The Year I Bonded With a Beast

I need to put this on record; I need all and sundry to know that 2021 is the year I got to finally let myself trust a beast.

I met Simon on Christmas day. Our relationship went from “hold your dog. Don’t let him come near me…I love dogs, but from afar. I don’t trust them” to “hello, Simon. Did you miss me? Good boy!” While patting his head or letting him have my fingers in his mouth. The transition happened within a space of two or three days. This right here, is what I call growth. Probably my most significant growth in 2021. My dad must be really proud cos the last of his offspring finally bonded with at least one dog in her lifetime (man was a huge dog person and owned quite a number).

Can you believe I trust that white furry beast, enough to let it eat from my hand and lick it? Of course, you can. Why wouldn’t you? I just said I let it playfully bite my fingers —”while letting him have my fingers in his mouth.” Best part of having a dog as friend is the burst of excitement when it sights you. Oh my! Makes you feel like the best thing to have happened to the universe.

There’s been some other growth and beautiful experiences this year. I started a saving plan with Cowrywise on my birthday, in August—oh, my. This one is really hard. It takes a lot of discipline to be consistent, considering that I have no stable source of income. I just saved for the month of December and it took a whole lot of strength to do. The amount I save monthly is probably a friend’s daily feeding allowance, but trust me, taking that sum aside made me feel feverish. My only cure right now is credit alerts upon credit alerts.

In addition, I eventually got comfortable with twenty-five (could be better); interned in a company of my choice, an international one; made good connections; and I got my first paid writing job too…I could go on and on, but I won’t.

About the writing job, it started with this beautiful young lady, of whom I’m a fan, sliding into my DM on WhatsApp and asking, like two thousand and twenty one others before her have, “Soniaaaaa, do you take content writing jobs?” My heart first did a quick leap as in a contemporary dance, before I could give an answer— it leaped out of anxiety, not joy. I was about to give my usual flat “no,” but you know that saying by Chinua Achebe, that a sparkling clean bank account is the beginning of wisdom? That happened to me. The state of my bank account spoke to me “ji, ma sun!” and it pushed me to modify my usual response to a “I don’t, but I could.”

You’re probably thinking if that was necessary. I mean, I could have just said yes cos “fake it until you make it.” No? Let’s just say I gave that response cos honesty is important to me and partly because I was giving her a chance to walk away and go find an experienced professional writer. Why would I do that? Well, well, I guess we have imposter syndrome to blame. It’s crazy, considering the fact that I’ve been doing free jobs for friends.

As the universe would have it, the job was mine to execute, cos why else would my client (this feels good to say) just say “oh,
greaaaaatttt!” and trust me with the job?

I eventually got the job done and got my pay. I even got tipped. You know what that tip did to my confidence, ehn? Oh la-la! In other news, guys, I’m available to accept writing jobs. You know, with that money I earned, I could have been a land owner on Banana Island and acquired some properties in Maldives, but I chose not to, cos I honestly can’t deal with harassment from EFCC right now.

If I had to award one month most generous month of the year, it would be December: My first writing gig was in December. I met and bonded with Simon in December; got the most credit alerts; had my first ever karaoke; learnt to play Monopoly; let myself drink more than a glass of wine outside my home… In short, I let my wings spread wide in December.

While I may not have had what most consider a major breakthrough, I’m very thankful for the little wins which are big to me. Overall, 2021 was good to me. I’m even more positive about 2022.

Happy New Year, dearly beloved readers. You’re the reason I write. Thank you for always listening.

While we drink to a prosperous 2022, don’t forget to bring gigs—especially ones that would give me Elon’s kind of wealth. I’m just one mail away.