In the first article in this series, I made the case for African immigrants recording and sharing in mass all their successes so that future immigrants have a shorter learning curve than those who came before them.

Today we’ll expand on just how we might be able to go about this

Mwangi What’s In It For Me

I wish I could tell you that your doing this will somehow make you a millionaire or the King of the World, but it won’t.

In doing so, you give back to the community from which you came and help raise up  future generations-or rather a future boat load of immigrants -”to your level” quicker so that all our boats can rise together and we can become the economic and social powerhouse that we know we can be.

I don’t know about you, but personally, I know I would not be as far along as I am in my life had people not taken the time out of their busy day to invest in me and my future.

Mwangi I Have No Expertise

That’s the wash of a hog, that is. If you are in a foreign country and you have a roof over your head, then you have a skill a future African immigrant needs to know about. If you have any form of hard earned income coming in, you have something to share.

If you have a rock-solid relationship in this Western world where everyone is a commodity, you have something to share. If you have had trials and tribulations and overcome, you have something to share. If you have been abroad and the culture shock has not driven you mad, you have something to share.

Alright, Alright, Alright, I Accept, I Have a Tip or Two to Share: How Do I Do It?

I think the primary principle we should remember is:

The information and the intention are most important. The Internet, blogs, telephone, letters, newspapers, radio etc etc are all just distribution tools.

The tools are not the ends in and of themselves.

These tools are used to disseminate information guided by a particular intention - e.g. the intention to see future immigrants do better. (Please tell me in the comments section if this idea is too abstract and I will describe it in another way that will make it clearer)

Here are a couple of ideas on how to do it:

a) Share on a blog: You knew I had to give this tip. Blogs are free to start up and if you want to host it yourself, it’s so cheap there really is no reason not to.

Speaking from personal experience, the greatest advantage that blogging provides, if you choose to follow in my footsteps or the footsteps of people like Thinkers Room, is that it strengthens and proliferates your brand and your name within a particular community both online and offline. Not a bad side effect for doing something positive.

b) Community Forums: Almost every African country, and in many places we as a continent have an online community. Whether its a forum, social bookmarking site, blog aggregator or just a blog where many people gather. Head on over there and assist anyone who might be making the move to a new country or is a newbie immigrant that needs some tips.

c) Get some penpals: If you know that someone in your community is about to immigrate over, start talking by phone, email or letter. Let him know how he can do things that you did. Give him some tips, some shortcuts, some ways to go around, under, above or through obstacles.

d) Give lectures at immigration organizations: If you are visiting your home country, go to the institution that helps people immigrate and just offer yourself up to give a talk during their lunch break about the pitfalls to avoid and the opprtunities to be seized abroad.

e) Write free reports: This is a tactic from the world of Internet marketing. You sit down and right everything you know about a particular topic that can be of use to other people and compile it into a free pdf report. Help that report circulate online.

I intend on doing this in the very near future so if you have no idea how to do this, check back in a couple of months and hopefully we’ll have a succesful model.

f) If You Know People from Mass Media Centres: Then go on the radio, tv or newspapers and just talk to the journalist about what future boat-crossers need to know.

For examples of this check out the Displaced African Press and Media Appearances page, and also check out SARFM radio every 2nd Saturday of every month where as of yesterday, I will be doing just that.

g) Youtube: It’s the 3rd most popular website on Earth, according to Alexa, and all you need to do to join in the frenzy is buy a cheap web cam. Check out the Displaced African Youtube page here. For examples of succesful African Youtube pages check out:

i) Ikahara

ii) AfricanRemix

Quick tip: If you can find a way to mix in music into your Youtube page that is a sure recipe for success. Poll after poll, article after article and simple observation will reveal that music is hands down the most popular thing on Youtube.

h) Podcasting: Again, an incredibly cheap and easy to implement endeavor. Put your podcasts on Itunes and they are accessible to millions.

Some Examples of What This Would Look Like

Not all these examples are specific to African immigrants:

1) Kelly’s article on Interview tips: Now picture this, tips for interviewing for a job in the States.

2) How to immigrate to Australia within a week guide.

3) Tips from an African Woman Who Started and Sold a Business for Six Figures.

4) Acolyte’s guide to apartment hunting.

5) Mwangi interviews Tabitha Togoi from the African Leadership Academy

6) Gal africana talks a bit about holiday visas

7) Nelson Mandela’s autobiography
Mwalimu.com

9) Dan Kennedy’s Google Videos

In the final part of this series, I will talk a bit about the areas that I feel we most need to record and share our successes so we can take this concept and talk about where we can immediately apply it.

The Newsletter

If you are a fan of this article or blog, I encourage you to join and give me feedback ( ) on my Immigrant Survivor Guide Newsletter by putting your first name and email address in the boxes below.

I Hate Spam, So I Won’t Share Your Email With Anyone.

In newsletter, once a week I send you short emails that give you actionable tips that you can immediately apply to make your immigrant experience better including tips on:

i) Making friends

ii) Finding employment

iii) How to stay healthy on the run

iv) Things to prepare before you immigrate

v) Staying in touch with people from your home country

vi) Tips on how to transition from a student to a permanent resident and/or citizen in Australia etc etc.

So please join, and give me feedback, by putting your first name and email in the boxes below:

I Hate Spam, So I Won’t Share Your Email With Anyone.

