Jaachi Writes

Let's be realistic here, the bible is not to be blamed. Most denominational doctrines are a product of one man's ideas, preference. No biblical backing whatsoever.  I come from a denomination where rules that don't really matter are imposed on members.  It's actually more of an INTELLECTUAL issue than a SPIRITUAL ISSUE. The Devil's Box My pastor once called the television the black box of the devil. I struggled with that theory. I doubted it. I opposed it as a teen. Wondered why such wonderful invention should be credited to the devil. Decades later, he is on that same black box. The devil's box sits in our churches today. It owns a space in our homes. The devil won or the television got converted, baptized and filled with the spirit of God? That's not the issue here though, it baffles me, no member made attempt to seek an apology for the psychological abuse he has done them. Well, we can't. He's the founder. God's​ oracle. You dare not question ...

For Boys Like Us I was in Ulasi Road Primary School with Naeto Uche Njie for a video shoot of his spoken word piece. We had just finished the first and second scenes and sat on the school football field to review the video when I suggested a third scene.  Uche desired to feature a boy. Any boy. Just any boy. We scanned the field in search of wandering boys and found a sachet water hawker. His name, Chimaobi. Uche gestured at him to come over. He started towards us, a bowl of his ware on his head, a scowl on his face, dust plastered feet in a worn pair of slipper. Uche engaged him in a conversation in Igbo language. They talked about his education, family, child labour, the boy child, endless hopes and hopeless ends.  "Agara m school na Monday. Ubochi ndi ozo, m ga re pure water". (I go to school on Mondays. On other days, I sell sachet water). I'd pause replying a chat and shift my gaze to his face. I could see he's not satisfied. His voice betrayed him. Poor boy.  W...

So You Want To Be a Poet? I remember dressing up and whistling Don William’s ‘Jamaica’ while getting dressed up for a poetry get-together organized by FOS, Owerri chapter. I was feeling both anxious and intimidated at the same time, owing to the fact that I will be meeting poets I admire from a distance, for the first time. My roommate, a friend who had no interest in poetry, asked me why I wanted to be a poet. “You know how hard it is to make money as a poet?” he added.  It felt like a betrayal. A dispiriting stab. “I don’t care about making money,” I told him. “I just want to write awesome poetry.” Despite my show of idealism and optimism, I was wounded inside. A feeling of inadequacy crept in and I began to question my interest in poetry writing.  As soon as I wrote my first collection of poems titled ‘Diary of a Broken Poet’, I believed I would be an instant success. Of course, that’s not exactly how it happened. Sadly, my first book was a colossal failure. Not one sale ...

“Rejoice in the Lord always.”  Philippians 4:4 Through the above quoted five words, God shows us that internal joy cannot be tied to external circumstances. When one is unemployed, when flaws are exposed, and when most meaningful relationships were broken or dysfunctional, God reminds us that joy in the Lord is still possible. God does not cruelly tell us to put a smile on our face no matter the pain in our hearts. Rather, Philippians 4:4 reminds us that no matter what is happening around us, we can still have immense joy because God, not our circumstances, is the source of all joy. “Rejoice no matter what” and “Rejoice in the Lord always” are two very different imperatives. God never tells us simply to rejoice no matter what. He tells us to rejoice in him no matter what. Yet, There are times when the soul feels alienated from the Giver of life and a son feels like a bastard orphan, poor and depressed.  Philippians 4:4 loses it's meaning. No joy. Not even in the Lord.  Y...

Writivity || Ways to Make Your Self-published eBook More Accessible to More Readers These six quick and easy tips will help you avoid classic rookie formatting errors that make eBooks difficult or impossible for a significant proportion of potential readers around the world.  Text Should Be Text! By that, I mean don’t load any text as images, such as logos or graphics of fancy titles, because these won’t be recognized as text by devices designed to turn eBooks into audio for the visually impaired. Avoid fancy typography effects such as drop caps. Again, these won’t “translate”, and although they may look pretty, they won’t be legible to text-to-speech readers. Inspired by  Self Publishing Advice From The Alliance Of Independent Authors For More Detailed Guidelines These tips are excerpts from 'Self-publishing Successfully', a  step-by-step guideline on self-publishing, it's important and ways to monetize an eBook, by the Stefn Sylvester Anyatonwu. You ...

The Broken Painting Once upon a time, a well known painter was finishing his painting. It's an incredibly beautiful painting to be shown during Princess Diana's marriage. The painter was consumed by and excited with his own painting that he unconsciously took a few step backward while admiring the 2x8m painting. He didn't look back when he walked backward. He kept on walking backward until it was a step away from the edge of the tall building. Just one more step backward and he could get himself killed. A man saw what the painter was doing and was about to shout at him to warn him when he realized that his shout might have surprised the painter and thus made him incidentally took one step backward and fell down. The man then took a brush and paint and began to paint on the beautiful painting until it was completely damaged. Upon realizing what's happened to his painting the painter got very angry and moved forward to hit the man. However, some other people who were also...

