Many of us have actually never revealed the real us to anyone. We may reveal bits and pieces of ourselves to some but we often keep certain things to ourselves. We do this because we are trying to protect ourselves from hurt, we believe that if people know certain things about us they might use it against us and we may not be strong enough to stand up to that ridicule. We get up out of bed sometimes and we feel nothing. We sit for awhile and then we think to ourselves about what mask we will put on today. For some of us we choose a mask based on the group that we want to fit in with and for others we choose a mask to keep people away from us. Our masks show either anger, sadness, contentment or happiness.  We put on these masks before we go to school, to make our teachers and friends feel as if we are happy to be there or that we are pleased with the path that we are on . We put on masks when we go to work so that our boss will feel that we are happy with our job. We put on masks aroun

" I want to give my children everything that I wasn't given as a child", how often do we hear these words being said by parents? Very often right? It's a very good concept but parents please don't forget to give them the things that you received as well. The more times have evolved the less time is being spent with those who we care about. Parents are busy working hard to give their children all that they didn't get as a child that they forget to give them the most valuable of things, love. Now more than ever children are suffering from depression and seeking outlets to get attention from because they aren't getting it from their parents. The social media world paints an image that dressing in matching outfits with your child or posting several pictures with your child shows that you are a good parent. A picture is just a picture and it can hide one thousand stories.  I can guarantee you that when your child grows up what they will remember most is the lov

For years we have heard the saying ' show me your friends and I'll tell you who you are'. Many of us stand by this saying and believe it to be true in all instances. However, I can say to you that this saying isn't always the case because you can be in a situation but not be affected by it. For instance, there are three friends who hang out together for three years, one is a pimp, one is a doctor and one is a happily married teacher. They all maintain their perspective lives and are not influenced by the lives of others. However, there is another group of friends, one is a stripper,one is a stay at home mom and the other is a lawyer. The stay at home mom becomes envious of her lawyer friend because she is making her own money while the lawyer friend is envious of the attention that her stripper friend gets from men while the stripper friend is envious of her lawyer friend because she has a respectable profession. It all comes down to the individual and how easily influe

Jamaica land we love!! I remember singing the national anthem every morning in primary school and having to stand attention to it during high school. Whenever I visit the movies the anthem is played before the movies begin and people can be heard complaining about having to stand. They sit and eat and talk while the anthem is being played. On the other hand I will see people who migrate from Jamaica to America dressed up in their American colours on their Independence Day and showing their love for their country. Is Jamaican pride something that we no longer embrace? Is the love for our country fading? What worries me is that instead of pride in our country increasing it continues to be on the decline. Once or twice a year we take pride in our country but for the majority of the year we are primarily caught up in the affairs of other countries. Our financial situation as a country can be improved or infrastructure can be improved but without a knowledge of our culture we will never ful

Growing up many of us were encouraged to either become a doctor or a lawyer. These professions were always placed high on a pedestal and we were told that these are the jobs we should aim for. Firstly, I always wondered why the people who encouraged me to choose one of these paths were not working in any of these capacities. I grew up as a child filled with questions and I would question my parents about everything. From a very young age I loved writing and I knew that I wanted to spend my life doing this. My parents on the other hand never encouraged that dream of mind as I was always encouraged to become a lawyer or a doctor.  When I listen to children on our primary and preparatory quiz competitions the most popular professions are lawyer and doctor. We neèd to encourage our children to look at other paths. Many of us will not be able to become a lawyer or doctor either because of finances or because we don't have the intelligence for it. Parents need to realize that everybody i

In recent times, our country has been sent into shock waves as it relates to the increases in acts of violence towards our children. It sends pain throughout our bodies as Jamaicans because our future is hurting. Calls from all sectors can be heard about what measures can be taken to ensure that we put a stop to this problem. It starts with each and everyone of us as Jamaicans because at times parents aren't around or even those who are around aren't setting the best examples for their children. Throughout the month of May, I decided to start a challenge called the Saccheen Laing read one book a week campaign. I decided to do this challenge as a means to show our young people that reading can be fun and we as the older ones do enjoy it. I added the element of posting a selfie after the end of the week along with a caption with a lesson that you got from the book. This challenge was an oasis in the midst of the Charlie Charlie challenge and other challenges that add no level of

In Jamaica these days calls are coming from call corners for more attention to be placed on our children to ensure that we protect them as best as possible. We should ensure that they get off the streets early, they aren't taken advantage of and that they attend school. However, what about the examples that we set for them? The way we dress, the relationships we keep, the way we talk to each other, shouldn't we be taking a look at that as well? This takes me to our female entertainers and the examples that they set. From a very young age children find a love for music and they easily eat up everything they see and hear. Recently, two of our most popular female entertainers got into an argument on social media for the entire world to see. It wasn't just the fact that they were arguing but it was mostly about the things that they were saying to each other. Everyone has access to the internet and unfortunately children are getting electronic devices at a very young age. The in