As you will probably notice I am currently in the process of creating my email newsletter. It is going to be the latest permanent addition to this little blog so any advice on how to make my email newsletter better is very appreciated….oh and of course join it . To today’s program:

Greetings, salutations and hello. Today’s article is a special treat for me and hopefully for you. It is yet another post that pretty much evolved over the course of a day as opposed to a preplanned article, which is always very very cool.

So a few months ago I was visiting this elderly couple in Country Victoria. In their home, which is absolutely gorgeous for a 100 year old house, they had this puzzle: The puzzle was a mix between a rubix cube and a jigsaw puzzle. You get a cube that is open on one end, a bunch of haphazardly shaped wooden pieces and you are basically meant to fit all those pieces perfectly into the box.

As our brains sweat through the task, someone suggested that I should write a blog post about the puzzle. I thought to myself:

” I own the Displaced African domain, so why not?!”

Today I thought I would share with you 7 elements that I believe that Africa has that are far from being used to their maximum effect. These are 7 elements that we can use to take Africa from the gutter that we currently are in, all the way to the stars and beyond. Without further ado, they are:

1) Pain and Suffering

We have had a recent history filled with nothing but tragedy after tragedy. But we do not use tragedy to move our country forward. When Kenya was bombed in 1998, the reaction of our country was far different to that of the States. The US has mourned, established memorials, investigated 9/11 to the littlest detail, had all media talking about 9/11 and it’s implications, made movies, wrote books, got think tanks working overtime, used it as justification to go protect their interests overseas etc etc etc

They basically did everything imaginable to not only ensure it never happens again, but they emerge stronger as a result. Pain and suffering a lot of the time can be the greatest motivation to get to work and make the world a better place. In Africa we have more than enough to motivate us. Sadly a lot of the time we direct it at each other instead of at solving the root cause of the problem as is the case in South Africa at the moment.

2) Cultural Richness

I have spoken about this many many many times but we really should have had a discussion as a society, post colonialism about how we’d handle some of the important parts of the human experience including the only thing that comes guaranteed with life: death.

In my humble opinion, the way some African cultures handled death was grossly superior to the Western ways we inherited of handling death. The Ashanti didn’t mourn death but viewed it as an inevitable part of life. The Luo people keep the corpse in the dead person’s home and hire professional wailers and mourners to ensure that all the grieving that needs to be done is done as soon as possible. During this time, any debts or scores of the deceased that need to be settled are settled as everyone in the community is given a chance to come and speak to the family members. And then to ensure that, if its a man, his wife and children are taken care of, a member of the family takes the wife and children into his home.

To me, there are a lot of things in those two approaches that strike me as a very healthy way of viewing death. We had a lot of customs and traditions from 1000s of tribes in Africa that were clearly working for a certain period of time…foolish is the man who doesn’t learn or even bother examining his past.

3) Work Ethic

It doesn’t matter where you go or who you speak to, nine times out of 10, Africans are praised for our ability to work and work very hard. That’s why you almost never hear of African people who immigrate overseas and end up poor, destitute and/or homeless. Caught up in the rat race? perhaps. Living beyond their means? perhaps. But Africans tend to work themselves like work horses regardless.

Sure we have our fair share of lazy folk, but we have enough hard workers that it counts.

4) Natural Resources

Say what you will, but Africa is the richest natural resource on Earth. The Scramble for Africa took place because the colonial barbarians kept drooling at just how resource rich our continent was. Needless to say, Africa is currently being exploited and stripped and robbed at an exponential pace. BUT, we still have enough natural resources that it counts.

5) Educated People

Africa is one of those odd places on Earth where you will find people with Masters degrees walking the streets daily in search of work. As I have shared in the past, we love us some degrees and advanced degrees and it’s knocked into our heads from a very young age that no one goes to success but by Bachelor.

This has resulted in about two or three generations of extremely well trained, academically intelligent people of colour. If we could put all the African brains all over the world into a brain trust, it would probably be the wealthiest brain trust around.

6) Young People

Young people can have two things that make them the most powerful forces known to man:

a) A sense of infinite possibility and a belief that we can bring them to life.

b) No sense of shame.

A lot of people look at point b) as though it’s a negative. I think it’s ridiculously powerful. Sometimes when I get in the train and look at Sudanese teenagers who are acting a fool I think to myself:

These people genuinely don’t care what people think about them. They will act however they want without any fear whatsoever of its social consequences. Can you imagine if they put this lack of inhibition and thick skins to constructive use?

It’s no secret that to cause massive changes or bring something new to society you need a thick skin. As Tony Robbins once said, when a new idea comes into society,

First it’s ridiculed and chastised. Then it’s violently opposed. And then it’s accepted as truth that was dismissed by crazy people.

Take points a) and b) above, mix them together and you see why so many of the great movements had young people in them.

7) People in the Diaspora

I think I have discussed this one and will continue to discuss if for a very long time and so I see no need to go over it because while reading some of the above points, I know you have seen some of the ways, we in the diaspora can be a powerful force for good.

So what we will do with this power, is entirely up to us, but make no mistake about it, the power is there.

There you have it, seven things that I believe that Africa has going for it.

To stay a part of the conversations in the Displaced African, please stay a part of the email list or add the Displaced African to your feed reader.

Be blessed and bless others,

Mwangi

This podcast is dedicated to all my people who have read more information than they could ever use.

