Qudos to Kings:Capturing Kingsized imaginations

It begins with the seed of discourse, a fledgling conversation explodes into the silence. You are at the mercy of self and mind. Determined to obliterate the silence, eager to escape the tedium which transcends normal life. You want change, you want drama, excitement, passion, growth and a life of fulfilment. There is no substitute  for development. There is no substitute for tapping into infinite change and infinite possibility. Welcome to the evolving self. Welcome to a mind which will meditate upon change, meandering, and navigating through the chaos of fallen trials and almost triumphs. You think to yourself, from the world allows one day I will make an impact. One day I will take bold creative steps and unwind myself from the umbilical cord of 'normal' nursing the wounds that come with attempts to elevate ones self, beyond the constraints of a simplistic mind. You are stepping outside of the box, taking off shoes and socks, walking bare foot, into a realm of infinite questions where answers are blanketed, closeted and cloaked. You will morph into a self that the world will find undiscovered, unrecognisable. Self as explorer, self as adventurer, yet self as hero. There is something beautiful about the expansive mind. It's complex methodologies, and stratagem, then at other times the way it eases you into a fate with a simple recipe, and ingredients that primarily redefine your entire sense of being. Your imagination is your best friend on this journey, feed it and fuel its processes.

Pushing past possible how to beat limitations

It was impossible, they said. They eyed you with a view that this challenge could over whelm, could overtake and could defeat you. This challenge will be the making of you. In our infinite wisdom, we seek spools of gratification from those who are to focussed on what's real and accessible, now, on what others have said is doable. What we should really seek is proving beyond a doubt that the challenges we face with grit and with determination are achievable. We see great leaders achieve great things beyond the borders of fear,distribute their creativity, access their most productive self. To push into the realm of possibilities, you must seek wisdom at all times. You must acquire the teachings from those who have come before you, walked down your path, beaten these odds, and challenged these obstacles. It is more than other people's passing remarks of seen and heard, this is your future, this is your life. Moment to moment we find ourselves eclipsed by the fear of other people who were overshadowed by Giants, we quickly forget about those who stood on the shoulders of giants so they could be observers, and learn to be more than spectators. With each view they gained perception,foresight, strategy to navigate, and look at ways around some of the confinements of other people's realities. With our words we create our reality, with our literature, we access a prism of worlds, with our eyes we can be selective and our ears can be over indulged by a mass of other people's thoughts and ideas. Pick your standing. You are the leader of your own tribe of thoughts, fuel them with passion, direct them with activity, ensure they are productive, and encompass your world in a hub of literature and the impact of great influencers. You can make the change if you just believe and take action. It is gradual, and it is becoming. But with every inch you are creating a ripple.

spearheading super change

We are often told with fear that possibility is beyond our reach. We hear voices chime into our eardrums,leading our defeat, hoping that we are less than what we are. For all the change agents, visionaries, leaders, and hopefuls, the mind needs a wealth of food to empower itself. It is important to cultivate a conversation with the mind, to shape your future, you must develop a path of access for yourself and those who tread after you. We walk, a path littered with obstacles, it is a narrow road, skittered with objects, eager to challenge social fugitives that escape the trademark of a standard norm. We are elevating ourselves beyond the ordinary,evolving to what's extraordinary, connecting to a self that is illuminated and transcends both pain and small definition. You are more than the minuscule conversations of yester year, greater than fear, other people's put downs, ridicules, laughter, humiliation, because to make an impact, to create change you must tap into your infinite self.
This is beyond the simplicity of your needs, you are changing the perspective of others. Heightening their ambitions and bringing them further in the realm of possibilities. It was a dream, then it became a vision, now you must tread it, now you must March it, now you must glorify your own independence, by celebrating the power of your mind. The mind is the most powerful tool we have at our disposal, it helps us become instigators of great social change, manoeuvre, and negotiate, our way to our own financial freedom. We walk in the paths of change agents that came before us, shifting, dancing through time.

The stiff March of the Conqueror

They came for you and yet here you stand venturing into the new year with a smile on your face and you may not be gliding yet. It is a stiff march, but this walk of yours, this gait, has potential to ease into a silky glide. Many of us have been destroyed and reconstructed during the year, fragments of an old self, lying in clusters in old clothes before the mirror. We prepare the sheen of our new self, a uniform smile to face the world, a mental check, we are still here, after the breakup, the jealous friends tried to tear you down, the hierarchical games at work, the put down from strangers or just not feeling good enough in our skin. Believe you are worthy of love in 2018, believe this new year will bless you with change, access, and progress. You are what you believe in, believe in yourself in 2018.

Meghan Markle Regal Glamour Contagious Class

Meghan the sparkle icon is taking over the press lately with her engagement to Prince Harry, and her international style claiming all the headlines. Who wouldn't want to be this Fashion elites Bestie
Meghan has more than great style, she is intelligent, engaging, beautiful, and a great asset to the Royals. From Suit Screen to Regal Royal icon lets welcome a new beauty queen unto the Catwalk. Phenomenally fabulous Meghan we love your style.

Page by page a million views

Viewers,readers and all creative artiste of redebonyhotspot community,my goal is to have a million page views every single day without fail, so tune in to the hottest spot on the Internet, for inspiration,culture,celebrity ,gossip,ideas,sports,vision,access,and spiritual growth.we are on a journey together, we are enlightening the world. One million page views day by day,so spread the good news and let's take the message viral.

