Model: Angela Wambui @MissKenyaUSA Photography: True African Original @TrAfOri
I woke up at 6am this morning, determined to write this long over-due blog post. 3 hours later, I haven’t even started and I’m in tears, over who knows what? Perhaps it’s PMS, maybe I’m just overwhelmed with everything that has been happening lately, or maybe I just need a cleansing moment. Despite all of life’s challenges, the point of this blog post was to celebrate all the wonderful things that have happened in my life this past month. At the beginning of September, I set out to celebrate every day of my entire birthday month and accomplish several goals which I shared in my #ZaliwaZawadi #Zaobration blog post. This was the first time I was writing about myself in a while, and although I felt a little self-conscious about it, I felt strongly that I needed to just put myself out there and make a public declaration.
Looking back at September, I am even more convinced now about THE POWER OF DECLARATION! I may not have achieved all the goals I set for myself, but I certainly went above and beyond expectations in some areas. What was the reason for this? Because others felt touched, moved & inspired by the possibilities I was creating for myself, and my life, (Yes, this isLandmark Educationlanguage J) and wanted to contribute to my journey.
At the beginning of September, the idea of doing a video about my social enterprise ZeroByZawadi was non-existent. A brief conversation with a dear friend of mine Laura Rwiliriza @LRBalsera, resulted in her offering to make a film for me because she was inspired by what I was trying to build. Within no time, she had mobilized her film crew, scheduled the shoot, and we were on location for less than half a day. Then off she went to represent her film at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), during which time we stayed in communication. I told her I really wanted to launch the film as part of my month of #ZaliwaZawadi celebrations, and although she wasn’t certain it was humanly possible, given the fact that she’d be returning to Nairobi, the last week of September, she said she would let me know as soon as she could. Right before my birthday, on September 23rd, she confirmed that it would be possible. So believe it or not, within just one week, with ZERO budget, we managed to create ZeroByZawadi’s first ever #AfroZenevent to launch the ZeroByZawadi video in Nairobi, on September 29th, 2012. I’ve shared the story behind this miraculous 1-week journey via curated tweets in this storify.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank a few people who believed in, shared & contributed to the ZeroByZawadi vision these past few weeks. These people remind me every day that, “At ZERO Anything Is Possible”:
Kawira Mwirichia – For her beautiful ZeroByZawadi poster & banner design.
Apondi Nyang’aya & Angela Wambui @MissKenyaUSA – for being amazing MC’s for the event.
All our friends who helped promote the ZeroByZawadi video launch on facebook and twitter.
Seth Mureithi of @AlcoveKenya for livestreaming the event.
Michelle @Mugzik of Peppercorn catering for the delicious tuna dish, chicken salad, bruschetta, fruit tart, & fresh fruit juice.
All the musicians who blessed us with beautiful music: Danson Kiundi @Heroz_revolt(keyboard); Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o Jr. @NY_echO (saxophone); Josea Sanaa @JoshuaSanaa (guitar).
Team ZeroByZawadi: Subira, Lewis, Josea, Joyce & Kibali @KibaliMoreithi
All the guests who joined us in person & virtually.
I am actually really starting to like Mondays! I guess it’s because I am experiencing so much newness this season of my life and each week gives me an opportunity to start anew. So despite sleeping through my alarm after a late night, when I was supposed to be starting my #5DayFast with my sister lioness @Lafrohemien at 6am this morning, I’m still very hopeful that this week is going to be one of incredible breakthroughs. Even the fact that I am fasting is a huge breakthrough in and of itself. Definitely qualifies for a #JumaTatuMilestone.