Just a thought: Ladies and gentlemen, though I am slowly beginning to feel comfortable behind the mic, I can see I am still far from being the presenter I want to be so let me promise you – so I can be accountable – that over time, I must improve my presentation skills on this podcast.

If you want to join me in this revolution to read less and do more, make sure you hear the latest headlines from the revolutionary mill via either RSS or email.

PS: If you are in South Africa or have folk living in South Africa, please check out some of these resources from White African that may be useful during this time of xenophobic attacks.

Introduction

1)The West Has Many Distractions: Focus on That Which Is Important Not That Which Is Urgent

2) Acolyte’s fascinating post on the Dutch missionaries (It’s a three parter and it’s amazing)

The Post Begins Like This……..

Mwangi got in touch with me and asked me to do a guest post. It’s been a minute and a half since I’ve done one, so I dusted off my blogging skills and asked him what he wanted me to blog about and here it is…………

If you could offer anyone migrating over to the West one piece of advice that would make their experience worthwhile what would it be?

Well my answer would be,

“Ask yourself 3 very important questions; Why are you here? What do you want here? How do you intend to get it?”

Why are you here?

Getting to the First World country of choice isn’t an end in itself but a means to an end (Quick note from Mwangi: Hallelujah!Spot on!).

You don’t land at Gatwick, La Guardia, Schipol or Darwin International Airport and find 70 virgins and paradise waiting for you. Au contraire all you have done is gotten past the qualification laps and now the marathon awaits you!

So once again, ask yourself why you are where you are. If all you can say is that you are getting away from the conditions at home be it unemployment, poverty etc then it’s about time you went back to the drawing board and started thinking.

What do you want from your experience abroad?

I’m sure we all remember the old saying, to fail to plan is to plan to fail.

I have met Kenyans who have been out here for over 10 years and we are on the same level. I do know that bad luck happens but if you look at some people it’s obvious that they became complacent with their jobs that could pay the rent and their bills.

Once you fall into that complacence out here you simply become a cog in the machine: just moving but not going anywhere.

If you don’t know what you want you simply aren’t going to look for it. “Life out here isn’t a bed of roses,”, I agree so you have to be aggressive and look out for opportunities no matter what jaded people out here may tell you.

How do you intend to get what brought you out here?

You want the American dream?

That’s great but contrary to public opinion, money isn’t picked on the ground out here. Jobs are hard to come by for Americans let alone foreigners.

Or maybe you came out here to get your degree.

If your fees aren’t being paid; how will you afford school?

Many countries let students work for limited hours per month. Many Kenyans have found out the hard way that these jobs don’t pay enough for fees and upkeep and so hard choices have been made. It took me 3 years to get out here but in taking my time to plan, I got my Master’s degree funded and a cozy monthly allowance that helped me complete my degree in less than 2 years. Had I come out here earlier, rest assured I would still be plugging away.

More on a Personal Note

Yes I’ve gone waaaaaaaay past one piece of advice but since it’s free I might as well share. I also think that you need to have a very strong resolve if you are to make it abroad.

Society out here tends to be very individualistic and not communal like Africa; so your problems are your own; no-one else’s. Even if you have Kenyan friends out here, life gets very lonely because everyone has jobs.In fact some people have more than one so you may not see them for most of the week. Add to the fact that you don’t just drop into someone’s place to say hello unlike back home.

Last but Not Least

The most important thing you can have when you get out here is focus. There are one million and one distractions and obstacles out here.

That is why many people who get here never even get in school when they are dazzled by the things out here. That’s why you need focus and if possible get a good support group of friends who you can rely on and trust.

Anyway, I’m not trying to put anyone off but telling it like it is. With hard work and resolve, there are many opportunities available out here for those who want them. So if you are coming out here, I wish you all the best in your adventure!

Acolyte,

From My part of the world

If this post got your thinking, make sure you keep receiving regular thought-provoking posts through either email or RSS.

Introduction

1) Open Office

2) Kenyan Zone

To learn more about Open Source click here

Why Open Source Projects will save Kenyan Education?

We are currently living in a technology era. Over the last 30 years, human beings have heavily depended on computers to execute almost everything in their daily lives. The more we keep depending on the technology to execute almost everything in our daily activities, the more likely it is that going back to the past traditional ways of doing things will not happen. As the technology improves, humans have to keep up with it. You may not notice but computers are part of our basic needs. Take a look at what you do everyday and you will see everything relate back to computers.

As Kenya strive to keep up with modern world, a major improvement has already been implented on the education system:free education(Quick note from Mwangi, the free education statement is referring to Kenya)

As the government keeps struggling to offer free education to anyone willing, leaders should focus more on ways to improve the education system. Our education system should never be stagnant, instead, ways to establish modern technologies into the system should be the priority. The way I see it, there should be a 50 computers-per-school campaign.

How is this possible?

As for now, a brand new commercial computer ( including Window ..etc) with all basic needs for an average user goes for $500 (SH 30000 ) or more. Kenyans abroad might see it as decent price but it is always not the same case in Kenya. If you buy 50 commercial based computers (Windows, Mac), you will end up paying more than KSH 2 million without including other necessary software i.e Microsoft office, PhotoShop.