The fog of others

It's easy to let others tell you who you can become. For years I was bullied out of my own skin by a coward who loathed himself. We trust the wrong people to love us, we trust the wrong people to build us up when we're vulnerable, because we're too fragile to build ourselves up. As I was laughed at , and ridiculed, put down, humiliated,by a guy who spent years afraid of his own shadow, I realised the most sacred lesson I should have learned. I kept reaching out for love for friendship, but self is love, and family is network. It is important to know who you are and where you come from,otherwise people who are weaker, who have failed themselves will use you as a crutch as a platform to build up an identity of strength. The guy who bullied me for years spent years dragging his face across the pavement, he could barely hold his own shoulders up. Now I think of the humiliation he caused me, the false friends he gathered whilst doing it, and I can only laugh, because I see so much clearer now. Once upon a time through his fog of insults I couldn't see at all.

Pots of gold through pain

We wait for pots of gold to collide with the practice of pain. I am in the midst of it, we say, there should be something for this chaos , this mess, that I can't seem to rectangle myself from. This upset. This is madness we shriek, it's not fair. Who told you, that life plays fair. Many of us come out of the womb thinking that life is a fair battlefield, that someone else's chaos is separate to yours. We watch the news, click the screen off, it's faraway, it's distant. Truth is, we are all connected. To even up the score , to play your own makestic round, I will say what I say time and again, use your mind. The mind is the most powerful asset in the world, utilise your time. You and a millionaire, a billionaire have one thing in common, this is a message that someone else taught me. You have 24 hours. 24 hours. How will you use your 24 hours, how will you use that time? What questions do you ask? What problems do you solve? If you slip into a mighty depression and simply believe you are the problem.....this is a problem. You have a purpose, train your mind to find it, and face the challenges that come with it.

Life and your liasons

life will throw some opportunities your way, what you do with those opportunities define the type of individual you become. Change comes. It is a torrent pushing some to the edge ,others will find a stream, a narrowed path and travel through it. The biggest affliction is a mind that cannot succumb to change, it will overwhelm you, you will see boobie traps laiden ahead, mine pits of fear, and you will chorus from a shadow of your own misunderstanding.

Utilise these opportunities that come your way, ask the mind many questions, it will guide you if that is what you want of it. Seeker, empath, guardian, keep a keen eye. You must have your wits about you, you are no passenger in this trial we call life. Listen twice, and observe before taking action.

Your millionaire mind

It doesn't matter what people say about you, it's what you know about yourself to be true that counts. Low self esteem is a slanging match with one's self. We claw ourselves down, because we have the ammunition of other people's razor blade words, words that bleed out every core . Chain you to a new shadow, and sink you to a grave of self contempt. As an entrepreneur, a creative, an individual, as a self, you must love this self, you must affirm positivity to this mind. It is not your passenger, it is your driver, for it to steer you, you must respect it, bless it with new knowledge, connect it to people who have engaged with wisdom whose paths are growing, and excite it with new challenges. The mind loves challenges, your mind wants to show you your potential, but it must ease you into it, with goals, vision, and hunger. In the quiet times speak fire to become flesh, ideas waltz when they are given legs with actions, they parade themselves before you, triumphant, look what I've become, see my path, share my journey. Knowledge doesn't just empower, it heals.

T

A self to discover

Who lost you, and made you find yourself. Stuff. We deal with other people's stuff everyday. The world assumes it is emotionally hygienic, that 'we' are cleansed and it's the other individual with the problems. Yet here is a reality cheque to cash in daily, a problem comes with a solution. Those of us who identify others as flawed and simply watch them crumble, are really the ones with a storm coming our way. Growing up and dealing with my disability, especially the epileptic fits there was a woman who lived near me, that used to warn the neighbours about me cruelly announcing that ' she has problems steer clear." I became isolated and alone, until I discovered she had some challenges of her own. Yet not to bare all. Every individual you face has been challenged by this school called life, we are in education, we are finding out about our highest selves and our greatest power. You come to know your strengths when you are probed with a weakness.

To the victor goes the spoils?

It makes sense to want to dwell, we live in a world where people don't always play fair. They cheat. They use certain tactics to gain access to the information you have, to empower themselves and yet so they win? Not really. victory is a mindset. You are a Victor when you learn the art of happiness, some people will never be happy in this lifetime. It is a choice they make consistently with the actions they take. Greed, cruelty, envy , and when the light grows dim, they crawl their way back to you hoping you'll welcome them into your bosom. We are a product of the choices we make, we are a fragmented self, distorted self, damaged self, at times a broken self, yet in this lifetime, be an honest self. Be true to the reflection you see, do not be supported by other people's fears and other people's failures. It makes sense to dwell, yet we live in a world where dwelling is not the key to the answers you seek.

Inside his head

I thought about the perfect things to say. Sharp, polite , precise sentences, that roll in our heads. I see you in my minds eye, perfect as you are, a vision to escape to. The man with the heavy voice and the soft brown eyes. Capture me in the moistness of all your selves,an identity sandwiched, secreted in layers of fear. I am lost in you, yet searching me. We wake up in separate places.

