Naming: The Oxymoron

 

I volunteer at a hospital where I often help out at the maternity wing. This is where I witnessed the childbirths that I mentioned in my first post. This is also where I came to discover the elaborate paperwork involved in documenting a new birth. The most important document is the birth notification, and I always found it interesting that in some cases, the parents decided to leave the ‘Name’ field blank for a few days.

The first time I came across this scenario, I was perplexed. I wondered, ‘You’ve been pregnant for nine months. Surely, you must’ve thought of a name by now.’ Later I came to realize that sometimes, you need to have the baby in your hands before you can pick out a suitable name. This situation often leads to major suspense for the new parents’ friends and family. Why? Because every single person who visits them will be asking the same question: ‘What is the baby’s name?’ And when this question is met with blank stares, the expectation builds to a fever pitch.

This is a perfect illustration of what my experience has been like these past few days. Since I wrote my first post, the number-one feedback that I received was: ‘I can’t wait to read your next post’. On Sunday morning (the day after I published the article) I came to realize that I had inadvertently pulled off a tantalizing click-bait in 373 words. Glory to God! After the initial happiness wore off, I realized that I had also put myself in a serious fix. Why? Because now people were expecting something. Correction. They were expecting ALOT. And I wasn’t sure whether I could meet that expectation because whenever someone told me ‘Your blog is amazing! I wasn’t ready!’ I whispered in my heart ‘Thanks! However, I wasn’t ready either.’ But I guess that’s the beauty about a God-ordained project. When He starts something, He knows how to bring the DRAMA. Just go read Genesis 1. Such a show-off 🙂 Furthermore, when He starts something, He is always faithful to complete it.

In order to adhere to the proper protocol of recording a childbirth in Kenya, I have decided to title my second post as ‘Naming’. This is where I outline what the blog is going to be about. I am finally going to answer the question: ‘What is the baby’s name?’

Let me start by giving you a small background story about my own name. My name is Ruby Oswere. I’m currently a 2nd year medical student living in Nairobi, Kenya. My parents don’t remember who chose the name ‘Ruby’. My mum thinks it’s my dad, and my dad thinks it’s my mum. A ruby is one of the 4 cardinal precious stones in the world. The other 3 cardinal precious stones are diamonds, sapphires and emeralds. There are many other gemstones in the world, however these others are considered ‘semi-precious’. On the Mohs scale, rubies have a hardness of 9.0. Among the natural gemstones in the world, only diamonds and moissanite are harder. Rubies have a characteristic red or pink appearance and they are mainly used to make jewelry. They are associated with passion, love, energy and power.

My blog’s name is Relaxed Ruby. Based on the description stated above, it’s quite apparent that there is nothing relaxed about rubies. From their passionate red color to their characteristic hardness and hefty price tag, it would almost seem like a mistake for you to mention ‘Ruby’ and ‘Relaxed’ in the same sentence. Yet, my blog is called Relaxed Ruby. This is what we call an oxymoron. It is a figure of speech whereby seemingly contradictory terms appear in conjunction. Relaxed Ruby is a perfect description of me.

I am an oxymoron. Nothing you expect, yet everything you expected at the same time.

What does this mean? This means that my blog is going to be about 3 topics that might seem totally unrelated, however, they all form an integral part of my life. Namely: Rhema, Running and Relaxed Hair.

Rhema: This refers to the revealed word of God as conveyed by the Holy Spirit. As a born-again Christian, I am fascinated to discover more about God by studying His Word in an intellectual way. I would consider myself to be a ‘spider-mind’ such that I see the world in webs (like the world wide web 😉 ) and I am constantly trying to form connections between new information that I receive and previous information that I already have. This is one reason why I love analogies so much. My rhema posts will speak about different Biblical concepts that I’m discovering as revealed by the Holy Spirit. As an intellectual, I love to worship with my mind. Hence, when I write rhema posts, I will often use the phrase ‘I Worship’. This would be the equivalent of the word ‘Selah’ that appears in the Psalms. When you see the phrase ‘I worship’, it simply means that I have understood a concept, synthesized it, and I am marvelling at the complexity of God’s omniscient nature. I love to worship with my mind. I worship in this way.

Running: I’ve always loved walking, I find it very therapeutic. My favorite moments are when I get to take a long walk and unpack my thoughts in a slow and systematic way. In January, I discovered that I enjoy running too. I participated in my first 10k run on 25th May, it was the Mater Heart Run. Hence, my running posts will outline my journey in health and fitness. When I write running posts, they will be titled ‘Run your Race‘. This is because I believe that running is a lot like life. Everyone has their own race, and we should encourage each other along the way.

Relaxed Hair: My hair is relaxed. This means that it’s been chemically treated to make it straight. At the moment, I’m experimenting with different hairstyles and hair regimes, hence I would love to share the tips and tricks that I’ve learnt along the way. My ‘Relaxed Hair’ posts will be about hair and beauty. When I write about ‘Relaxed Hair’, the posts will be titled ‘Akili Ni Nywele‘. This is an excerpt from a Swahili proverb which means that everyone has their own perspective in life and it’s just as unique as your curl pattern. This shows that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder and I would love to encourage every man or woman to embrace their crown in whatever form they choose to wear it.

As you can see, this blog will truly be an oxymoronic venture. I plan to alternate the posts on a periodic basis such that, if I post a ‘Rhema’ article today, my next post will be about ‘Running’ and then the subsequent post will be about ‘Relaxed Hair’. Afterwards, the cycle begins again.

I have seriously debated about whether it is a good idea for me to have my blog structured in this way. This is especially considering the fact that these 3 different topics would appeal to 3 completely different audiences. However, I stopped and reminded myself that in this season, I am choosing to be completely authentic. Furthermore, I genuinely love writing and in many ways, this space is therapeutic for me. Hence, it doesn’t really matter too much whether anyone likes my blog or not. When I write, I am writing for myself first since it serves as an emotional outlet. Thus, even if no one else enjoys my content, I will certainly enjoy it myself 🙂

The best part about having a blog which addresses 3 diverse topics is that I can relate to a variety of different people. In each case, the reader will find exactly what they expected as well as something totally unexpected.

When I’m at the salon, I can tell the gals that I have a blog about hair, and when they check it out, they’ll find great content about hair, but they’ll also find detailed rhemas and running advice.

When I’m at the gym, I can tell the guys that I have a blog about running, and when they check it out, they’ll find lots of great fitness content as well as Biblical expositions. In addition, they’ll also find hair and beauty content which they can use to get ideas on how to pamper their wives, girlfriends and daughters. I think every woman dreams of finding a man who can say ‘Babe, let me do your hair’. Perhaps this is one reason why male hairdressers never run out of clients 😉 But I digress…

When I’m with intellectuals, I can tell them that I have a blog where I write my musings, and when they check it out, they’ll find solid rhemas but they’ll also find some great content about hair and lots of posts about running too.

This blog will be an oxymoron. Nothing you expect, yet everything you expected at the same time.

I look forward to continuing this journey with you.

Welcome to Relaxed Ruby.

-RR🌸