Well the open source community has the answer. A $200 (KSH 14, 000) computer sounds much more affordable to any school in Kenya willing to have a computer library. All you need is KSH 700, 000 to build a lab with 50 PCs.

Last year, there was mass sale at Walmart for a complete Ubuntu based computer. Amazingly, all their stock sold out mainly because of low price. As time goes on, Open Source will conquer the world of Operation Systems. In the next 2-3 years, Ubuntu based computers will rule third world countries. If Kenya invests more in Open Source Products, a lot of money will be saved and Necessary technology will be available to many.

What is worth noting is why a lot of people are leaning toward the Open Source Systems;

-All products are developed by a community of volunteers
-You can modify anything to your needs
-Upgrades are free
-Security issues get fixed quickly
-You get support from thousands of volunteers users
-Softwares are free

As for now, I’m using the following Open Source Products;
-PHPBB (www.kenyanzone.com) > Similar commercial item would cost $150 (VBulletion)
-GIMP > Similar software would retail at $ 800 (Photo Shop)
-Mozilla
-Openoffice.org > Similar commercial software = $ 100 ( Microsoft Office)

Thanks,
-Jim-
www.kenyanzone.com

To receive the newest guest posts as soon as the released make sure you sign up for free up-to the minute updates sent by either email or Real Simple Syndication (RSS)

Posts like this are why the Displaced African was born and what I pretty much live for.

On the 5th of March 2008, an absolute angel amongst men by the name of Fidelis Wainaina died. Aside from being a simply amazing human being (as you will hear in the podcast) what was absolutely amazing about her body of work is that starting with absolutely nothing she helped the constituents of Maseno turn their community from a poor, AIDS ravaged community into a self-sufficient banana exporting constituency that is now on its way to self-created wealth.

Now, sad to say, in this day and age, an event such as her death passed without much mention from the media. However, since I am blessed to have a blog and a means to communicate with Africa and the world, I thought I would do my part to ensure that souls such as hers are never ever forgotten and are in fact celebrated. I also hope that this podcast will help spur on all the people doing good work in Africa and inspire those not in the game of service to dive in.

Before I get to the meat of this post let me give you some very quick tips on how you can help ensure posts such as this reach the most people and have the most impact.

11 Things To Do After You Read This Article

Please do AT LEAST one of the following things after reading this post and/or listening to the podcast:

1. Email it to all your friends who might be interested in it.

2. Write your opinions on Fidelis in your own blog (like Sukuma Kenya did )

3. Link to this article from your blog and share your thoughts on it.

4. Send this article to your local paper and ask them to do a write-up on Fidelis Wainaina.

5. Email world wide online publications such as Pambazuka, Black looks, Global Voices Online, Jamati and allafrica and ask them to do a feature to commemorate Fidelis.

6. Start up your own initiatives like Fidelis’ Maseno Interchristian Child Self Help Group (MICH) and let me know about them so I can interview you too.
   

7. Share this article with your friends on Facebook (there is a link that allows you to do so at the end of this post).

8. Stumble this article and expose it to millions of people all over this world (if enough people Stumble this article around the same time, it can be read by up to 1000s of people within the next 24 hours). There is a link that allows you to Stumble this article at the bottom of the post. If you are not a member of StumbleUpon, make sure you sign up-it’s free. It is one of the greatest websites EVER!
9. If you are a journalist or film maker or involved in any form of mass media, do a special on her and feel free to reference this post or any of its contents.
10. Do what you can to get the word out about Fidelis, her work and similar projects.

If you know anyone else who I should interview because of the good work they do, do not hesitate to contact me .And for helping me with this, I thank you a lot.

Without Further Ado

The first podcast in the history of the Displaced African (yay). Hope it inspires you.

The file is 45 minutes long so feel free to Download it and carry it on your ipod (Download it by right clicking on the ‘Download’ link below the player, selecting “Save File As”/ “Save Target As” and letting the goodness flow from the web to your computer )

Some Quick Notes About the Podcast

1) I understand that some people do not quite agree with the view presented in this interview of why the violence in Kenya broke out – i.e. that a lot of it was a direct attack against Kikuyus as either perceived revenge or to displace them. That’s fine. It’s not the main point of the interview anyway, and we were not physically in Kenya during the violence so we could definitely be wrong.

2) Any notes on how to improve my interview technique or any questions that weren’t fully answered, leave a comment or contact me and let me know.

3) Fidelis’ organization is known as Maseno Interchristian Child Self Help Group (MICH)

4) The exchange rate we were discussing was the US Dollar vs the Kenya shilling. To check out exchange rates, visit the Yahoo currency converter.

5) The Luo name for her was Nyar Okuyu.

Further Information

East African Standard article from August 28 2006

East African Standard interviews Fidelis Wainaina

Yarra Prize Laureates 2006 article

Listen to Fidelis Wainaina give a speech: “On the Front Lines of Poverty” during the Micah Conference 2007: http://www.kingsu.ca/micah/audio/WedAM-Fidelis.mp3

Article regarding her death from Australian organization, TEAR (She was supposed to visit us during this Australian tour…sigh!): http://www.tear.org.au/projects/news/a-tribute-to-fidelis-wainaina/

A short story regarding Fidelis from the ONE Organization: http://www.one.org/blog/category/fidelis-wainaina/

Another brief article about her death:

From a European website.