Save to invest: Redebonyhotspot bytes

Avoid impulse buying
Avoid greedy marketers
Buy one get one free, means you have to buy one in the first place, only purchase what you need
Have a budget account
Carry cash and leave the card at home tucked away in a safe place, carry a small extra purse in case of emergency
Have a list what do I want versus what do I need
Distract yourself from the thought that your saving
Reward yourself with a star chart or goal chart for each accomplishment you achieve with your account
Focus on creative ways to raise funds
Recycle old items you are not using
Budgeting is not about penny pinching. Know what is a necessity. Get vouchers if there are things you really are interested in purchasing. Some people make the mistake of going on a financial diet, where they starve themselves. Then go junkie on items they don't actually need. Pair up with a buddy who is as passionate as changing their finances as you are. Attend free seminars you will find them on eventbrite, meet up, and blog about your journey sharing your challenges and successes with your audiences, it makes it feel as though you are answerable to someone. When you make an error or a sleight,, document it and write what drove you to that point. Are you an emotional shopper? Did you not prepare lunch the day before? Is your budget too unrealistic?

Get acquainted with more Financial articles, read about people, who have accomplished what you have accomplished, model and programme your mind until it becomes habbit. The key to any success is discipline, The key to financial growth is learning but to grow towards positivity there will be challenged, friction from the self, the mind is programmed a certain way, when you interrupt its pattern you will start to crave certain things. Take heart, it takes thirty days to create a new habbit. Formulate the habbit of saving and it will become less of a threat to a seasoned mind.

From saver to investor: Redebonyhotspot bytes

Saving is the psychology of discipline there will be things that will tempt you along the way.
You have set yourself up with a challenge to go from saver to investor, welcome to redebony's financial playpen poverty is a state of mind. A lack of discipline, tapping into source, and no knowledge of money, will leave you in the same hamster wheel as you were before. You want to build a portfolio which brings you a return on investment. Your key objective is to venture into the property market, so you have assets that bring a return on investment. Have a budget. There are many temptations when it comes to spending money, know what your Achilles heel is, list it so you can tackle it. Create a five year plan. A working plan which includes having a role that brings you income, in your spare time financially train and educate yourself. Growth comes through learning. To master capital, you must understand how to invest it to make maximum profit..Be it in property, a business, or an asset that you have thoroughly researched the market in. Know your numbers, have a journal where you document your progress. Regularly visualise your success, and create measurable attainable goals. It doesn't matter what job you do with the digitisation of the modern world and the impact of globalization, many are applying for freelance roles, or remote roles that allow them to work from home. Check out the Redebonyhotspot blog for more bites on how to go from saver to investor, get your five year plan ready.

Sophisticated Sophelia Goes against the Grain

Gone Against the Grain

I’m such a huge advocate for being fearlessly yourself and embracing our individuality. Why you ask?... Well let me ask you this, why do we need to be like someone else? Why do we all have to be the same? If you’re unable to answer that question, that is exactly it, it’s because we’re not meant to be the Joe next door but the person we were born to be.

I believe life is like one big puzzle and each of us are the pieces that make up the picture. Each of us are created and shaped for a particular place in this puzzle. We are born and destined with a purpose. But how can we fulfil our purpose when we are trying to be like each other and “fit” in because we want to be able to feel like ‘we belong’. For half my life I felt the same way, I wanted to fit in and feel like I belonged to a particular group or arena to the point where I altered my character, personality and even the way I dressed just to be accepted amongst “friends”.

One day I became tired of pretending, tired of being someone I’m not and having to suppress the person I knew I was becoming.  That day was the lightening that struck the tree. I chose to no longer care what people thought of me and worry about their judgements, I just wanted to be… Me. Me-Sophelia. Me –the person that never stops dancing. Me – the energetic, bubbly person with the quirky style. Me – the person who is meant to be the best version of myself and not the best version of Jane, Lauren or Sue.

I came to realise how we are continually force fed the idea that we need to aspire to this so called unrealistic “ideal person”, through media, magazines, adverts and even expectations of others that demands us to feel like being us is not good enough or it’s not ok to be our self. Well, let me tell you something – It’s more than ok to be you. I’m sorry but, ‘why be someone else when you were born amazing?’ Through all this encouragement to self-condemn I realised how important it is to proudly accept who we are and understand that we should be our self, embrace our individuality and how important it is to become your best self so we can find and fulfil our purpose.

Through this long thought provoking and riveting journey the road lead me to where I am right now, starting my brand and blog- ‘Gone Against the Grain’, encouraging people to simply and solely be themselves and PROUD. It is one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life, to help people who want to be themselves and find their purpose.

Being an individual isn’t about being an out-cast or “different” or odd but about creating a league of your own and breaking boundaries. We were all uniquely made and the reason is in our life’s purpose. I believe life is like one big puzzle and each of us are the pieces that make up the picture. Where do you fit in?

I’ve’ gone against the grain, you can too.

Redebonyhotspots savers and property column

Money talks when no one is listening, but we rarely pay attention to such demands as save, invest, pool your money, market your brand, till your capital grows, and let your money work for you. It's easy to get caught up in all the special offers, budget buys, buy one get one frees, discount and sales, yet what their cleverly asking you to do is to lessen your chance of becoming an investor. Investors acquire capital. Money magnetized to them because they invest in assets and commodities, rather than funding liabilities. Liabilities will blind side you with great campaigns, the car your friends have, the house you paid for which bills are accruing more debt, yet rather than leading out some rooms to bring in an income, you've packed it with ornaments so your next door neighbours can keep aweing at what a designers touch you have. How much is it costing you to keep up with the Jones's. When was the last time your pocket pleaded with you to start saving up? Well, I'm starting this challenge with you, this is the international piggy bank of savers ideas for those of us who have a habbit of saying goodbye to spare change. Change that would have transformed itself to capital. Join me for ideas, tips, and tricks as we save our way to the top!