Racism Is Madness No sane earthling judges a car by the colour of it's body but by the durability of it's engine and whatever specs that lies in the inside and powers the car.  Humans are like cars, Lexus jeeps of different colour shades. Some black, some blue, some white, some ash, some a mix of this and that.  You're white, I'm black. He's Asian, I'm Ethiopian, they are Indians and they are Europeans... same cars with different colour shades. Why make the coloured feel less human because white adorns your skin?  No sane man does that!  In the inside, we are all the same! Racism is a madness. Until we see the evil that lurks behind the veil of racism, tear down the veil and let the beauty of variety illuminate our closed minds, there can be no cure. We will not be whole as a planet, as continents, as a nation, as people, until we recover from the madness that would render any child, woman, or man anything less than human. #Pengician #SSA Enjoyed reading? Please...

Understanding Why Peter Denied Jesus Thrice Most of us know Peter denied knowing Jesus, but we need to understand the setting for these denials to know what Peter was facing. Peter was with John and others (possibly the temple police and soldiers) in the courtyard of Caiaphas’ house while Jesus was on trial upstairs.  One of the high priest’s servant girls recognized Peter and said: “You were also with that Nazarene guy,” Peter replied, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, abeg” A second time a servant girl saw him and said to those nearby,  "This beard guy was with Jesus of Nazareth”. Peter’s reaction was even more intense. Dude denied again, even with an oat. He literary swore he'd never met 'that man' since Adam. Before Peter’s third denial, someone obviously heard him talking and remarked, “I swear, this guy is one of them. His intonation is obvious” Peter’s response is shocking. I quote the Bible... “He began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them...

Look Up! I had to get a new pair of eyeglasses that year. Stereotypism had started to mix with my nearsightedness making things a little bit blurry with my vision. Also I had to finally give in to another sign of long hours staring into the computer screen and get my first pair of bifocals. It has taken me several days to get used to the new pair. While it was great seeing clearly again and wonderful being able to operate the computer without squinting and bring my face one inch closer to the screen, the lenses were a challenge for me.  The problem was that whenever I was looking at something far away I had to keep my eyes up or else I got a wave of blurriness when I accidentally looked through the sides of lenses.  It did hurt then. I am glad that my eyes healed and I am way over it. It is no fun living in a blurry world. I am grateful for that experience for another reason too. It taught me a truth that I will hold close to my heart forever: whenever you need to see the road...

Sometimes, it's difficult to not love a poet. One could hardly tell when it is 'just poetry' from when 'it's from the heart' Genuine! As the sun sets, he rouses her desires with words. "You have a fine forehead  and obvious cheeks.  Tiny well-crafted ears.  They fit just well on your head." He also plays on words. Intentionally. "And oh, your smile. Somewhat titty. Not so long neck. Not short either." She is also a poet. One whose way with words amazes even the creator of languages. 'People barely notice my ears but you did,  beautiful eyes you got there. I still remember what the autumn leaves told the ground. ' He replies: "I'm falling for you?" 'The problem with loving you or having an awesome lover like you is, you will always get away with anything. You are too awesome.' "I'm smitten" They chuckle. Her blushes, obvious. Passion? Lust? The way he looks at her, straight in the eye. Passion? Lust...

Have you ever been in a room crowded with people and still felt lonely? The truth is, you can feel lonely anywhere, anytime. I’ve put together a guide to help you feel more connected to those around you. 1. Start small The best way out of loneliness is to start small with some simple social interactions. Try making small talk with the cashier at the supermarket or starting an IM chat via Messange, Whatsapp, Telegram, with a friend. Aye! It might feel super awkward at first, but these small interactions can help you feel less alone and isolated. 2. Hang out with like-minded people What are you into: video games, yoga, writing, music, books? Joining a club is an awesome way to meet and connect with like-minded people. Your school or community centre might run different clubs, so check out if there’s something there that’s right for you. Another option is Meetup. It brings together people who enjoy similar things or activities, whether that be fitness, poetry, photography, tech or, well …...

Writeousness: This Is How I Wrote My First Chapbook Whenever you published writers give advice on writing, it almost always includes this: Start to Finish. What they mean is, don’t just start a bunch of writing projects and never finish them.  This is the struggle, because we are prone to getting rather too excited about NEW ideas at the exact same time you get sick of working on the OLD ideas. This shouldn't be. It gets one nowhere. I used to be in this cult of 'off to new goals', leaving old projects half done and unrealized. I would be working on a book project, then of a sudden, a new idea sneaks in, I abandon a solid 20 pages of ten half-thought out books moved to 'revisit folder' (which I never get to revisit) at the very first brick wall of writers block. It’s easy to go, “Well, 'Story A' isn’t going anywhere, so what’s the point? I’ll just work on 'Story Z' instead. Life's too short to expend energy on one project. Go bro! Go!”  How sad! ...

Blame the School System for Those Lies Our Teachers Told Us, by John Chizoba Vincent  BLAME THE SCHOOL SYSTEM FOR THOSE LIES OUR TEACHERS TOLD US Blame the school system for those lies our teachers told us in the classroom. Good grades are not what life needs, in reality, good grades sometimes don't take you up there but they condition your mind to one man's idea. Blame the school system for teaching us how to manage other people's thoughts, it never taught us how to think but how to manage and hold on to the thoughts, principles, formula and theories of some men before us.  Why don't you sit down one day and question all these principles and formula and theories you were taught in the school? The school system told our teachers to tell us that in order for us to be successful in life, we'll need good grades that will get us a good and secured job in the nearest future not ideas that will create jobs for us. Blame the school system for those lies our teachers...