World Evagelical Alliance also mention her death: http://www.worldevangelicals.org/news/view.htm?id=1711

For more information, also check out the Google search results for the term: Fidelis Wainaina

Please don’t forget to do one of the 11 things listed above as soon as you finish reading this article. And of course, if you enjoyed this podcast and want to make sure you receive updates when I begin doing regular inspirational podcasts, please subscribe to the site for free via either:

a) Email

b) RSS

Be blessed and bless others,

Mwangi

]]> http://www.thedisplacedafrican.com/2008/04/the-angel-african-queen-fidelis-wainaina/feed/ 15 45:12 Posts like this are why the Displaced African was born and what I pretty much live for. On the 5th of March 2008, an absolute angel ... Posts like this are why the Displaced African was born and what I pretty much live for. On the 5th of March 2008, an absolute angel amongst men by the name of Fidelis Wainaina died. Aside from being a simply amazing human being (as you will hear in the podcast) what was absolutely amazing about her body of work is that starting with absolutely nothing she helped the constituents of Maseno turn their community from a poor, AIDS ravaged community into a self-sufficient banana exporting constituency that is now on its way to self-created wealth. Now, sad to say, in this day and age, an event such as her death passed without much mention from the media. However, since I am blessed to have a blog and a means to communicate with Africa and the world, I thought I would do my part to ensure that souls such as hers are never ever forgotten and are in fact celebrated. I also hope that this podcast will help spur on all the people doing good work in Africa and inspire those not in the game of service to dive in. Before I get to the meat of this post let me give you some very quick tips on how you can help ensure posts such as this reach the most people and have the most impact. 11 Things To Do After You Read This Article Please do AT LEAST one of the following things after reading this post and/or listening to the podcast: Email it to all your friends who might be interested in it. Write your opinions on Fidelis in your own blog (like Sukuma Kenya did ) Link to this article from your blog and share your thoughts on it. Send this article to your local paper and ask them to do a write-up on Fidelis Wainaina. Email world wide online publications such as Pambazuka, Black looks, Global Voices Online, Jamati and allafrica and ask them to do a feature to commemorate Fidelis. Start up your own initiatives like Fidelis' Maseno Interchristian Child Self Help Group (MICH) and let me know about them so I can interview you too. Share this article with your friends on Facebook (there is a link that allows you to do so at the end of this post). Stumble this article and expose it to millions of people all over this world (if enough people Stumble this article around the same time, it can be read by up to 1000s of people within the next 24 hours). There is a link that allows you to Stumble this article at the bottom of the post. If you are not a member of StumbleUpon, make sure you sign up-it's free. It is one of the greatest websites EVER! If you are a journalist or film maker or involved in any form of mass media, do a special on her and feel free to reference this post or any of its contents. Do what you can to get the word out about Fidelis, her work and similar projects. If you know anyone else who I should interview because of the good work they do, do not hesitate to contact me .And for helping me with this, I thank you a lot. Without Further Ado The first podcast in the history of the Displaced African (yay). Hope it inspires you. The file is 45 minutes long so feel free to Download it and carry it on your ipod (Download it by right clicking on the 'Download' link below the player, selecting "Save File As"/ "Save Target As" and letting the goodness flow from the web to your computer :) ) Some Quick Notes About the Podcast 1) I understand that some people do not quite agree with the view presented in this interview of why the violence in Kenya broke out - i.e. that a lot of it was a direct attack against Kikuyus as either perceived revenge or to displace them. That's fine. It's not the main point of the interview anyway, and we were not physically in Kenya during the violence so we could definitely be wrong. 2) Any notes on how to improve my interview technique or any questions that weren't fully answered, leave a comment or contact me and let me know. 3) Fidelis' organization is known as Maseno Interchristian Child Self Help Group (MICH) 4) The exchange rate we were discussing was the US Dollar vs the Kenya Displaced,African,Podcast,,My,Heroes!,,Serving,the,African,Continent,,The,Psychology,of,an,African,Leader masmilele@thedisplacedafrican.com no No http://www.thedisplacedafrican.com/2008/04/how-rich-is-your-emotional-experience/ http://www.thedisplacedafrican.com/2008/04/how-rich-is-your-emotional-experience/#comments Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:01:00 +0000 Mwangi http://www.thedisplacedafrican.com/?p=221

How many emotions do you experience in a day?

How many negative emotions do you experience in a day?

How many positive emotions do you experience in a day?

According to Answer.com an emotion is:

A mental state that arises spontaneously rather than through conscious effort and is often accompanied by physiological changes; a feeling

Bring on the List

We recently got into a discussion with gal africana about how many emotions we experience in a day.

Gal, after much careful investigative work (with readers like gal, I really don’t need to work do I?) managed to find a comprehensive list of the human emotions that we are able to experience as people. The list is attached below as a pdf file (which needs Adobe Reader to read):

Comprehensive List of Emotions

Gal told me she was surprised that after reading the list: she realized she experienced a lot more emotions in a day than she initially thought. Now as I write this I haven’t looked at a list.

In absence of that, I think, I experience 2 emotions: mild anxiety and flow (state where I am high, happy, exuberant and full of life). Now, in real time like 24 people, I will examine the list and tell you the results.

Drum roll Please……..

