one of the things I am grateful for. In retrospect,I must say I've been to hell and back, mentally and emotionally. I went through times I didn't think I was going to come out of, fell out of relationships, cried over the silliest things, thought life was unfair to me, questioned God over some of the things happening to me. At the end of the day, I learnt that life is like a swinging pendulum, a rollercoaster of bad and good days,  all we have to do is hold on tight and brace up for the journey because tomorrow is not promised and tomorrow could also be a better day.






Here's to 22 amazing years.
I hope to create more memories and most importantly LIVE.