Ebou! "Yow danga nobaateh torop-laugh!" Essa. Koch Barma <[log in to unmask]> wrote: My wife saw me expressing all kinds of emotions in the study...expressing deep pity at the subversive nihilism I see constantly on Gambian websites. She looked at me with her beautiful eyes and said, "Love, let the dead bury the dead...you belong to me, right here in my bed." I want to share some happiness and beauty because my generous heart can't resist to always remind myself of how lucky I am to be with such a loving woman.Read what she wrote about herself...Chei!!! ************* I was in conversation with a person once who asked me a very simple question with profound, insight: "If your soul had a color, what color would it be?" I quickly responded with a smile, "Sun yellow!" And my spirit danced back then to this color, with my brass-colored curly crown of short-cropped hair and my warm glowing brown skin…nature, natural, warm and free like the sun. Over the years, I often ask this question to my friends, strangers and teens; I often ask myself just to gauge my spirit. I believe today if my soul had a color, it would be blue-not just any color blue, but the color blue of the vase on the ledge of my window. It is a glass-clear, deep, warm blue. I believe I am a free spirit that sometimes wanders into oppressive territory just to observe the view and gain wisdom from the experience. I feel transparent, at times- vulnerable. I have never felt more primary, yet become more all encompassing. I have never felt more complex yet found such peace in simple things. I view myself as friendly and slightly shy. I am selective with whom I allow to really get to know me, although I am very accepting and inviting toward others. Because of this, sometimes I feel like a counselor who has no counsel. I am sometimes tired as hell of the world outside my home, the violence, the cruelty. At other times, I couldn’t be more blessed by the kindness of strangers. Personally, I don’t desire to be personal these days. This is my greatest weakness and strength lately. I am coming face to face with my own paradoxes and trying to find a way to embrace and accept all of me and continue to forgive others who can’t seem to do the same-accept themselves or forgive others. I also view myself as different, eclectic. It’s not that I feel special or singled out, I just listen to conversations of some and watch the actions of others and know I fall somewhere outside of the norm. I have also witnessed others who seem to be somewhere outside with me, because of this I never feel alone- just a member of another minority group that likes to question reality. I feel very blessed, and I don’t know why- why me, that is, or exactly what is the cost of this responsibility? I have already accomplished many of my dreams. I view myself as successful in spite of myself, not because of myself. However, because I am always setting new goals, I have a long way to go in terms of accomplishment. In a dream, I once saw myself running with a little dog on a beach shore, flying a kite and looking back towards a man standing outside of a beautiful beach house. The man was smiling at me. I felt love for him and I knew him. I see this dream becoming reality. I aspire to become a Life Coach/Leader, a speaker/lecturer and a writer exploring more ways to help others accept themselves. Today, I’ll work at finding my own center… Clarissa Middleton-Giallo __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/signingbonus ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Think before you sink! "Pessimists see difficulty in every opportunity and optimists see an opportunity in every challenge" "Suits cannot be made without scissors and niddles,so decent minds disagree to agree" --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~