Guest post by Francis Etuko:Noise in Nigeria

By Francis Etuko

The Chairman of the House of Representatives Comittee on Aids, Loans and Debt Management, Hon Adeyinka  Ajayi has corrected the perception that the legislative arm of government is against borrowing.

Speaking during an interactive session to consider States borrowing requests under the 2016-2018 External Borrowing Plan at the National Assembly, Hon Ajayi said nothing could be further from the truth as borrowing is an essential tool in a nation's finance architecture.

His words "permit me at this point to correct the erroneous perception that the legislature is borrowing avers".
" Nothing could be further from the truth, parliament is indeed aware that borrowing is an essential, if not unavoidable tool in a nations public finance architecture and is required for rapid and sustainable development" he said.

He also stressed thus " A situation where a nation borrows for consumption or recurrent expenditure at the detriment of long term infrastructural or institution  building investments and where debt services figures begin to rise greatly, eating deep into the nations available resources in its budgetary allocation is unhealthy and therefore unacceptable"

Wednesday's interaction became necessary following the request  from the Acting President,  Professor Yemi Osinbajo SAN, on the 25th of May 2017 asking the House to separate States projects from items listed in the earlier submitted 2016-2018 external borrowing requests plan, with a view to giving the states requests accelerated consideration.

Hon Ajayi reminded those at the session that the request of the Acting President was in compliance with the provisions of the Debt Management Office (Establishment) Act, 2003 and the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 which both enjoins the President to lay before the National Assembly its external borrowing plan for approval pursuant to the powers conferred on the national assembly under items 7 and 50 of part 1 of the second schedule of the of the constitution 1999  as amended.

The committee began its scrutiny with the Ebonyi state which intends to obtain from the African Development Bank, ADB and the Islamic Bank a loan facility of 150 million dollars which will be taken in tranches of 80 and 70 million dollars from the two institutions and is to be spent on developing road infrastructure in Ebonyi state.

The Deputy Governor of Ebonyi state,  Mr Kelechi Igwe who represented his state said the state has put in place a very robust structure to ensure the repayment of the loan facility.

This he stressed was in the proper tolling of roads which the state would vigorously pursue to ensure that the facility it is seeking is repaid.

his words " We believe that the roads we are building in Ebonyi state will have a life span of 30 to 50 years".

Igwe told the committee that Ebonyi is an agrarian state and has made an example in agriculture with the production of rice which stands the state out in Nigeria.

He said " In Ebonyi state the  sum of 2 billion naira was injected by the state into rice production and within 9 months it realises 4 billion which has been reinvested into  the states economy".

Present at the session were other members of the committee, the chairman of the Senate committee on Sports, Senator Obinna Ogba, representatives of the Debt Management office, Abubakar Sani and Maimuna Ibrahim, The country Director of the French Development Agency Olivier Delefosse.

The decision to dream

It is not hopeless to dream or admire the qualities of others. Some people have contempt for brilliance, but it was the creativity of individuals that helped communities and the global network to stand with distinction. Take pride in your abilities, take pride in your self and your purpose. You are on an adventure. The world may throw sands at your flames, yet you will burn still, and pine for such things that a narrow mind cannot fathom. It is the genius of vision, the power of perception and the acute ability to use intuition to gage audiences. People may offer you a reality check, cash it in, for what's real is based upon the minds perception, what makes change is our ability to maintain momentum when being fuelled on the journey. It is easy to abolish a dream for a safe system, watch it die, and perish beyond a sin. Yet when we wake from the slumber of other people's perceptions, we begin to abstract ourselves from the circus others have created for us. Your brain is the most powerful multi functional computer in the world, your mind and soul function with a balanced soul. You will thrive when you are in the process of being, doing, and seeing more. We are a hungry canvas, we are starved wolves lurking for missing sheep, we lick our lips salivating upon the wants of others, consuming their energy as oxygen. Your mind  needs to fill it's own skin, it is bone, and without the flesh of literature, we are birds trapped within a cage. It will not be easy. Fear will point a finger and you will hold on to reckless abandonment, others will judge, and you may put a price tag upon your own head. Labelling yourself, and collecting a season of woes. Journeys are not instant triumph. Hyena's laugh a jekylled trumpet, most clouds our vision, and we are as lost particles floating in the wind.

Rivers of change: Spirit is listening

Real wisdom, intelligence should leave an imprint. When you communicate you want to be remembered for not just how expansive your vocabulary is, but the density of the words impacting the soul of the listener. I was thinking today about greatness and the people we listen too, not the know it all's, but those who have a snippet of our experiences. Those who can connect. Talk is cheap because time is so expensive and yet, it is a priceless thing some conversations. We wish we could rewind back in time and have them all over again, they are like song in our eardrums. We like the company of the person talking and the advice they give. The right conversation can sell a book, a brand, an album, an individual, so speak to yourself. Speak to all the bruised areas of your soul that cannot be cleansed by mild conversation. Talk to self esteem, self love, motivation fighting spirit,challenge denial. Speak to growth, and just keep on talking, spirit is listening, so you must speak. Speak rivers of positive productive change.

