If life is a movie, what does that make us?

“What happened to your eye?” Sips asked me as she approached the table we had chosen as our workspace at Dodo Pizza in ICM.

“I don’t know." I responded with a quiet resignation because I really didn’t. I had put out a post on my status earlier asking for temporary relief from my incessantly twitching eye. With the response of three trolls, one half-asleep optician, a suggestion for self-medication, and a visit to Webmd.com, I went to bed with some form of temporary relief. I awoke Tuesday morning with a bump on my right eye. Being Kath, I did absolutely nothing about it other than increase screen time and get more sleep.

The bump grew without a care in the world that I had four communities to manage, or that I am a gainfully employed staff of a consulting firm with deliverables, and an avid reader.

Life is undependable. One day, you’re dealing with 7 years of plenty; another, you’re battling 7 years of empty.

Life is impulsive. It coughs out storms and seas for us to cross without providing life hooks.

So what does that make us? Extras? Producers? Directors?

Let’s talk about the neverendingness of life that makes it pretty difficult for us to soar through every day with pride and courage. As we’re dealing with one thing, life looks us straight in the eyeballs and decides to throw us more than curve balls; it throws flints, hailstones, brimstones, fire, and thunder. This is not one of the stories where we are told to make lemonade out of life’s lemons. Abi, you wan use thunder do fruit juice?

Yesterday, despite the bump, I was stirred to go public with this blog. I was excited that I could share a piece of me with you. And I was more fired up at your response to my announcement. Who knew a couple of hours later, my phone would fall and “split” into two, needing a band-aid as support? Or my system would decide to go off and never come on. Who knew I would try to be an engineer, unscrewing laptop nuts by 11 p.m., whimpering from my silent tears and hurting my already swollen eye?

Maybe the importance of the flints is for us to strike them together and light a fire to keep ourselves warm. Or maybe light a fire on our insides that will spark us to keep moving every day.

I slept off in tears, but here I am, by 4:30 am, with a swollen eye, a broken phone, and tapping away at the keys of a borrowed laptop because I am the MAIN CHARACTER in this movie called Life.

So, today, I am writing to you:

Who constantly grapples with self-doubt, wondering if your resilience can match the punches life throws your way. To those who doubt the perfection of their appearance because they lack the means for skincare and are unable to post flawlessly edited images on social media, rest assured, 99.9% of those are altered. I speak to those who awaken each day to don a mask, whose alter ego is a fractured, traumatized being, fearful of stepping into the light, for their inner child has been silenced by hurtful words from others. Your mind brims with brilliance, your brain teeming with potential, yet you stay quiet, burdened by the voices telling you your perfect English betrays your roots and that you're "trying too hard to be colonized."

To those receiving no assistance from the world, whose livelihood is as unpredictable as the flickering NEPA light, questioning how tomorrow will fare. To those whose burdens weigh heavily, I hear your choked plea, the black tax squeezing the life out of you, leaving you desperate for a moment to breathe.

Dear child, your longing for love, happiness, and peace is valid. Don't shy away from your own light, questioning your worth or perfection. I write to myself, too, whose anxiety paints doubts across my existence, with panic attacks arriving unannounced, rendering my tear ducts empty.

You are the main character—the one whose fate matters the most. This is your story and your movie. You may not write the script, but you can direct your actions, own your choices, and keep believing. Even when knocked down, rise again, stronger and more determined, until you beat life at its own game.

‭‭”Though we experience every kind of pressure, we’re not crushed. At times, we don’t know what to do, but quitting is not an option. We are persecuted by others, but God has not forsaken us. We may be knocked down, but not out.”

Actor anaghị anwụ anwụ. Actor nwọ, film agwu: An Actor Never Dies.

Set your face like a flint. Do not stop acting until you're satisfied that you gave a stellar performance.

If life is a movie, you are the main character.