L.J's red jumper chronicles.

I live in a society whereby the line between normal vs abnormal is completely distorted or otherwise subjective (based on the majority’s judgement). My society has made stating facts such as; I am a virgin, I am celibate till marriage or I don’t drink alcohol to be shunned upon and more often than not it’s taken to be a gesir [1] . The majority are thus taken to be normal but the ones who choose not to conform to societal norms are taken to be abnormal. This is kinda like the way we make a diagnosis of delusional disorder which is characterized by delusions, fixed false beliefs that involve situations that could potentially occur in real life such as being followed or poisoned. These delusions also occur to almost everyone on their day to day basis and they include: Erotomanic delusion-delusion that another person is in love with the individual- how many people have misread signals from a crush or another person that they have feelings for them; Grandiose type- delusion of infla

OUR FRIENDS ARE WHO WE ARE O nce a friend approached me in my room and told me that she wished she could be able to discover her real self. Being a specialist in that area, the personality tests like Eysenck personality questionnaire (EPQ) clicked my head, and without faltering, I told her about the EPQ which consists of a set questions with yes or no answers with score sheet which shows ones level of extroversion/introversion, neuroticism/ Stability, Psychotism/Socialization. T he EPQ has a chart showing four temperaments in which one may be categorized according to the characteristics, and they include; Melancholic, Choleric, Phlegmatic and Sanguine. However, my friend felt that these tests only tell who one is on paper and most of the time they make one inclined to behaving in a stated way according to the personality type but what she really wanted was to see a mirror of herself and how she behaves. Thereby, l told her that if she really wanted to know who she is, she shou

THE UNLUCKY ONE Boy-girl relationships are so unpredictable…one is never sure whether it would last or not. I remember back in high school during most Tuesday afternoons we had our G&C sessions that would go till late in the evening, whenever the session was on boy-girl relationships. Madam Aduma, our single CU teacher, being the 'expert' in relationships, will make us sit and listen to her as she explains how boys are despicable beings that should not be trusted as they would make us pregnant and make us forget our studies. Then immediately she is done with the condemnation she asks, “l know you all have many questions to ask, so who has a question?” It’s completely silent, no hand up…but immediately she says you can write on a piece of paper, almost all heads are bowed and all you can hear is a scribbling noise of pens on paper. l also join the circus with a question, ‘Can a boy and girl just be friends?’ Finally, she goes around and collects the papers rea

A HOPELESS CRY By L.J Rays shone upon his window A new dawn with new beginnings for him Knapsack on his back, old worn out clothes and shoes He set out on a journey of the unknown With no food nor water he set on Hopeful of what lay ahead. On his journey did he give away his last coin to a street urchin ‘Hey Mister, You need it more than l do.’ ‘Blessed is he who gives than the one who receiveth’ With those words, he walked on Hopeful of what lay ahead. Passing a gated community, he stopped and surveyed ‘Someday l will belong there’ ‘Woe…you would never belong! This is only for the enlightened’ he was told Smirking he went on, with each step he was elated The light on his path shinning brighter and brighter Just like Jesus in the wilderness he felt Hopeful of what lay ahead. As the sky turned to Orange His journey was directed towards his house A one squared roomed structure he called a home Sleeping on a grumbling stomach, mosqu

BEING A SHOEMAKER, MAKING YOUR OWN SHOES TO FILL  I Know we have all at one point in our lives heard the phrase, ‘You have big shoes to fill’. It is often told to us sometimes by our dear parents, teachers, colleagues or friends whenever someone close to us especially an elder who performed exceptionally well in school, graduated with high honors in school, got the best employment with high earning income and married filthy rich. They all without any doubt expect you to fit into the legacy’s big shoes, terming that it should come easy for you since the law of nature and nurture is on your side and an emulation or a better achievement than the legacy is expected. Literally having to fill big shoes entails growth; physically, emotionally and cognitively but in the direction as created by the legacy. However, we always forget that each individual has their own unique personality that characterizes their character. Even introverts aren’t the same as there a