The Start of a Journey

 Even though his life was devoted to medicine, it was consumed by literature, medicine was his lawful wife, but literature was his mistress...

Getting into 2024 with my blog finally on its feet has been among the most delightful thoughts for me. Jumping that precipice certainly took a lot of courage and pushing. Among the many things that have encouraged me along this path, is the desire to be a voice worth listening to. As I continue to learn my craft, I hope to be able to write in a manner that’s real and authentic. Sincerely speaking, I have been a little surprised to have amassed an audience even when many of my stories and articles are a little bit amateurish and unpolished. I was afraid that I would write and be the only one to do the reading, but right now, especially when my mentors and friends have urged me along, my passion has in some way been rekindled. For these three months or so that have gone by, I have had to question whether I was in some sense qualified to speak on and address any of the matters I thought myself to have an opinion on. But I am realizing that the most important and right thing to do is to be real and sincere in every one of my discourses, only giving an honest review of whatever topic I handle. Quite remarkably, and a little counter-intuitively, I have had to also learn from my earlier articles, a proof that personally, I am also not out of the wilderness I often vividly describe.

Having a platform that gives a number of people beyond your ordinary circle of friends and classmates an opportunity to peak into your life is a little intimidating. It is as if I have subscribed to a level of performance which I fear I may not measure up to. After my essays and articles draw feelings of awe and delight from readers, it sure will be a great disappointment when they finally get to see how dorky and uninteresting I am in person. But that isn’t a big deal, because personally, I believe I am a great guy. Wait! Did I just lie? I hope I didn’t.

Having a platform that gives a number of people beyond your ordinary circle of friends and classmates an opportunity to peak into your life is a little intimidating…

Most of the feedback so far has been positive, aside from a little expression of discontent about the high-planed jargon that becomes distracting once in a while and sometimes makes my arguments esoteric and indecipherable. I hope to definitely work on that.  Notwithstanding, the appreciation and ‘wows’ has been a source of great encouragement especially considering the doubt that almost made me want to keel over when I set out for this particular journey. As I forecast on how this particular commitment to write will pan out as the months of this year unfold, I am mostly unsure if I would have made the impact I hope to make with writing, especially with all the dedication to academic work that my third year of medical school seems to be soliciting. Anton Chekhov, that great Russian writer alongside Leo Tolstoy, is a great inspiration to me in this regard. Even though his life was devoted to medicine, it was consumed by literature as one man put it. Once, he said that medicine was his lawful wife, but literature was his mistress. It’s clear that my desire and quest to be excellent in both frontiers will be a tough and challenging one, but I am hoping to learn great lessons of stamina and persistence.

It’s already clear to me that I can go far in neither pursuits except all of you have my back, and I humbly request for help. As you read, please do not withhold any form of feedback even if it seems as though I may not like it. Every critical review will go a long way to improve every argument and keep me on track. I am not expecting this journey to be static and without any surprises, I know I may have to step into uncomfortable places that will challenge me to learn and grow. If I happened to be the one following through these articles, I would have most certainly expected nothing short of excellence in the man behind the pen. But even while I regard excellence as one of my core values, my experience so far might have been everything but that. That has made me question a lot and inspired some sought of imposter syndrome that might have precipitated the mental breakdowns I have had at some points in my life. I have mostly expected myself to perform exceptionally well in the areas I committed myself to, but as that has not always been the case, it is now a question of whether I would manage to keep a reasonable reading audience, especially now considering how people would rather do anything else than read inane and unpromising articles.

This uncertainty has been  a little disturbing, but in these few days I have gotten to speak to some of my closest friends who have been keen to urge me to keep at my work. In some regard, they have been the voice of God that has reminded me that it is the Lord working in me for his pleasure. I am getting to see that what I have to do is to obediently answer to His will, and strive to be a blessing to every person my writing will get to. I am therefore confident that this endeavor will turn out amazingly well, not to mean that it will be without its ups and downs. Even if it does not, I will be glad I took the journey, and I will be happy to step back and probably re-prioritize. Whatever failure I will stumble into, it would certainly only be part of the many lessons I will get to learn, and it would be therefore careless and ungrateful to whine or fret over them. 

As you read, please do not withhold any form of feedback even if it seems as though I may not like it.

Thank you so much for being one of my readers, please stay with me in this journey, and let us grow and help one another, for as iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of another. Once again,  I confess that I really need everyone's feedback despite how inconsequential you might think it to be. I would really be grateful if you could personally reach out to me as regarding anything about this blog, or even anything aside it, we never know what will come out of such conversations. Furthermore, I am a firm believer that if someone has something to say, the most prudent and courteous thing to do is listen. I learn so little as I talk, or even as I write, but I know I will learn so much as I ponder on everyone of your suggestions and input. So, let’s talk! If you have a story you would love to share, or if you would love to do an article as a co-writer once in a while, please reach out to me. Thank you for all your kind and encouraging words so far, I hope we always have fun together. Let’s make every story come alive, because this is Litnerd Letters.

I am writing a piece that I hope will be my first short story soon. It is a story about the experiences of a medical student at the University of Nairobi, Henry, who has to face the challenge and demands of med school with great commitment and courage, while at the same time bear the disappointment of his unrequited love for a lady he has grown to adore so much to the extent of helplessly associating every single one of his misfortunes with her. It is a story of growth and transformation, as  Henry expresses how medical school has reshaped his perspective on intelligence and hard work, and how loving someone who doesn’t love him back teaches him the true meaning of love. The title of the series is a little facetious and may draw people away from the story, but as Henry shares his story, it takes a keen eye to see how his pain and failure prepare him for the next season of his life. The story is inspired from my real-life experiences, and from Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s literary classic Love in the time of Cholera, where Florentino Ariza waits for more than fifty years when Fermina Daza will finally let him into her life again. Make sure to subscribe to the blog so that you never miss an episode, nor miss the excitement and suspense that every episode builds. 

Read every episode in order from the links below.

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Join the Journey