What Local Guides means to me:overcoming depression,rediscovering myself and my love for writing

I remember that my life was basically triangular with weekends spent at home doing chores, watching TV and then nothing. The desire for more, and suicidal thoughts, made me accept my first invite to a local guides seminar in Lagos. The slides showed pictures and videos of what being a local guide was and how much more it could be.

Prior to then I was only cautiously aware of the fact that I was prompted to review places or upload pictures and without a real understanding of what exactly it was all about, I was very in serious about it all.

Then a chance invite to a local guides group opened up the world of endless possibilities and that was only the beginning.

Suddenly I had busy weekends with strangers turned friends and fellow mappers. Other projects were birthed and with my finding out more and more about events and places to go in my city, I was finally reunited with my first love, the joy of writing.

I went from a depressed person to a adventurous, out going person who is always hunting for locations and looking forward to visiting new places. I recently toured Dubai for my birthday, taking pics and posting reviews. Now I am looking forward to more trips around the world!

The most important thing for me is that being a local guide has opened me up to the Joys of the world, the awesomeness of meeting like minds, the beauty of having a new experience and the lingering memories that, in conjunction with my imagination, births wonderful stories and works of fiction such as my first novel published in 2018.

I know that no matter how tumultuous the world may be, there is always something to be discovered, experienced and shared with people. That happiness is something I cannot let go of and one that I wish to share with everyone I come across. It’s a life mission!

8 Likes

Thank you @tajmao for this highly inspiring post. I remember the first time we met was during Lagos Boat Cruise Photo Walk meet-up I hosted way back Saturday, 9 September 2017 - which also had @U-royFelixA, @MrLabule, @bolarzeal, @Sayo, @bassey, @EmekaUlor, @pwanaduku and others i can’t tag in attendance.

It’s been pure joy knowing you through the Local Guides program.

2 Likes

A lovely write up @tajmao @ We all have means and what local guides means to us as a community! Let’s keep guiding

1 Like