In a typical day, I experience:

35 positive emotions

19 neutral emotions and;

30 negative emotions

84 EMOTIONS IN TOTAL ON A TYPICAL DAY

That’s Way More Than I Would Have Ever Thought

Who would have thought I could experience so much sitting in the house working on a computer! So today I challenge you to examine how many of the emotions in the pdf file you experience in a typical day.

A Little Game I Invented: Emotional Switch Game

A little something I came up with I call, the Emotional SWITCH! game (I didn’t want it to be some cryptic name like Emotions from the Abyss, so let’s stick with a nice, simple, straightforward name alright).

The basic point of the game is this:

1. Pick one negative or neutral emotion that you experience regularly.

2. Replace it with a positive emotion that you would like to experience in its place. Example: Instead of anxiety, you would like to feel assertiveness.

3. For the next 24 hour period (or longer if you wish), any time you feel anxious immediately replace feelings of anxiety with feelings of assertiveness i.e. any time you experience the negative or neutral emotion replace it with the positive one.

4. Rinse and repeat until you are consistently feeling the positive emotion instead of the negative or neutral one.

How to Make Yourself Feel Something

Right now let me take this little intermission to discuss ways in which we can make ourselves feel something e.g. How we can make ourselves feel assertive when we are feeling anxious. There are a few ways I know of, credit Tony Robbins for this knowledge:

1. External stimulus: When I watch African American movies I feel very confident, strong and assertive. When I watch a lot of indie films I feel depressed and scared. When I listen to R&B I feel safe, confident and secure. When I listen to hip hop, I feel aggressive. This is in no way a novel idea: Certain forms of media or other forms of external stimulus (including food, people, places, toys and things) make us feel certain ways. Surround yourself with things that make you feel assertive as much as is possible on the day you want to replace anxiety with assertiveness.

2. Remember and recall your internal dialogue when you feel something: You ever noticed how the way you talk inside your head sounds very different depending on how you’re feeling. When I am in a state of euphoria or ecstasy or joy, I don’t think. I maybe have one thought every fifteen minutes but other than that I just am and you may think you are conversing with a conscious, thoughtful being….nah, I’m just letting whatever is in my subconscious flow out. When I am anxious, I THINK! I sit and I over-analyze everything. I think about this blog. I think about the future. I think about my health. I tend to do it in a very progressive, Socratic, detached fashion and I have done pretty much the same thing for four years. What goes on in your head when you are assertive. What song plays in your head? What do you say to yourself? What images do you see? Bring them all back whenever you are feeling anxious and flood it all out with the assertive mental material.

   

3. Use your body the same way you do when you feel the desired emotion: Strictly speaking, what we should do here is pretty much manipulate our body so that we take on the same body language we have when we feel assertive. In my experience though, this hasn’t worked out -not to say it doesn’t, it works extremely well from some. It didn’t work for me because as I would be manipulating my body I would tend to over-think the experience. Therefore my general strategy-not always applicable-is to either go for a run or dance in a very aggressive manner when you feel the anxiety (or -ve emotion you don’t want). This results in you stepping out of your head and focusing on the run and/or the dance. This movement tends to result in a much better emotional state and from there go towards the emotional state you are after- like say the assertiveness.

And In Conclusion

One of the intentions behind the game is to remind ourselves, because we always forget, just how much control we have over our emotional states when you choose to focus on them. Once your confidence in your abilities to manipulate your emotional state have been reaffirmed, slowly move yourself towards a place where your day will be predominantly filled with positive emotions all the time.

In truth, I don’t think we’ll ever be rid of negative emotions because sometimes we need them. But that shouldn’t stop us from creating a head and heart space that is mainly about feeling good.

By the way, out of curiosity:

a) What is your favorite emotion? Mine are two: flow and quiet bliss ( I don’t know the exact name for it, but it’s a feeling where I am quiet, safe, secure and yet have like a volcano of joy just bubbling inside)

b) How many emotions do you experience in a day?

If you know your personal answer answer to any of these questions, leave a comment below and let me know what it is.

Be blessed and bless others,

Mwangi.

]]> http://www.thedisplacedafrican.com/2008/04/how-rich-is-your-emotional-experience/feed/ 0 http://www.thedisplacedafrican.com/2008/03/the-art-of-rejuvenation/ http://www.thedisplacedafrican.com/2008/03/the-art-of-rejuvenation/#comments Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:39:00 +0000 Mwangi http://www.thedisplacedafrican.com/198/the-art-of-rejuvenation/

The Art of Never Getting Tired: What Recharges You?

I just got home-I wrote this on 25^th March 2008- and I am feeling REFRESHED. I just came from visiting people that I had not seen in almost a year and I must say that it was exactly what I needed. I pretty much work every single day, or if I’m not working, I am thinking about work. Therefore today I decided I would take a break from working, blogging and studying and go and try to connect with my fellow man.

Just the Medicine I Needed

I landed smack down in the home of S&G (by the way, thanks S and thanks G for being fantastic hosts) and it’s amazing: When I arrived I felt tired, worn out, vacuous and bored. A few hours of having very silly, crude conversation and my cylinders are firing again.

So what is my point with all this?

I am glad you asked: Well, the question is what recharges you? Actually, let me rephrase the question, what has any of the following effects on you:

a) Relaxes you and gives you feelings of peace and relaxation

b) Makes you feel safe and at home.

c) Makes you energetic and gives you boosts of energy I.e. What action gives you more energy than it takes to perform.

