AM I STILL A DOCTOR?

Trust me, I didn't grow up wanting to be a writer

You’re very wrong if you think I grew up dreaming of becoming a writer, let alone a poet! ✍🏽

Growing up I wanted to be a doctor so bad, precisely, a General Surgeon. I have had this dream since I was five years old. If you ask me why I wanted to be a doctor, I would tell you that I wanted to so I could touch and change lives. As I grew older, it became clearer what area of medicine I wanted to specialize in. By the time I had finished secondary school, I had it all planned out. I'd get a first degree in Biochemistry, move to Canada for my MD, specialize in General Surgery and round it up with being a Hepatobiliary fellow. The best dream I ever had! I had even started the journey already, in fact, if you scroll down my profile, you would see that I am a certified Biochemist from Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma 🏫

Now you might ask, why didn’t I continue? You see, that's a story for another day, a very long one, but today, I couldn’t be happier that I took that detour.

What I have learned in my 30 year journey on this earth is that when we make plans, life can give us the bombastic side-eye, but the truth is that God makes better plans, despite ourselves. Oftentimes, we think we know where we’re going, like I did too, but it was at a certain point that I realized that I was going too fast in the wrong direction. It took me recognizing and appreciating my inherent gifts to realize that there are more than one ways to skin a cat. I quickly understood that sometimes, a changed life can be a changed mindset and what is the ultimate tool for changing mindsets? WORDS!

I could change lives with my words and touch hearts with every syllable I can manage to speak. I have a fan who has been struggling with Bipolar disorder for years (she’s in her 70s). She reached out to me to tell me how my words have helped her heal. She said in her words, “...every time I read your poems, I feel a certain kind of relief from my pain… ” and she is one of many who slide into my DM with beautiful things to say about my work and how they relate to it. So I'll leave you with one question, if the people you come in contact with don’t feel whole after meeting you, what kind of doctor are you?🤷🏽‍♀️

Maybe there is healing in my mouth after all, and in my hands too. The pages I write on are my operating table, every room I perform in is my operating room and when I perform my surgery, I am not holding a scapula, I am holding a pen!🖊️

Still a doctor innit?