The Birth of Body & Soul

Toronto, Ontario, Canada
bola@nigeriahorizon.com

Finally, the day came when my chief advisor asked me to come up with a theme- A Theme? I must say I was flattered, but did he not know what he was getting himself into?  Me, myself and I are a theme? To be quite precise, Bola herself is a theme! Moreover, the last time I checked, ‘a theme’ was the foundation of my college essay!  Anyhow, I decided I wanted something interesting, non-political, but flattering, to add to the whole horizon obsession and least not forget about me (originality) in the process, so I settled on something artistic or better say, typical.

I have often appreciated beauty as an art and have being intrigued by its wholeness. The need to come up with an appropriate theme in this case sparks some interesting ‘making and burying’ of ideas. Without much ado I found myself leaning towards the possibility of focusing on body image.  And many ideas do pop up. Some of which are: “Beauty Tips with Bola”, (yeah, okay???) “Fashion with Bola”(ask me o, what does Bola know about fashion? Am I a designer?) Or should it be “Image with Bola” (well, maybe we’re getting close, well, of course, I’m a woman), “Beauty with Bola” (abegi, since when?) and how about “Body no bi firewood with Bola” (even closer, yeah okay???).  However, close to being satisfactory was, “Body and Mind with Bola” (pardon me, but I am not a philosopher) Anyhow,it was the closest to hitting the nail right on the head as we finally settled on “Body & Soul with Bola.”  Hence, the birth of Body & Soul!!!

Body and Soul is a unique blend of creativity, reality, and spirituality served tastefully on an inspirational platform.  Do I hear you whisper it kinda’ also sounds R&B’ish as well.  Well, that’s okay too!  There’s always something about a writer that comes across to the reader, so if there is one thing you already know for sure is that I enjoy R&B too (old skool).  Furthermore, Body & Soul would explore and center around  beauty as unique and a creative trait, which embodies health tips, beauty tips, fashion, self-esteem, spirituality that are significant in making the combination of these two separate, yet, distinct entities quite inseparable.  We will explore questions such as, what is beauty in the African Woman?  What is the uniqueness about the African woman?  Why is self-esteem so important?  Is there any such thing as peer pressure influence?  What is it that makes us attractive to others?  Is beauty merely outward?  How do we take care of ourselves internally to further sustain the reflective action derived on the outside appearance?

When talking about beauty, is natural the way to go? What beliefs are significant in sustaining beauty, bearing in mind that charm is deceitful and beauty is passing?  What is fashion statement?  Is fashion merely about wearing what is in or what looks good on us?  Who and what is in trend when considering African embroidery and/or attire? Do we embrace our African heritage/attire/embroidery as contributors to enhancing natural beauty?  I think this narrows it down, to give a clear and concise insight to where the journey with Body & Soul will most definitely take you and me.  I must add you’ll also  find it an intriguing experience from an inspirational platform, most importantly, incorporating the truth in today’s reality. 

Lo & Behold, I just overheard someone use that famous, yet almost redundant line again, “You’re beautiful! Hey, beautiful!”  And I am like, okay? Could you give me something more?  Although, the tingling sensation of a warm glow was the automatic response stimuli to that compliment, yet again, my soul started to wonder and ponder with additional questions, such as; Why do we get complimented despite when we feel the least beautiful?  Obviously, there must be something more about the physical appearance than meets the eye’ kind of compliment.  It must be something more than the mere fact that I’m a woman, it must be more than the hair-do, nail-do, face-do and if not, what exactly was it?  Again, what is it that makes people comment on beauty?  I mean all this physical appearances eventually do come with an expiration tag, especially in a society that is so intoxicated with comparing beauty to the likes of celebs’ such as ‘Genevieve-Berry’ or ‘Omotola-Beyonce’, the famous faces of the 20th century, so I came to the conclusion that the truth was beyond my external features, what people saw was something more, something greater than you and I, it was a connection to the soul, the epitome of inner beauty, which was personified in beauty.  This inner beauty radiated to the outside and linked body & soul together.  Hence, the inspiration behind my next column - When Beauty says…

Until then, remember to smile, because when you smile, the whole world will smile with you, as you bask in the glory of a fulfilling year!!!