For Linda Ikeji and our Collective Lessons in Vulnerability

<br>Let me very first begin this post by saying that I don’t know Linda Ikeji personally, we aren’t buddies, and I’ve “met” her only a number of times at celebrations …<br>
<br>Written By:
Francesca Uriri<br>
<br>Published On:
24 Sep 2016<br>
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<br>However with all of that being said, I likewise have a deep and abiding regard for her. Is that ironic? Perhaps. But I have actually concerned understand that you can disagree with someone on something and still appreciate them. Whether you accept it or not, Linda has revealed through her exceptional journey of being a blog writer and viewpoint influencer, that she is a motivation to many individuals all over the world. She has boot strapped her way to success using a model that was when unpopular and discounted. She’s an Outlier, and handles to influence, prompt and baffle many at one time, and with fervour.<br>
<br>I can’t think about a great deal of people who have actually run a modelling company, an events business, a magazine and a lot of other businesses, stopped working at them, and still kept pushing forward. I also don’t understand of anybody else (a minimum of not on this side of the world), who is lawfully making lots of cash by blogging.
[advertisement] I imply, before Linda, whoever thought it was possible to purchase a house in Banana Island, and open a string of media-related businesses acquired from the earnings of running a chatter blog site? If the United States of America has the “American dream,” then Linda Ifeoma Ikeji has the “Naija Dream.” Strong, relentless in its pursuit of joy and hope, and eventually, effective. Here’s a female who hit ground no at some time in her life, and is back to level 100. You need to appreciate such grit and decision, because as my Sapele people will state “E nor simple.”<br>
<br>Linda or “Lin-Lin” as she’s fondly called by those who are close to her turned 36 years old a few days earlier; and to mark her big day, she published a 14-minute long video on her blog. Within hours of her publishing this video, social media was buzzing with all type of remarks and remarks about it – and I understood that I had to see it for myself. 3 minutes into the video, I wasn’t quite sure whether I liked it or not, due to the fact that it came off as somewhat insincere and scripted; plus Linda looked a little unpleasant facing the video camera. However, something changed soon after – I’m not even sure what. But the veneer of coolness cracked, and something more warm, earthy, authentic and vulnerable spilled out.
[ad] And as Linda began to speak about her failures, her desires, her relationship with God, her belief in the credibility of her dreams, her utter amazement at how her life turned out, and the affirmation that she still “strategies to be around for a long time,” something in me also paved the way to the hope and motivation that she was sharing.<br>
<br>And perhaps it was an emotional moment, perhaps that thing was short lived, however I acknowledged it, and I felt it strongly. Because it was genuine, powerful and wholehearted. And in that one unique minute, I forgot all the times I disliked Linda, or all the annoying things she had done, and in that suspended space, in between my laptop screen and her video, I commemorated with her. I cheered her on, and I desperately wanted her to prosper.<br>
<br>So you can envision my irritation when individuals took simply a few seconds of that video – of her wanting a fantastic male for a hubby – and turned it into an event for awful small talk, ridiculous rhetoric and hurtful remarks. How do you condense ALL she said, and narrow that down to simply one segment of her video? What is incorrect if she freely (and very truthfully I might include), spoke about what she desires? Is her desire for a husband somehow less valid or shameful because she discussed it outdoors? If she had discussed additional growing her organization or buying another home – would those statements be consulted with derisive remarks? Exists not a quiet strength and dignity in such a guileless show of vulnerability? When individuals honestly and truthfully open themselves, the least we can do, the least we must do as human beings is to accord them the regard and self-respect that they deserve.<br>