TWO & A HALF GRACE!

Grace Ngatho is one of the most amazing people you guys will ever get to meet on my blog! And guess what? Today is her birthdaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!! 🙂 Join me in wishing her an explosive HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPY BIIIIIIIIIIIIIRTHDAAAAAAY!!!!! 🙂 I sat down with her to pick her mind on different aspects of this thing called life! And boy wasn’t she engaging and delighful! Enjoy the read! And no you cannot have her number! 😀

1.Let’s start off by getting to know you a bit better. How would you describe yourself?

This is such a mouthful of a question, Billy. I consider myself the sum of my experiences – that have yet been so diverse and have nurtured me; and when I whittle into a single breath it sounds like this – ‘princess cut from marble, smoother than storm’ (thank you Yellow Flicker Beat). Basically, zany, strong willed, passionate, a big dreamer and hopeless optimist.

2. What was your childhood like? Any fond memories?

On a scale of 1- abnormal, my childhood was quite ordinary. I remember loving to read, anything and everything really. Tom and Mary, the stories of Daedalus and Icarus with my mother, her cookbooks, everything! I was that quiet kid lurking around the teacher’s desk at break, to dust the chalkboard and whatnot. 😀 Being an only kid and not living around that many children meant I had a lot of improvising to do – playing ‘tennis’ against a wall (which I later came to know as squash), having the help tie one end of a skip rope to a tree, card games with my dad and playing board games against myself (read imaginary friend).

I have plenty! Get-togethers with my cousins (all of whom I’ve grown up referring as brothers and sisters) were (and still are) such a treat.  ☺

3. What is the one thing you miss about being a child?

Believing in the truth of the fairy tale – that was so much easier. At 24, I find the need to recondition self every so often to not lose that.

4. How was high school like for you?

High school was a rat race – one to get excellent grades – which in itself is a wonderful goal – amidst all that, however, I lost the chance to develop my other faculties.

I did meet my maid of honor (when the time comes) in high school though, so yay!

5. Given the opportunity to relive it, would you go back?

Not really, no. If I were to write my 14-17 year old self a note though, it’d read something like this:

Dear me,

I’m writing to you from the cusp of adulthood. Our quarter-life crisis has been such a rollercoaster thus far, but we’re handling it quite alright (most times anyway). No spoilers, I promise.

Only a quick note. Love, savor your little experiences now – they might not seem like much – but let them sit with you, let them teach and mould you. Suck the marrow out of life. One last thing – that big ass mane you hated and tamed with relaxer is back. It’s not yet so big ass, but we love it & are getting there! ☺ (I know, I know… no spoilers)

Love,

Self.

6. What is the biggest failure you’ve had in life? And how did you get through it?

Whew! It’s one of the biggest lessons I’ve learnt yet & if I could quote one of my favorite authors, Cheryl Strayed – ‘hell is other people’s boyfriends’. Mine was a moral failing. I acted in ways that were unbecoming of me – my judgment rendered cloudy by butterflies, goose bumps and all those giddy feelings, leaving behind me a trail of hurt and mistrust.

How did I get through it? I had to face it, to live through my mess, endure it and trust that I’d come out of it better, healed. So I sought forgiveness – asking it sincerely from those I’d hurt & most importantly the forgiveness of self.

Then I found solace in books and music. Dug deep for answers on life, love and spirituality. That’s when my crusade (that I’ve since dabbed-My Happiness Project) on self-love, happiness and fulfillment began.

Above all else, I had amazing friends to lean on – friends like you who took the time to listen and walk with me through the murk, knock sense back into my noggin, laugh at and with me, recommend books, all of it. ☺

7. Do you believe there’s anything such as failure?

Oh absolutely, like we need darkness to be aware of light – so we fail to appreciate success. What matters is to treat our failures, big or small as lessons- as stepping-stones to greatness.

8. What’s been the happiest moment of your life so far?

That time I realized I wasn’t owed a single damn thing by anyone (or anything)  – rather it was solely up to me to create the beautiful reality I wish to live.

9. What are you most passionate about and why?

Well that’s easy! To live my purpose wholly and truly – through my work, relationships (everything there is to me) for the glory of He who put me here.

10. What are the most important lessons you’ve learned in life?

Just sweet little one liners from my favourite books this year:

“You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.” – What I Know For Sure by Oprah Winfrey

“That acceptance is a small, quiet room.” – Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed

“The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.” – What I Know For Sure by Oprah Winfrey

11. How do you want to be remembered?

If I could quote Ralph Waldo Emerson (not verbatim), I’d like to go down in the books as one who laughed often and loved much; won the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; earned the approbation of honest critics; appreciated beauty; gave self to leave the world a better place; laughed and played with enthusiasm & sung with exultation; and to know that a life breathed easier because I lived.

12. If your great-great grandchildren could listen to this years from now: is there any wisdom you’d want to pass on to them? What would you want them to know?

I’ll probably record this nursery rhyme and leave the CD for them (will they have CDs then? A hologram perhaps? {These things keep me up at night}) “The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is here. And the way to be happy is to make someone happy and we’ll have a little heaven right here.” Basically, spread kindness around like confetti!

13. If you could honor one person in your life — living or dead — by listening to their story, who would that be, what would you ask them and why?

Without a doubt, my late maternal grandfather. He lived such a beauty-full life, a life of love and selflessness – although he wasn’t a man of great wealth.

Where would I begin? How did he pull off ‘kidnapping’ a Nyeri woman (girl at the time) and make her his wife? Did he know she was the one from the sway of her hips, or her choice of water pot (considering they’d never spoken before?)

Also grandpa, what drives you?

14. What would constitute a “perfect” day for you?

Roused by purpose, not supposed tos. To do what I love (currently, watching a space I’ve conceived in my mind come to life before my very eyes), learn something new (I’m so pleasantly surprised by how unexpected these sources have become lately), make someone smile, share a hearty laugh and at day’s end, take stock of all these things with gladness- over a lovely book and soulful music (the Lianne La Havas kind that you’re so resistant to :-P).

15. What are you most grateful for?

The gift of life and all the strings attached.

16. What are you proudest of?

The woman I am becoming.

17. What are you thankful of?

Life, love, family, friends, dreams and the will & strength to pursue them

18. Do you think there’s anything like true love (and not the magazine!)?

Is that not what you meant? 😀

Oh absolutely! It’s the greatest gifts bestowed to us. To love wholly and truly, you must first love yourself. Love yourself more than enough, so much so that your springs overflow – for others to drink of this abundance. To inject love in every aspect of life – to let it ooze out of all that is of you. That for me is true love.

19. What does love mean to you?

Love is not only a feeling, but also a way of life. It’s a conscious choice we must make and it takes work – so do the work.

Love always, all ways.

20. Complete this sentence: ”If I could be a rapper, I would be…”

HORRIBLE AT IT! 😀