Dera's Diary

Hello world… The updates are definitely still a work in progress, but I decided to figure out something to write about. I know this is a bit late, but bear with me. This last week got relatively busy for me towards the end. Beyond the tests I had, I was entrusted with the role of planning some things and giving speeches and while I was honoured, it was harder at some times to stay on top of everything. I’m really grateful that everything ended up well… but these last couple of weeks, I was reminded that even though I’ve come a long way from my old place of overthinking everything and stressing about anything, it is very easy to fall back into that place. For me, work can be a huge trigger. I think my main sign of progress is that even though at different times I was stressed, as I was working through the work, I was planning and organising my time so that things wouldn’t escape my notice. I was reminding myself that the things I had been given to do were within my capabilities, and...

Hello.... I'm going to be spending a little time working on my blogpage and figuring out how I can upgrade it. Not sure how much time it'll take, but I'll try to be done by next week with a new post. But to keep you satisfied until then ;), here's your reminder to give yourself grace as you navigate new seasons in your life or even as you try to navigate old seasons with more intention. In the mean time, feel free to browse my other posts! God bless. Dera

Hello world, I recently had a really good conversation with an old friend from high school and I'm always pleasantly surprised by how similar experiences can be between different people and how your experience can be so useful to someone else. That was a mouthful, I know. But we were talking about universities in the US (a topic I have done a lot of research on) and she was telling me things I didn't know and I was doing the same for her. Though we've had different educational journeys these last few years, we are both in similar positions now and I think it's amazing how capable we are of helping each other. Recently, it was world suicide prevention day and today is the 20 year anniversary of 9/11. There is so much pain in the world, but I have realised that there is so much that we can do for each other just by sharing our experiences or asking intentional questions and actually listening to the answers. This is not to say that by sharing your experiences you can ...

Hello everyone, I hope y’all have had a good weekend. I was listening to some podcasts and talks this past week and thought to share some of things that really stood out to me. First off, control makes us feel powerful but it’s really destabilising. We like the idea of being in control because in some weird way, we feel like if we only have to count on ourselves then we won’t let ourselves down. At least, I know that’s how it is for me most of the time. I think that being in control means I don’t have to worry about other people letting me down. But being in control introduces an entirely new problem… what happens if you fail? If you forget? If you underperform? Everything falls apart. I think a huge part of my renewed perspective on life is understanding that I was not made to handle being in control which is why I always break down when I try. It’s also a huge part of my relationship with God because understanding that my ability alone does not determine the outcome has given m...

Good evening, I know school is coming back pretty soon and while I will not quite talk about preparing for that in this post, I do encourage you all to make the time this weekend or this coming week to rest and plan out your goals for this term. So yesterday I was thinking about my hair. I has just loosened it and made a style that we call 'all back'. As I made it and looked in the mirror, admiring the perfection of my work (I'm even getting tired of myself at this point ;)) I remembered how much I had hated this style when I was younger. I basically thought it was ugly and should only be done as a last resort. The first time I made it in my recent life, I was looking for something that would be really easy to loosen in the coming days and when my friend made it, I realised that not only did I not hate it anymore, I actually quite liked it. Now my brother isn't really a fan, but then he struggles with just helping me do basic stuff like parting my hair so I'd sa...

Hello world, Recently I have been doing a lot of babysitting, and it has made me appreciate the privilege I have had all my life by having siblings that are all pretty close to my age. I'm learning that consistency and patience are all prety big themes, but I'd be lying if I didn't say it was so very exhausting. Kudos to all those who've been doing this for years! I was really struggling to find what to write about today and ended up doing what I always do when I'm lacking in inspiration.... look through my notes. Today's nugget of wisdom comes from June 6 - 'All change must be preceded by recognition'. I got this from a sermon and the pastor was saying that before you can change anything, you have to recognise that something needs to be changed. I think that's part of the reason why you can't really change for someone else. Because unless you see and acknowledge what needs to be adjusted, your 'change' will be shorlived and incomplet...

Good evening world, I spent some time trying to think of what to write and it came to me through a song (I'm so poetic, I know ;)) Party 'cause you know the future's all yours Dance till your feet don't touch the floor Celebrate the day you've waited for Party like you're ready for so much more Do it like you know it's never been done Go a little crazy, have too much fun Today's the day, come on everyone The party's just begun (This is a Cheetah girl song called 'Party has just begun'. If you don't know it, go renew your childhood.) Why did this song lead to a blog post some might ask? I recently started watching grownish again which is a show based on a girl who just moves into college and today I spent quite some time doing uni-related work. And what I've realised is that we get so caught up in all the hard stuff that we forget that this is an exciting time. Uni is the first time we're going to be adults in school (for ...