Explorations of the self

Illusions of perfection are a seduction. There is an ease to which the world suggests who we should become. Through mass media, through social media, ever since globalisation and modernity.we watch these characters through the tv sets, hear invisible rules through the radio, flicker photoshopped images from glossy magazines. Yet here it is in a nutshell, a perfect thought in its embodiment. We are a soul and develop into a self, we are only being the best version of ourselves we can be, from that time, with that learning, and the things we have access too. If you listen to a society that tells you your not good enough, you will become a slurred sentence that is drunk on not good enough. Everybody wants to be the best on a superficial level, have nice houses, nice cars, claim nice things. You are a stone that is being polished, a rock that is being shaped, you will evolve into something brilliant, blessed and bright. Believe in who you are meant to be, not who society tells you you are. We are a variation of flawed selves, we are selves that need to be explored.

The death of Aspiring to be

Make it you?Successful? Hell yeah. It is a myth that the impossibility factor even exist for you right now, their saying your on cloud nine, what have they been smoking? I once came across the most disgusting figure of a human being who expressed to his friends, loud enough for me to hear of course, all nasty people do, that I would die aspiring. Good looking guy, but I could see he thought his looks put him in a power position. He was not exceptional to look at. In fact he just looked like some blind persons lazy anime drawing, actually, there are talented blind people and I apologise for the disrespect. When you are climbing, trying to reach that place where you can look out at the rest of the world, you will meet fools like this. Focus and zone in. You are closer than you think, wiser than you think, and I'm here to tell many of you, you are greater than you think. You will get there. Believe in touching your glory, tasting your glory, feeling your glory, do not let people like this with no shadow no form, damage your vision. It means protect it like a new born baby, nourish it like a mother and watch it grow. It requires consistent action, self love, and respect. Do not die Aspiring to be.

Heartbreak hotel: The quest to let the world in

We all have expectations of people, and when their dashed and were denied the opportunity to express our emotions we blend into a maddening haze of purple. Expect the best from yourself at all times. Expect that your version of you will not be immaculate , glossed and shiny you have met trauma and shaken it hand, disappointment has tapped you on the shoulder then sent you along your way. There is an itch in all our skins for infinite love , we all have a hidden need to be validated, it is part of the reason people are so desperate to conform , to fit in for fear that they will be without. Yet sometimes life is about the jigsaws within, it's about getting to know the spirit within the self, healing, understanding , loving you.The past tattoos the soul, and when people let us down we are terrified of letting the world in. We are quivering little mice, terrified of the winter cold, ease yourself in little by little. Our own minds can be our kryptonite, change your perspective, it will change your energy. Expect the most from yourself and trust that you can handle anything.

Love I whispered, come and find me

I write for secrets to glimmer like icicle chandeliers , spilling loose threads of sanity weaving shame. Ss humans we are so duplicitous to ourselves, telling sweet marshmallow white lies that loose the teeth and potentially cement the jaw. Self this is a letter to you, a squiggle from the heart whence once we were soldiers, once there were troops of people who worshipped our trumpet existence now there is void because selves are quiet. Why do we do what we do? Jezebel, Icarus stumbling from grace, did you taste the blood on the kaleidoscope lens or did it stutter like ink across the ledge. And how we wept for love beneath the moon tide, angry that the world couldn't see our swollen eyes, fed up that the snot which knotted our nostrils dangled like Egyptian beads. I wept for love I couldn't find , and then when it found me, it broke me, a caricature mounting me in forestry then disappearing for months. I was desert then, lapping little more than jigsaws of pools. Love I whispered, come and find me.

Bethlehem baby

I wanted to disguise myself amidst your confidence hose myself down with your patented charm.id become you , in some sensuos way. I like things to make sense, but we don't. Our love is a frame, everything outside the box. Everything that's bad for your teeth, yet vinegar on your tongue. You made me a promise that day by the beach remember. That you would always tell me I was mad, never buy me roses, always eat the chocolates, and never scribble love notes. Aghast! What have you done? It was Saturday, no it was Sunday, I refused to go to church, and you said "here's a note to Bethlehems baby," I was mad at you then. Mad at world's that were spinning into hostile loops of oblivion, questioning everything like a child confused at the lap of a cemetery. This world and it's Limerick of shadows, nothing neatly folded anymore, pastel colours smudged, young eyes ripe for the poison of a non fiction world. You said I love you in that note, now and forever, so don't be scared of creatures in the dark, there are fireflies everywhere, and as smoke you disappeared.

Shuffles of blinding feet

It changes much, all those little things about yourself you take for granted. Those fears chafing your skin, eating at you like maggots, were you a child when you dreamt such a dream, where was your wisdom when you risked such a risk, delicious on your tongue it was, lost in translation somebody's wrong. Your right, you needed it so much ,it hurt your teeth, this weird wacky, wonderful you, a paradise for beings, a paradox for self. I laughed at your reflection that day, like the martians did, eating into your psyche, spooning your subconscious, all those numbers you counted, what are you really capable of ?

