Growing up was very interesting. We bought stuff in bits and pieces: a piece of a bar of soap, a few scoops of cooking oil (it was actually cooking fat), and a few hundred grams of sugar…..one could buy with as little money as possible. The pieces of goods were wrapped in bits of brown paper or old newspaper. Once home, these would be carefully unwrapped and straightened. They would then transition to the role of toilet paper (seriously I was informed that this was an upgrade from leaves!). A hole would be punched on one end and a string passed through then they would be hanged somewhere in the toilet. I still remember the bum groaning from the hard brown sugar paper that mum taught us to rub together to make it smoother. For some of us, the old newspapers were a blessing because there was something to keep us occupied as we took those long bathroom calls. Sitting there and reading through old newspaper cuttings birthed my passion for reading. It was also a good escape from the world lol…
Over time I upgraded to old magazines (I can’t remember where we picked these up but none were bought) and later library books. It was an out-of-this-world experience to sit in the loo and immerse yourself in some old piece of literature irrespective of its genre. Mum would always complain because my trip to the loo would last for a long, long time, yet there was only one loo for everyone. Often, I would have someone bang on the door asking me to take my reading escapade elsewhere. I hear that eventually those of means bought magazine racks for their bathrooms and had these fancy reads to keep the user occupied and that they had several loos in their houses so there was no hurry to get out. Still, I counted my blessings.
Come the tech generation and the mobile phone now takes the place of my old newspapers with tissue making it no longer necessary to have old paper pieces. From mobile games to YouTube videos, podcasts, or reading online books, there is something for everyone. The homes now have more than one loo (some of them) thus there is ample time for this me-time: it should count as an act of self-love to have this moment to self.
One day, however, I found myself in this space taking the long road, and had no means of preoccupation. No book, phone, or magazine. So here I was with a task I didn’t really want to focus on. My mind is not the type that sits still so it began wandering around. I thought about how the task at hand was a product of many blessings. The weather was favorable, and food had grown. I could afford to buy it. I was able to cook it, had the fuel to cook it, and had an appetite. The body went on to process and make use of the meal and the system for waste matter ejection was also working well.
Right there, it occurred to me how blessed I am and determined to count my blessings more. Nothing can be taken for granted….Nothing!
