My first detailed post from my trip to India is reserved for my favourite outing… a visit to Sanchi, a World Heritage Site. The only other Heritage sites I had been to are ones in London and our very own Nelson’s Dockyard in Antigua.
Bhopal is a beautiful city with amazing scenery and is said to be one of India’s greenest cities. Bhopal is also home to 10 lakes and is aptly tagged as “The City of Lakes”. In this post, I’ll recap with words and images my picture perfect day trip to Bhopal’s Upper Lake.
Back in 2022, I secured an amazing Scholarship opportunity from the Indian Government to spend two weeks in the country learning about Women Empowerment, Policy and Vocational Training. I had the most amazing time and met amazing women who I still keep in touch with to this day. This post is an introduction, obviously, but over a series of post I will be unpacking how I spent my life changing two weeks in India
How Long Has It Been? Too Long! The last time I published anything on this blog was three years ago and in that time so much about me has changed. I feel as though I’ve let this Cotton Tree grow unwatered. I suppose I should take this as an opportunity to reacquaint myself with this space and reintroduce myself. It truly has been awhile.
A lot of toxic behaviours in relationships are deeply rooted in patriarchal thinking. The sense of entitlement men develop in these relationships as well as the desire to take more than necessary from men acting on the “instinct” to provide. Patriarchy has tipped the advantaged far into the male corner certainly but women also use the patriarchy and have developed “trash” tendencies because of it. Men and women are both toxic and “trash” and this has led to a very unhealthy relationship dynamic.
This really cool Japanese Magazine Niko and... has this cool feature called 30 Days Coordinate. Every day of the month they post outfit inspiration for that day, to help you get dressed. It's been happening for quite a while and i really like the outfit selection. The styles are so simple yet fashionable that you just can't help but tuning in daily to see what they'll think of next. I'm not even going to type much, i'll just post a flurry of photos embodying February in outfits.
I am all about empowerment, and I'm all for equality. So when i stumbled upon Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche in the summer of 2013, I did more research into Feminism and what it really meant. Despite popular opinion, feminism is not a cult of women seeking vengeance against men and wanting to dominate them, however it is an ideal to strive for. It is the belief that both men and women can live in an equal society, free from demands ascribed to them based on gender. Feminism also preaches that we have no set expectations from males and females based on gender. Feminism does not say that one gender is more valued, but it preaches that both have just as much potential. In today's society, where survival is not based on physical advantage but on intellect, their is no need to preach of a superior gender. I now personally self identify as a Feminist because i believe in equality. I don't hate men, frankly i get along with them very well, i just believe that there should be a balance. I don't preach down on persons who disapprove of feminism, nor do i lean towards shrouding myself in masculinity to feel empowered. I wear lipstick, i like braids, i love fashion [as you can see], i read stereotypical romance novels, things that are deemed by society as decidedly non-feminist. Here is an excerpt from Chimamanda's speech which inspired my feminist stance . . .
On How Gender Roles Hurt Boys
"We do a great disservice to boys in how we raise them. We stifle the humanity of boys. We define masculinity in a very narrow way. Masculinity is a hard, small cage, and we put boys inside this cage.
We teach boys to be afraid of fear, of weakness, of vulnerability. We teach them to mask their true selves, because they have to be, in Nigerian-speak—a hard man.
In secondary school, a boy and a girl go out, both of them teenagers with meager pocket money. Yet the boy is expected to pay the bills, always, to prove his masculinity. (And we wonder why boys are more likely to steal money from their parents.)
What if both boys and girls were raised not to link masculinity and money? What if their attitude was not "the boy has to pay," but rather, "whoever has more should pay." Of course, because of their historical advantage, it is mostly men who will have more today. But if we start raising children differently, then in fifty years, in a hundred years, boys will no longer have the pressure of proving their masculinity by material means.
But by far the worst thing we do to males—by making them feel they have to be hard—is that we leave them with very fragile egos. The harder a man feels compelled to be, the weaker his ego is.
And then we do a much greater disservice to girls, because we raise them to cater to the fragile egos of males.
We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller.
We say to girls: You can have ambition, but not too much. You should aim to be successful but not too successful, otherwise you will threaten the man. If you are the breadwinner in your relationship with a man, pretend that you are not, especially in public, otherwise you will emasculate him."
This is an excerpt from WE SHOULD ALL BE FEMINISTS by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Copyright © 2012, 2014 by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg3umXU_qWc
There are many different fashion blogs on the internet and with the advent of the natural hair movement, there are many blogs about natural hair. However, few blogs are able to strike the perfect balance between both of these topics. Ashlei, the brain behind Kinks are the new Pink in my view has an excellent balance. She's not only a major figure in type 4 hair education, but she's also somewhat of a style guru for many persons who read her blog. I really love her blog as i learn new ways to care for my hair as well as cool ways to mis and match patterns and styles for outfits. She's always experimenting with different methods of doing things and she's not selfish in sharing her methods with her following. So, in honour of Ashlei's exceptional style, here are a few of her outfits that i absolutely loved >>>>
I had an email interview with the beautiful and artistic Faliesha from Instagram. I've been following her for awhile and her feed is wonderful. She's a peaceful person and she shares lots of Muslim passages that often uplift my spirit. So, i approached her about this feature for my Blog and i was so ecstatic when she said yes. I'll stop holding up the process : ) Here's more on Faliesha . . .
Bookworm, Stylist, and chilling in Los Angeles California.. This is only some context for the great and awesome chris aaron, @christopher_aaron on instagram. He's a very interesting guy and so, doing what i do best, i decided that he needed an insta-feature, to show you bits and pieces of his instagram. He's somewhat of a minimalist as he makes simple things appeal to his followers and make little things in his life extraordinary.
He's a photographer in his own right. He captures his day to day sightings so effortlessly and his cool fades and soothing tones just make you fall in love with his feed over and over again. His feed is not only an expression of himself but it's appealing and noteworthy in a way that makes it unique and different from the average personal feed.
Christopher is also a bit of a foodie! He enjoys sharing photos of his wonderful meals which sometimes make me a bit jealous. Most of all, Chris is a really cool person and he's very supportive of my work... he's become sort of an insta-friend. He's a hard working, fun loving guy, who enjoys adventures. Check out his work and i think you'll find him interesting too.
If you are like me and enjoy looking up creative and interesting people on instagram, then you are going to love what i'm introducing. I've decided to feature some of my favorite instagrammers here on my blog and show my readers why i decided to follow them in the first place... maybe you'll even want to follow them too. My very first 'Insta feature' as i've so cleverly called it, is on one of my all time favorite instagrammers... Miss Nichole Burton-Fleming who goes by @niiiiiiichole on instagram.
Nichole is very keen on making one of a kind, hand-made, artistic creations. She is an amazing artist and is frequently admonished by her followers to create an Etsy account to benefit from her work. She's really crafty and can do alot with paint and paper. Not only is she a good artist, but she's an excellent photographer as well. She has an eye for detail and captures lovely shots. She is truly a master at her craft and uses her instagram as a medium to showcase Antigua's natural beauty as well as the wonders of the earth.
Her feed is a really wonderful one which matches her wonderful personality. I've met her in person once and her sunny personality and wonderful smile just made my afternoon. I really admire her and her work as well as her beach goer life. It's really cool seeing things from her perspective and it truly allows you to find beauty in the little things around.
all Photos courtesy of @Niiiiiiichole on Instagram