A timeless classic: Beat the Bully

People who are jealous of you have a habit of tearing you down, then copying every single thing you do. As a leader, you have to be aware that in life there are winners and there are looser. Those who set themselves up to loose and fail by cheating, by faking skills they don't have in order to justify an inadequacy they've felt all their lives. Someone sick did this to me, most of you who follow my blog and follow me on Facebook know my story. I was severely bullied and alienated from the rest of my community by a guy and his family who were upset simply because, I just wouldn't sleep with him. His mother had been acting cruelly towards me, competing with me, until I later discovered she had severe mental health problems. This was a woman on the fringe. Yet lest not focus on that lest focus on how i asserted myself as a leader throughout this whole situation as this turned into a witch hunt. I was called Racist names, people were told to avoid me, and harassed consistently by this guy's family and his friends. They were determined to keep me at the bottom, I am rising to the top. I now have an agent for my book, I am working with the phenomenal miss central London GB, have a host of connections which include Royalty and I'm hosting an event with Richard Bransons mentee. I've been through the depression, I've been through the why he's, there is always something about you that makes that person feel inferior.They target you because their weak and joining together to make one person feel small makes them feel strong. Never keep their secret. The mother who was the instigator would cheer on the kids for calling me sadistic names, she would spread vicious and malicious lies about me throughout the neighbourhood. I'd have families with really bad reputations, families I'd never given the time of day too , bonding together, to say things like ' don't go near that girl,' because I was different. It is not your job to cloak a coward in shadow, do not hide their malice in myth , if someone really wants to help your character, they would look you directly in the eye and challenge you, on these flaws they say you have. Weak people and those who lack social skills, use malice as a way to bond. They don't have social flair, these are people you probably wouldn't give the time of day too, so what is the other option, they use stupidity, nastiness,and cruelty to draw you in.  These are people you wouldn't give the time of day too . If your so ugly, if your so flawed, if your so less than up to par why are they so taken up with what your doing, wearing, how your talking. Bullies have always been bullied themselves, or abused in some way, jealous and something about you is pretty amazing. So keep being amazing. Avoid them, ignore them, for me these people will never get my time. It is precious. In this lifetime if you see someone outnumbered don't join the pack, you wanna be a leader not a looser.

Fight against fear

Fear

. If only it could stop us. This morning I was listening to one of .my motivational CDs , inspired by the concept of change, hungry and eager to transform my life. We watch others succeed sometimes gritting our teeth, biting our lips, narrowed gazes, when will time land on us. Yet your time is already here.Touch it, taste it, feel it, it is ripe with opulence , robust and flavoursome with potential. if you want to catch a dream, you must be willing to remove the shackles of conformism and set your mind free. Everything you are is a component of hardwork and a freedom mindset. Words weave such beautiful wonders, yet you are more than experience you are wisdom. Let wisdom guide you.

Soaring high

It's easy to give up, it's easy to quit. You have no other option, but to keep going. To just breathe, inhale, exhale and say one day , I will have my day. This day comes with the actions I take, the persistence I have, the platform I build and the focus. It is easy to let others wear you down systematically, their cruelty, their malice, their envy, yet stay in your own lane, on your own path, your focus will be your path to freedom. Excite yourself with vision , hope and take heed that you are more than potential, don't let fear pursue you to the end of a chipped cliff. You have options, you have dreams, you have skills, utilise them. Let other people pick you apart if that's the only way they can validate themselves, let them muse themselves with their own contempt, you are soaring and flying high, one day you will land on safe comfortable ground.

Sherwin Claridge letter to self

SHERWIN CLARIDGE

• Projects
  • Bull Cow Game
  • Building Escape (TBC)
• Resume / Bio / Contact
• Blog
• Wicked Tongue Media

Dear Me,

You’re 18 years old and you are embarking on your dream to play in a band and become a rock star because you picked up a guitar one day and thought ‘f***ing hell, I’m having this’…

Unfortunately, ol’ buddy ol’ pal, it doesn’t quite happen. Not yet any way. All is not lost because you made it to 30 (just about).

In Arctic Monkey’s fashion you want to title a song called ‘You Don’t Know You're In It Until You’re Out Of It’, and you’re even contemplating being trendy and removing all the vowels so it would be called “Y DNT KNW YR N T NTL YR T F T”. However, I’m pretty sure 'Y' is a semivowel so removing that would just make it incomprehensible, right? I guess, that’s the life lesson here. Not vowels and consonants but the realisation you’ve done some amazing things and met some amazing people so don’t take for granted everything you have accomplished.

You’ve played to thousands of people, have your music played through the halls of Abbey Road, Fearne Cotton retweeted you, NME wrote you up, played on TV, you’re on Spotify, BBC6, had your face on a T-shirt, and a freakin’ Sex Pistol has opened up for you. Some of these have been over-exaggerated for effect...

But you go on a European tour in 2012 across the UK, France and Spain, organised by you and your friends, Kike, Flo and Adam and you look back fondly on it. I close my eyes and I’m on a beach in Bezier knocking a ball around and getting sand up everywhere. I’m in a Spanish desert surrounded by cacti eating camembert for lunch. It’s 2am, stranded in Dover, it’s the Queen’s f***ing Jubilee with 500 other passengers trying to get to Calais. It’s your third gig in Madrid and I’m about to throw up Calamari on stage. Singing “we could be lovers” on a dark side street to the small gathering crowd while waiting for Anne the Sharan to park up.

You..

Have…

Life…

Experience.

So, here you are.

You’re more excited about music more than ever. Your writing is the best it’s ever been. You’re embarking on the next stage of your life. You are starting your Masters in Computer Games Technology because deep down you’re really a big fat nerd and you’ve met the woman who you’ll spend the rest of your life with.

The older you get the more you realise to surround yourself with like-minded people that love you and support you. Drop the ones who don’t. Don’t worry too much how you are perceived and be kind and try to inspire people along the way.

Your more handsome self,

Sherwin

 Dark Knight: A Retrospective→

Sherwinclaridge.com

Redebony hotspot says miss central London GB 'runs tings'

Redebony has teamed up with miss central London GB to bring you the hottest stories, the greatest debates and the most prolific discussions on the internet, bout fashion, hair, style and beauty. Hashtag trending ladies, we are the official miss central London GB blog, so tune in for some great discussion points, awesome stories and red hot material. We are breaking all barriers, boundaries and stereotypes! Join us for the viral journey of your lives.

