Believe it or not, I am writing like a newbie. I am shy and highly doubtful of what my words will read like. Going by blogging science, most of my readers will be long gone because consistency is key for bloggers. So why am I back?
- I have things to write that could help one or two people, and I live for the opportunity to do so
- My bio page puts me to shame. I literally wrote there guys, that if no one was reading, I’ll still be blogging. Eweee!
In 2019 and 2020 blogging wasn’t consistent, I didn’t blog every week (or even twice a week like I once did), but I still put out interesting content.
2021 rolled by and I just stopped. There were reasons for stopping. Now we’re in 2022, and I’ll put my fear right out in the open – I don’t think I can be consistent with writing, or as fabulous as you all may think I used to be.
I don’t promise consistency, but I promise consistency. Make of it what you will.
Now that we have shattered the ice, welcome! I love this space, and if you’re new here, I hope you get to love it too.
My name is Debby – we should pause here. As a Nigerian, I grew up introducing myself as Deborah pronounced something like this /Dei-beu-rah/. I told people they could call me any variation of my name that gave them joy – Debs, Debby (I was likely to tell them no “Debbie” though), even (the offensive to some Yoruba namesakes,) Debo. When I moved to Washington DC (which I will tell you about in time), I found it weird that some people didn’t know how to pronounce my name. Like Deborah. Relatively common christian name, you know, but they seemed lost to it. One toaster guy that followed and scared me at the bus stop lol, pronounced it as Devoura. For a minute, I thought I was from an exotic Caribbean country and that was indeed my name. Fancy.
However, thanks to my primary 4 teacher, Ms. Kehinde, I picked up that the “O”(which we Nigerians mostly pronounce like /eu/) should perhaps be silent and instead the name may sound like /De-brah/.
I was like Riiiiiiiiight! I introduced myself with the silent ‘o’, and everybody was just fine. The weird part is that I adapted to a silent ‘o’ in no time, and found myself even struggling to remember to pronounce the /eu/ version to the Nigerians I meet over here. They tend to say ‘ehn’ after I say silent ‘o’-Deborah (weeps in solidarity). The ease with which I changed the pronunciation of my own name, baffles me. There is no moral lesson to this brief story. Except that…on doing a google search now, it seems the problem is with the ‘e’ in the first syllable, making it /Dɛ-beu-rah/, pronounced like ‘bet’ not ‘hay’ which /ei/ gives off. If I have confused you, sorry o.
Yes, my name is Deborah Adebayo, I am a Lawyer, international and social development professional. I am a Christian, and a Nigerian currently residing in Washington DC, USA – Nope, I am yet to run into Joe Biden, but that is underway. I used to love reading books, but now, I read professional articles in my free time (it comes with age, dear). Here are other things I’ve been doing in my free time of late: I discuss with mister lover, fellowship with other christians, cook and eat, binge-view interior design pictures on instagram or I make it a case of binge-watching movies. I am a couch-potato home-loving ambivert. I am therefore blessed that some people who read this blog consider me funny, because it is weird explaining my lack of a social hobby to other people outside of the blog. If it helps them, I say I used to bake and play the guitar (it never helps them). Feel free to call me Debby, (can’t have you struggling with /eu/ or silent ‘o’ or /ɛ/) and enjoy this online unraveling of the thoughts in my head as we go on.
P.S: *I had completed this post when I re-read my about page, and found out that I had earlier edited away the part that says “…and if no one is reading, I’ll still be blogging”. So I wasn’t even tied to my words. On that note, see you never again!
Love and light,
