It is almost interesting, and quite saddening at the same time that if we think of all the happenings of 2020, it would be hard to still believe that we are in the year 2020.
The year had seemingly started like every other year. We were in high spirits, ready to smash our goals for the new year. Ready to make progress financially, ready to love, ready to travel, ready to try things we never had tried. 2020 was that year of vision. The government had banked high on it, as there was a lot of talk on Vision 2020, the year we finally broke away from the stagnancy that had plagued Nigeria for the longest of times.
The year 2020, was a year of hope. A year of progress. A year of better things.
And it almost seemed like it was on to a good start, when COVID 19 showed up. It started with rumors, with a large number dismissing the worries of countries that had started experiencing the outbreak. We went about our daily business, chatted on it. We laughed about it.
For a while, we regarded it as the ‘common cold’.
Life was still seemingly normal. We were able to interact with our friends by going to visit, we remained in conversations with them even as we spent hours in traffic as we went about our dailies. Nothing could stop the ‘happy’ that was the year, 2020. Or so we believed.
And then, March came. March was the month that welcomed the break down of things. Our brothers and Sisters had started dying from this deadly virus, and it wasn’t anymore just talk of the ‘white man’ disease. We were beginning to understand that our melanin, our sun, did not shield us from the virus that was slowly eating at us.
Fear clouded our existence, and interactions were now clouded with a mask. It did not seem so much like the happy year, but we tried to keep the faith. We tried so much to hold on to the believe. We tried to hold on to our truths. We tried to hold on to our sanity.
The virus begun to steal more from us, and we had to stay locked in. That, was novel. Staying home? Stocking the house with groceries? Physical meets to be avoided? It was almost unbelievable at the start. The question- ‘was this the end of the world?’ rung in our ears, but we continued to keep faith.
We tried to stay happy.
Reality however took its toll, as there were only so many affirmations one could repeat to prevent one’s self from sinking into the abyss. Jobs were lost, and there was struggle. Many joked for a fresh start of 2020. This was not the reality we wanted, but this was the one we could not escape.
There were more deaths, there were more accidents, the government seemed to come up with new policies every day that only served to the disadvantages of the masses.
We asked ourselves when the crazy would stop.
Were we going to keep living this way? We could not run from it, and it seemed like we could not move forward.
The outbreak of the virus reduced, and we begun to see the light. Months at home had opened our eyes to the unfairness of the government to its citizens.
We asked for a change, and we received a backlash.
We lost more Sisters. We lost more Brothers.
Going through these memories have been nothing but a roller coaster, and my eyes wants to let the tears drop.
I have cried a lot of times this year. The hope that I had at the beginning of this year was almost now inexistence, but I rekindled my fire with the ‘happy’.
This year has taught us on the fickle nature of life. It has taught us to value our relationships more with friends, families, colleagues, partners. It cemented the knowledge that we weren’t an island. I cried tears that were not just of sorrow. I cried tears for the new reality we never prepared for but had settled nicely into living.
As the year draws to an end, there is a question that tends to circulate round.
The question- ‘What did you achieve this year? `.
I’m here to remind you to breath, and remember that surviving this year, staying strong amidst all the crazy was so brave of you.
Our bath time is a vulnerable time for us. It is a time where we let go of all the worries, and focus on just feeling. It is a time we settle in ourselves. It is one where we relax. While we may not have realized it, it is because of that we are so careful of the Soaps we buy. We select one with a scent that keeps us relaxed, and in a happy mood, and we even sometimes select sponges in our favorite color.
It is for this reason the Happy Soaps have been carefully made for you. With varying scents designed to calm and help you forget the worries of the year, to shapes that ensure you keep the smile on your face, our happy soap was tailored for you. The Soaps are made with 100% natural oils, African spices, possessing so high a quality that ensures your skin is rich even as you go about your dailies. The exciting shapes have been carefully chosen to remind you to stay smiling, while keeping your rich, beautiful African skin healthy.
It is the perfect Christmas gift for yourselves, for the friends that you had to rely on virtual communications to talk to for the longest time. It is the perfect Christmas gift for Family.
The gift communicates that despite how tough the year has been, the smile on their faces is the most important to you, and that you want to keep it there.
They are designed to go in a pack of 3, of 6, and also custom orders.
The more, the merrier. As you make your orders, remember, we want you to maintain that beautiful skin while remaining happy.
We would like to hear you. Tell us how this year has been for you, and who you would love to gift the happy Soaps to.