November 4th novel excerpt

"sink or swim, what's your game?"I eyed Billy Giggle with a narrowed grey lens,christ I hated this ginger bastard. What was his problem?With me, with humans, with life?
"It's a toy Billy," I groaned letting my jet black hair spool over my shoulder. It was my pride and joy my hair, mother said we originated from the first Cherokees, and my hair made me look lean and gamely long as it was. I wasn't wearing no weave like the other black girls,i may not have their features but when I run my hands through my hair in  Jermaine Clarkson's class him and his friend Claudelle are simply hypnotised. I pretend like I don't see then start doing all these things in the loreal advert I saw, you know, " because I'm worth it," then I  look at billy whose cracking up, make a fart noise and say in a really masculine voice," can I go to the bathroom please miss?" Those idiots fall for it each time, and look at each other in confusion. I love head fuckin people like this. Last year I was really popular, then Sheila Madsen started this rumour that I was a transgender girl who had been abused. The whole school went wild with it, she also put in,"and she smells as well." After six months of being avoided, ignored, and the object of ridicule I realised what a tough place the world was. How nobody was your puppet like you think when your popular, in fact most of them secretly resent you. The only kid that would talk to me for miles was this fat kid, Billy Figgle. The same thing had happened to him kind of with Roger fenis, the worst player on the rugby team.Word was Billy's dad was the complete opposite of Billy, his parents were divorced and lived two completely opposite lives. His dad was some hot shot sports agent who had refused to sign ' the Fenis," who to his face they called him terminator of the pitch, and behind his back...they called him crap. There's strategy in the good old game, to win you have to be a tactician,but poor old Rodge hadn't been born with any of that. The boy could run I kid you not my friend,first one in the dinner line every time. Yet on the field when he was dragged down....It....was.....merciless. The more people talked about Rogers failures, the more he resented Billy...and made his life as unbearable as it could get.

Anyway I miss my point,im always missing my point.Me and Billy are circling the pool in the sports gym after sneaking out of double science watching the teddy bear with the spliff in its mouth, to see if it sinks or swims.
" Sink or swim Dick sponge,"
"It'll float, or you'll have to put your lifeguard costume and jump in to save it."He smiles sheepishly. " Tranny I don't have a baywatch bod like you." I guess this is what my life has come too,i am defending my sister's Teddy Bear Albert. Shit I had no one else to defend anymore,dad was gone , "Olivia your mother and I are taking a little sabbatical from one another," translation DIVORCE.
"Were different people," and I wonder if he says that to convince himself when his sleeping with the tea lady at his job as a Market research team leader, or one of those stupid title jobs your supposed to grow out of when you finish uni. Funny that, how Dad doesn't think I know stuff, maybe it's the way I write things down, all those letters I sent him when he'd been inside. I wish they'd been neater, trimmed like a haircut, perched neatly on the page like an egg lined with soldiers, instead they were wild and erratic, panicked, with words like We need you, and Why did you do this, at the time I needed to understand.Now I know that things are charcoal and grey, or blurred in between watercolours. Mum made me understand as best as I could,ive found it hard to meet my fathers true gaze since then. Billy says a true gaze is when you see right through someone, like you trust them. " You should know what some grownups get up to,"my mother lied,her pencil frame almost a strand in the wind.I wiped the tears from her cheeks as she cuddled me on the landing, where the rats had half eaten her fake Persian rug.

I hang out with William Figgle because I guess mum and dad's divorce really messed me up,mum says figgs is messed up too.

Eyes On Me: Chapter 1, by Otatade Okojie

Eyes On Me: Chapter 1, by Otatade Okojie

Fifty shades of digitisation

I read somewhere that first drafts are like scooping sand into a bucket, so later on you can build sand castles. Thank-you Instagram. That helped so much. Many of you know I have been working on my series of novels for #deliciousDecember which I am extremely excited about. It's my opportunity to challenge that creative part of myself which sees the blank page and is absolutely horrified. There's nothing more frustrating than a barren page, or for me a pen which bears no fruit. This morning I endured another dose of #fiftyshadesofgrey, wow that film is sinfully hot. Would have liked to watch it with some butterscotch popcorn and some Bailey's😇,but enjoyed it none the less. I love the sexual tension and the chemistry between the two characters. What I love more though is the marketing behind fifty shades, how it was publicised and the fact that it was vanity publishing. I believe in this new age of evolving digital technology and independent authors there is much to learn.

The four billion hit challenge: Tune in

Four billion hits this is my goal for redebony this month,so those of you who are fans of the site, tune in, I plan to fail my way to success.  As a creative we need that daily dose of motivation,inspiration,and drive,i was flicking through my collage of manuscripts and looking at ways to channel creativity. Ideas are delicious things but we falter at the wake of them, terrified to implement action to those goals we put in place. Procrastination creeps in like a seductive odour charming us away with delicious fear. What is ailing you about your latest project? What is creating the block? Are you a perfectionist? A lot of people announce this as though it is something to be proud of, they tell you to announce it in interviews so you can get the job, we often think it makes us sound smarter,more organised, yet the reality is....some of the most stagnant people in our society,and the most successful are perfectionist. There are two sides of a very shiny coin. Perfectionism is also about anxiety, clack of confidence and procrastination. Believe in what you can do and take bold steps towards it.Redebony

Inviting a dream

I thought to myself this morning it must be a very frustrating thing to be a dream, to have such a future awaiting you, traveller, yet your means of transport lacks the fuel to give you the rebirth you require. It is a season for dreams to usher us in and whisper the deliciousness of their adventures. For them to be able to pitch themselves and auction their beauty for sale. For your mind, I will give you your dreams , for your vision I will give you your dreams, for your habits and your discipline, I will give you your dreams. Yet do not fear to be a unique signature on a stamped envelope, the universe demands. Do not fear to hold your colours boldly to the mass stand at the top of the lighthouse and wave for a tired dream to stumble it's way to your golden shores.