So, what’s with all the hash tags? It’s funny how these things creep into our lives. Just last night my girl @MissKenyaUSA cracked up when she heard me saying “Hash Fail” to @JWKimathi (of the #AfroFunky “Jamhuri Wear” line) when he told me he wasn’t at the #AncestralSoul show with @AncestralBoddhi at East Africa’s biggest monthly music festival Blankets and Wine. Let’s just say, that if you were in Nairobi and weren’t there, that was an #EpicFail. I honestly can’t remember the last time I danced that much, and now I totally understand why Bodhi calls his music Ancestral Soul. After that experience, I am proud to say I’m a fully converted member of the #AncestralSoulMovement. I would also like to give a mega shout out to Edith Weutonga, the first performer yesterday. I don’t even know where to begin! This woman moved me! This sister warrior who is currently carrying love in her womb, hails from Zimbabwe. I had never heard her music, and although I was trying to take a much-needed nap when she got on stage, as I listened to her beautiful sounds, my spirit was tempted to get up and dance, but I’m learning every day to listen to my body, so instead I fell into a deep blissful sleep. When I woke up halfway through her performance and realized nobody was dancing, I was stunned! Just then she called out all the women to join her as she was dedicating the next song to us. She didn’t need to say it twice. Before I knew it, I was totally in Edith’s zone, and by the time she was performing her last two songs, I was in an AfroZenMusic zone and was just inspired to start doing yoga, right there, in front of everyone, to her music. I didn’t care, because I was responding to my body, keeping it real, and I was “Feelin’ It” like the #BaussLady@MuthoniDQherself – the brainchild & proprietor of the Blankets & Wine event.
Back to the hash tags. If you are a twitter geek like me, then you’ll understand where I’m coming from. And if not, I’ve been meaning to write a really comprehensive “How to make twitter work for you” type blog post for a while. For real, once you understand how the tool can work for you, the possibilities are limitless. I’ve met some of the most amazing people on twitter & nothing beats actually meeting them in person, especially when it’s totally unplanned. Just this past week I had two epic tweetups – @EveEnsler on Friday, and Africa’s top publicist and siSTAR @Ophiona on Saturday and Sunday. The Eve Ensler story requires a full blog post on its own. I’m really looking forward to connecting with this amazing woman’s energy and figuring out how I can make a valuable contribution to her #1BillionRising campaign. Yes, another Hashtag! 🙂 This is why I love them! Just watch this cool music video by Paul Nowell – @JazzTrombonist about the history of the Hashtag and you’ll get it.
So since I’m always using Hashtags – sometimes more successfully than others, this month, which is my birthday month, I decided I would create one and commit to using it every day, but in a very intentional way. See, for some reason, for the past 10 or so years, I’ve been dreading, instead of look forward to my birthday every year. I can count the number of birthdays that I actually had an amazing day. So this year, instead of focusing on just one day, I’ve decided I’m going to approach the entire month with a positive attitude and take it into my own hands. After all, I am the one that is responsible for my happiness so this month I am choosing happiness, peace, inspiration, love, patience, wisdom and grace. I’m choosing this not just for me, but also for you, for Kenya, and for the world. If you are reading this, I honestly hope that together we can manifest the birth of many precious gifts in our lives this September 2012. For those who don’t know, Zawadi my name, means gift in Kiswahili. My maternal grandfather blessed me with this name because I was born on his birthday, and was also his first grandchild. And would you believe that I can’t remember ever actually being with him on our birthday? I have to do something about that. In fact, I am declaring today that on September 23rd 2013, I will go and spend my birthday with my papa in Gem village.