To be clear, when I talk about activities that recharge you, I am talking about activities that achieve any of or a combination of the above emotional states.

Remember What Recharges You

Once you arrive in the diaspora, you are away from familiar surroundings and so may forget or lose track of what you used to do back home to recharge. However, I am yet to meet anyone who does not have activities that do not fulfill the above criteria.

The Trick Is…..

The only thing is that a lot of the things that give us these feelings tend to be odd and we may feel odd doing them in such a foreign environment. Today, I have realized yet again (for some reason I always forget then remember, forget then remember…) that three things absolutely ignite me:

a) Novelty/something new and something fresh that I haven’t experienced before or in a long time (I hadn’t visited their home or seen them in a year plus there were other people there that I had never met)

b) Entertaining and Amusing (there is no high quite like making another person laugh)

c) Being significant (actually mattering and being missed by your fellow man. Missed you guys too….:) )

d) Connecting and having conversations with people that are mutually enjoyable: It doesn’t matter if it is deep, introspective conversation or silly, crude, useless conversation. As long as it’s interesting, real and I feel we connect: I’m good.

e) Women (goes without saying really……)

Some Ways People Recharge;Some Odd

Therefore I challenge you to remember what recharges you. Any time this place wears you down: you miss home, you look around and are distressed that you don’t connect with anyone, work and responsibilities are getting you down: break away and recharge. Don’t worry if it is idiosyncratic or unique or odd. I have heard or known people who relax by:

a) Sleeping, waking up, sleeping waking up and doing that for extended periods of time.

b) Going to a park and feeding pigeons and/or fish and/or ducks

c) People who enjoy sleeping under a tree in an open field.

d) People who pray and meditate.

e) People who play board games such as Scrabble, Rummy King, checkers etc

f) Rowing boats on lakes and/or ponds

What If I Can’t Do It?

What if it is something that it is physically impossible to do, such as visit a monument that is only in your country or walk around your old neighbourhood. In that case, investigate, why x activity recharges you. What are the elements of that situation that take you from lifeless to filled with energy. It took me five years of living here to realize that without connection or significance to other people, my energy slowly declines. Once I realized that, I had power. I knew any time I was getting low, all I needed to do was go visit someone I hadn’t seen in a while and try to make them laugh or just connect.

Practical Application

So, why did you like visiting that monument back home…..was it getting away from everyone, was it the majesty or the history of the monument. Perhaps you can find places in the diaspora where you can explore another culture’s rich history and a majesty and go and recharge there. Did you enjoy walking through your neighbourhood because you enjoyed walking amongst people who were like you: find the nearest African neighbourhood or go to an Africa-infested area and walk around there. If that’s not available, find the closest nationality or ethnicity (Maoris, Greeks and Italians all share similar cultural traits for example) and walk amongst them. Keep experimenting and checking in with yourself until you know what recharges you and you can recreate the conditions necessary to recharge. Because you will need to do so on a regular basis.

What If I Never Had Recharging Activities?

There is the off chance that you have no idea what recharges you and have never had any activities that recharge you. If that’s the case, then I suggest that you read my articles on discovering your passions and use the tips to find your recharge activity. The greatest tip of them all: experiment, until you find what works. You are in the most prosperous society in human history, not only financial terms, but in terms of the abundance (over-abundance really) of knowledge, information and experiences. Step out there and try things until you find what recharges you.

Small Side-note

The only thing I would add is: choose activities that nourish you mind, body and soul. I think you can see where I am going with this. Don’t kill brain cells or dehydrate your body with alcohol or drugs so that it needs time to recharge AFTER your alleged recharge session. Don’t go to gossip sessions where you prop up your ego by speaking ill of others but end up no better than when you came in. Do something that will make every part of your person better-rest, relax, energize!

Finally

Your home needs you, you need you, we need you, to be as healthy, clear and strong as you can possibly be. So do something for you today. Leave me a comment , switch off this computer and go out there and recharge your batteries.

See you tomorrow, fresh and ready to go,

Mwangi

PS: Who knew the Google tool bar had spell checking. Expect spelling that resembles educated folk in the near future.

Part 6 of the 10 things I wish I knew before I left Africa

1) Erwin Mcmanus

My second of seven heroes is the man, the myth and the legend of the gospel music industry, Kirk Franklin.

For some biographical information on Kirk, please check out the Kirk Franklin page on Answers.com or buy some of his CDs or pick up his autobiography:

Some time last year, I began a crusade to change my music listening habits. As opposed to most of my peers who choose tracks on the basis of the sound, I decided I would put the message in the music way above the sound of the music. Now, of course this is easier said than done and I have since backslid slightly. But, it was during this phase that I pretty much became a die hard fan of a gospel musician who goes by the name, Kirk Franklin.

Interestingly enough, Kirk isn’t even a singer. Most of ‘his songs’ are sung by a choir with him interjecting every so often with a message of hope and encouragement. In spite of that though, you are never in doubt it’s a Kirk track because, speaking for myself, very few gospel artists have moved me the way Kirk moves me. Below are seven things, I admire about this musical dynamo.

Seven Things I Love and Admire About Kirk Franklin

1) All of Him is There: I absolutely love performers who leave their egos at the door and put their hearts, minds, bodies and souls into the performance. When I see and hear, Kirk perform, I feel as though ALL OF HIM is there,and there is no other place on Earth and nothing going on other than Kirk trying to get his message and his music into your heart.