Focusing the mind

Life is full of distractions, at no time do you allow it when you've rolled the dice and have figured out the game, to get inside your head. It is a keeper of souls. It claims victims, and those with baggage become casualties of life in this torrid chess game. Your next move should not be to be selfish but to focus on s higher self, on a more intuitive self, that self will guide you, that self will heal you, and remove the clutter of yesterdays pain. It is maddening to believe life claims so many casualties without goals without tasks without plans. Be a keen observer and a lit match when it is time for action. The opportunities that came to you last year may not arrive this year, the story you sold yourself last year may be dysfunctional for this year. This year the conversations may have added up, demanding that you challenge the doubt within, so challenge it. Face it off. It is one of the opponent's blocking your path to a realised dream, doubt procrastination and the inability to focus. Channel the genius and simplicity of those who came before you, buckle down and focus.

Obsession and work

I was listening to a motivational video this morning as I often do to spur me on from writers block, or any negative chi blocks in the morning. The topic was being obsessed. The argument was that as an omnipotent figure in the design of your work, you have to become obsessed with it, consumed by it, go beyond the basic hard work skeleton. You see, a story is formulating already. We are the stories we tell ourselves, the beliefs we have in our potential. If we believe we can produce 2000 more words in the night , this night, we will. The mind is as water it is a free thing, mind and brain are separate. The brain has a structure, a format an organ, the mind is an infinitive. It will take you to where eagles soar, a phoenix laid it's first egg, man mated with sea beast to form the first mermaid, it is wizardry. To not tap into its Pandora, and allow yourself a little of the Jekyll in you, should be identified as self treason. Your life is your mind, the internal dialogue you have within yourself , a rhetoric we hold unto. Yet with the Mozart's, and the Einstein's, and the Marx I recommend we change a little of the conversation, tilt that gate open and let some of that river shimmer out.

Idealisms of love

Yesterday I thought about something so frustrating it baffled me. The ideal of love versus it's realities. Someone I know used to tell me that love itself is chemicals in the brain, signals the body sends, and yet even in my most jaded and awake moments I'd like to believe it's more than that. For me as an author a writer, someone very passionate, id like to believe it is more compelling than this. It is it's own animal, with its own story,and less of the scientific and the biology please. Love is expression, of the highest order of the truest self. We unleash a secret part of ourselves, gated and protected, letting the world creep in. We are both with and without form, a noun and nameless, a print, and an invisible stencil upon someone's heart. When you go through loneliness the ache is so bad, like a starving child in a third world country, you need that human interaction , that depth of conversation, those moments to admire someone separate from you, those moments to let the heat suffocate your sanity. Here's to love and all its madness.

Love as escapism?

Terry and Tommy, funny names for characters in love, but that's where my journey as a writer began...in dreams. When I couldn't get to sleep I used to tell myself bed time stories with these two characters that always fell in love after a series of very complicated events. One of them would hate each other from the start, and then over time they would begin to fall for the strengths and the beauty of one another. I was a hopeless romantic as a child, you couldn't keep me away from the Jude deverauxs, Judith Mcnaught  and my addiction Millsand Boons novels. The characters always met in the middle, the characters always fell in love, and their love consumed the busy pages of my notebooks scattered all around my room. Love has its trials and for me it's trials are the complications of the characters. When I was older I took to inventing my own nuances of love. A 5 ft something fair skinned guy that used to live two streets away from me in the sixth form. I used to scribble love letters to him at the early dawn and directly post them to his letter box, poor guy, beautiful smile. I remember the way his eyes twinkled and the butterflies I felt each time I captured that feeling on the page, then in time, I realised, it was my feeling. It didn't belong to him because he didn't feel such a way, I remember the way he walked commandeering the wind, his jacket slicing through air like a blade. He was a beautiful man, but I think I like Shakespeare have always been in love with the idea of being in love. Maybe if you love someone else for a minute you can escape yourself, after all , your attention is elsewhere. Yet in reality we should develop rather than try to escape.

The complex of inner truths

We tremble at the mercy of a pen, pinched words lost sentences in translation. A brain that is mercilessly stoic at times, we find ourselves engulfed in ideas and questions that keep us circulating hungrily for answers. Where do I see this work going? What is its progression? Who would it appeal to? I have half written up to a thousand books in my head, scribbled them out daintily signed and sealed the manuscripts posting them to some eager editor who awaited with baited breath. In reality I am still challenged by the quirks of constructing a novel, be it fiction or non,manuscripts are masterpieces of the mind, they are gateways into the soul , confiscating curtains which seal and barricade the mind from the truth. What you write may be fiction, but there is a part of it that awakens a sleeping Goliath, truth. Why is truth a Goliath, because in the mind as a writer it is so easily bent and folded, then after being worked and reworked , stands David, a shining reckless parable of complex components, yet a deeper truth. The truth is never hollow. It is founded upon stories that the eye whispers to it, and the ears gossip.