It’s funny how my brain works. I’ve just realized that three paragraphs later, I still haven’t actually written about my hash tags for this month. When I had the idea to do this, I immediately did what I always do – consult a few other people and get their inputs. So I sent out a tweet to a few of my tweoples and asked them if they could help me create an appropriate, but fun and inspiring hash tag for September. I came up with #Zeptember (I’m not always creative J), and my boy @itsBuddhaBlaze suggested #Zaobration because he just recently learnt through #TrueAfricanOriginal@Lafrohemien that the nickname my friends from my St. Mary’s School days use is Zao. I liked the sound of #Zaobration, but then @DenisNzioka came up with what I like to call a moment of #HashtagBrilliance. Denis, who I hadn’t even tagged, but obviously saw the conversation, had something to valuable offer, and jumped in (as is great twitter practice), came up with (wait for it) … #ZaliwaZawadi! BOOM! Now, if you are a Kiswahili-speaker, this requires absolutely no explanation. But, if you are not, “Kuzaliwa” is the Kiswahili verb for “to be born”. So now you see how this is just sheer brilliance! Makes me smile just writing it J. Thank you Dennis! So, once again friends, every time you see me tweet using this hash tag, it is because I am either writing about a new gift that has been born in my own life, sharing gifts that are being born in others’ lives, or wishing others the manifestation of the same. I am really hoping to be a blessing to others this month. I know I often fail to do so, and I have definitely had my fair share of experiences and behavior that I am not proud of, but I like to believe that:
Via @ZeroByZawadi #Note2Self board on #Pinterest
As part of my #ZaliwaZawadi #Zaobration in #Zeptember (I just had to! J), I’m also doing Rosetta Thurman’s #31DayReset program, which I tried to do in August, but didn’t actually get past Day 4 because I didn’t make the time to do it. This month, I am really committed to resetting my life and I can’t think of a better person to do it with. Rosetta runs the Happy Black Woman blog and community, has an online blogging school (Last live run starts September 10th), and is just incredible in so many ways. She’s another person that I met on twitter and then had a truly epic tweetup with in Oahu, Hawaii with Hawaiian PR Diva@Melissa808 in December 2011. If I even started to tell that story now, it would take up three pages. But I’m sure they will both feature in future blog posts because they are an integral part of theZeroByZawadi journey – they were there during the first month of my baby’s existence!
Last, but not least, I am writing down my birthday wish list. I really believe in the power of declaration. Some of these wishes are more like goals I want to set for myself this month. Others are hints – if you are reading this and want to buy me a gift, please don’t hesitate J. And others are wishes for you and others (see, it’s not ALWAYS #AllAboutMe J). So here’s my list of 23 wishes this Zeptember, starting with my #GeekGirl & #FemTech (Feminist Technology), needs of course:
New blackberry bold
I-phone
Canon Digital Camera
I-pad
Projector
An epic photograph for my twitter avi – to be updated Sep 23rd & changed next year same time. (My current avi is my favorite photograph taken my @Lafrohemien of @TrAfOri – check out her True African Original blog)
A hotttt #Afrofunky dress for my birthday – in ZeroByZawadi colors – turquoise, orange & white.
Enough turquoise, orange & white clothes & accessories to last the entire month – if you see me in the same clothes a lot this month, just understand because right now I probably have enough to last a week max!
A weekend trip to Naivasha with the good peeps in my life
New financial breakthroughs with ZeroByZawadi
Healing from a broken heart
Figure out how to make hyacinth paper notebooks
Open my ZeroByZawadi Etsy store
Help at least 1 person every day (friends & strangers)
Start a weekly #ReciprocalWebDay
An #Afrofunky jacket by Uhuru Clothing in ZeroByZawadi colors
#Afrofunky shoes in ZeroByZawadi colors
A clear plan & finances to realize my #StaceyannInKe dream
A clear plan & finances to realize my #MayaAzucenaInKe dream
Successfully launch ZeroByZawadi newspaper bag project
Seeing my papa some time in September & sharing a birthday cake & candle with him
Having at least 23 reasons to be incredibly grateful on September 23rd.
The birth of at least one amazing gift for everyone that reads this blog post this September
So that’s me. What about you? What’s your September wish list? Please share and let’s manifest lots of blessings in our lives this month.
And in honour of this #Zeptember, play this video, sing out loud & dance!
Bless!
And in case you don’t know all the lyrics (like me), I hope you enjoy singing along to this:
zerobyzawadi 