2) He Brings the Heat: As a consequence of his full commitment, Kirk performs with a helluva lot of energy. I think from the moment we heard Stomp (check it out at the end of this article), we knew that you don’t put Kirk’s music on so you can have a nice nap.

3) He Balances Things Out With Soul: As much as we all love, Stomp, Revolution and September, where would we be if Kirk didn’t have tracks like Imagine me where he talks about his insecurities and struggles. Kirk isn’t just an artist out to help you get your groove on. In every album there are slow, thoughtful tracks where Kirk speaks directly to you and tries to encourage you, lift up your spirits and help you feel a deep, divine, everlasting love.

4) His Music Sounds Good: Kirk’s music is always reflective of the sounds of the times. As opposed to some gospel artists who simply stick to ‘the old gospel sounds’ (which truth be told, are pretty great) Kirk injects the sound of the day into his music. In tracks such as Stomp and Lean on Me he even brings out the popular artists of the time to collaborate and make something beautiful.

If he isn’t doing that, he is collaborating with Toby Mac to create rock tracks that don’t have any chicken grease on them (his words, check out the video below) or Earth, Wind and Fire to do the HOTTEST remix of September EVER (video below) or even singing and composing tracks with the legendary Stevie Wonder. Kirk actually strives to meet the so-called secular world half-way in terms of his sound. The result: the best selling gospel artist.

5) He is Down to Earth: From watching and listening to his interviews (check out one below), to listening to his music, you can tell that Kirk is a human being and isn’t caught up in the hype surrounding himself. He views himself as a humble vessel that transmits pure energy and love throughout the world (Wow, my poetry be coming out today, I think I’ll need my own poetry recital when all is said and done )

6) He Struggled and Overcame and Tells Us About It: In ‘Imagine Me’ he spoke about his struggle with low self-esteem. The real shocker was when he discussed his addiction to porn, even when he was a gospel artist (check out the interview with his wife below). The fact that he had the courage to come out and talk about how he has messed up, gives him huge points in my book. Kirk is definitely one of my role models as I attempt to master and control the unending floodgate that is male sexuality.

7) He Boogies: Until I saw Kirk, I would never have thought that choir members over 25 were meant to dance, well at least not dance in a manner as fun and energetic and Kirk. Kirk is far from a young turk but you will still see him getting down in his videos. When I grow up, I wanna dance just like Kirk

As I said in the first post, I encourage you to have a look at who your heroes are AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHY THEY ARE YOUR HEROES so that you may begin to understand and take more control of yourself. Anything to add to the discussion, you know the drill, contact me or leave a comment below.

G.P. Are You With Me?

B. blesd. &. bles othaz,

Mwangi

I was the only testosterone filled individual today who happened to be sitting in a cooking class somewhere in Melbourne. As the discussion wandered from food and a healthy lifestyle to bras and breast cancer I had brief moments where I let my mind wander. In those moments I thought:

What Would I Do If I Were the Minister of Health?

Philosophy

First of all, the whole point of the ministry would change. Currently, the objective of Western medicine according to my investigation is the prevention and curing of disease. Until a few years back, such a method of describing the purpose of medicine appeared sufficient. That is of course until I began to study the work of raw vegans and naturopaths and alternative medicine practitioners who somehow embedded the idea in me:

The point of medicine is to maximize the quantity AND quality of life.

With that in mind, the Ministry of Health would exist:

To take (insert name of country here) on a journey to improve the quality and quantity of life, through returning the body to a place of balance and working in line with the cycles of the body and nature to optimize the person’s experience of life and ensure that they have nothing but a positive nourishing impact on the world around them.

Some Random Policies

Among the policies I would institute:

1) Classes on relaxation from kindergarten all the way through to University: Everybody needs to learn how to unwind without needing to ingest narcotics or engage in self-destructive behaviour, so let’s teach them how. (Hell, even I wanna know how)

2) Classes on having the best relationships: How many people would we save from ulcers if we had a class on how to be a good partner in these wonderful life-long things called relationships.

3) Effects of the Environment on the Body: How does food affect the body? How do electromagnetic fields affect the body? How does stress affect the body? How can we guarantee nothing but good effects on the body all life long?

4) Ways to minimize the effects of synthetic chemicals on the body:According to the story of stuff, there are over 100,000 synthetic chemicals in use in the environment today and almost none of them have ever been tested for their impact on health. Well, I wanna know!

5) How to be Happy: Come to think of it, scratch that. I would actually create a ministry of happiness where we would research – what a concept!- what happiness is and how to get it. I don’t think we can afford to leave this to chance, I think if we scrap all the Ministries of Roads (in Africa do they really do anything other than award huge contracts to Western multinationals) we should have enough for a Ministry of Happiness.

6) The Best Diet Research Project: This would be a center dedicated to finding the optimum diet for each and every person based on nutritional requirements, genetics and lifestyle.

7) How to Have the Best Sex Ever: We’re all either gonna do it or get opportunities to do it so we may as well learn how to be the best at it.

So what would you do if you run your own ministry? I would actually be curious to know so if you have any ideas drop me a line or leave some comments below.

Beeee bleeeeeseeeeed and bleeeees otheeeeeers,

Mwangeeeeeeee

Dead Prez – Happiness