Growing up in Jamaica I always heard that black women who enter relationships with white men are either doing it because they lack self esteem, they want him for his money or they want 'pretty hair children'. In 2015, some of these same conclusions are drawn whenever we see interracial couples walking hand in hand and settling down to get married. I've noticed a trend in which young black ladies  after migrating have ended up settling down with a white man. Are good black men becoming a rare commodity or have our black women given up on our black brothers? I'm not here to judge anyone and I for one could care less about the skin colours of couples. I've just come to observe that our young women are opting to settle down with white men. I decided to speak to a couple of black young ladies to get their views on this issue and this is what they had to say. Shanice: I'm currently in a relationship with a relationship with a white man. I chose him because he offered

Everyone seems to have all the advice to give you to keep your relationship together but not so much advice is found after the relationship has come to an end. One of the biggest mistakes that people make is moving on too soon after a relationship is over. Today, I'm going to highlight some of the dangers of moving on too soon without giving yourself enough time to heal. ✅ After the end of a painful relationship you are in a very vulnerable state and people could end up taking advantage of your situation. They may initially appear to be a comforter but slowly make their moves and before you know it you think you have fallen in love.  ✅ The ending of a relationship sometimes seems women running to the first open arms and end up engaging in risky sexual behaviour. Engaging in these risky sexual behaviour post break up will have you feeling regretful later on and leave you with not the best of reputations. ✅ One of the biggest dangers of moving on too quickly is that you still have yo

As seems to be the case these days social media is the outlet to air every and anything. People would rather address their partners via social media, discuss family matters via social media and apparently bash their neighbours on social media. The social media world is buzzing today due to Usain Bolt's neighbour publicly bashing him for some of his bad habits. Yes, if these allegations are true they should be addressed immediately. However, I don't agree with the outlet in which she decided to use to get the story out there. If my neighbour threw something in my back yard I'm going to knock on their door and tell them about it I'm not going to take it to social media. If her neighbour was not a public figure I guarantee you she would not take this to the media. People will do any and everything to bring down the perception of people in the public. For the hundredth time I'm going to implore people to discuss their issues privately because once you put it out there e

Walking on the streets of Jamaica these days one will notice an increase in people on the roadsides begging. Many times we walk pass them and ignore their cries for help because either we don't have it to give or we believe they will not use the money for good. These conclusions are indeed good ones as we can't give what we don't have and many of those who beg will indeed waste what they are given. This morning, while sitting at home I heard a knock coming from my gate. I hurried to see who it was, it was a young lady who said good morning and asked to speak to my mother. When my mother came to speak to her she began to share her skills with us. She said she could do rope twist, braids, lock hair,cornrows and anything to do with hair. She went on to tell us that she was traveling all the way from Portmore looking for something to do. She told us her prices were as low as $500 to do cornrows depending on the size. At the present moment both my hair and that of my mother'

So once again the world is buzzing to this new challenge called the Charlie Charlie challenge. My stance on this is very simple no spiritual quotes or scriptures. The world apparently has an obsession with jumping on to to idiotic concepts. This challenge is just the latest in a long line of challenges that are nothing but things for people with idle hands to do.  For the past couple of weeks I've been doing a read one book a week challenge. I shared the challenge on several social media sites and not one person decided to join in. The young in our world find the idea of silly challenges more attractive than they do actual challenges that will add substance to their lives. Our young people are very impressionable so they will soak up any and everything that they see around them and that is very alarming for our world. The reason why it's even more alarming now is because the good is starting to become a rare commodity in our society. Chalłenges such as this one just highlights

Apparently, the in thing is to say that the world is either filled with only fake people or you can trust anybody. Yes, I do agree that more and more these days we are surrounded by people who continually to show themselves to be untrustworthy.  From people who have little to nothing to people who have all the riches in the world people are proving to be hard to trust. Because of this perception relationships, business and everyday interactions have become somewhat more difficult. When you meet someone for the first time they tend to bombard you with more questions than usual. For those in relationships their partners are more skeptical of the things they do and say. For business owners they have to watch their employees keenly while employees have to be careful of those they work for. My question however is if everyone is speaking out about the increase in untrustworthy people who are those people who are indeed still trustworthy? Believe it or not there are still people in this world

In recent times I have seen a lot of people on social media posting about finding the right partner and settling down. We all had dreams growing up of the fairy tale wedding and the happily ever after. With each passing day are we all not seeing that we need to put these fairy tale ideals aside and start living in the real world. Firstly, the idea that the ring needs to be perfect for the proposal to be perfect. Newsflash there doesn't even need to be a proposal or an engagement period. Secondly, the continued addiction to looking at wedding dresses and venues will set up yourself for a lot of disappointment later in when you realize it's unrealistic to spend so much money on the ceremony. Why are so many christans so eager to get married? Is the temptation of sex before marriage getting to you and you need to rush the process? When you go to a church as a young lady it's as if the young men have never seen a young lady before, the desperation radiates from their bod

In our daily life journey interactions  are something that either helps us or breaks us but either way we seem to always be in search of some form of interaction. In recent times, we see more and more posts 'no new friends' 'can't trust anybody' ' world is filled with fake people' but I started to think more deeply into this and came to the conclusion that perhaps we expect too much from people. We expect that our friends will always be there for us that they will always have all the answers to our problems. We feel as if they should never do anything to have us questioning the friendship and things should always be perfect. Do we often forget that they are humans just like us? are we able to provide all the things that we expect from them? We expect that our partner will always be the most romantic, the most understanding, the most loving every single day of the relationship. There are days when I don't even feel like seeing anothe