Hello. I’m Back.

Hello.

Simple enough to say, right? But sometimes this simple word, takes the greatest courage.

I’ve been thinking long and hard about how to re-start my blogging journey. I felt I needed to re-build my relationship with you guys and I felt awkward as to how to re-acquaint myself with you all. A lot of you are nameless and faceless to me and the only way I know that you exist, is by the changing numbers on my screen — on that note please say hello once in a while, this girl right here loves a conversation.

On the note of ‘hello’, have you ever wondered how many times you’ve uttered this word in your life? The very breezy times you said it to a neighbor, or the time you were the new kid in school, and you were just waiting for the first of many ‘hello’ that will form memories of long friendships.

I’ve realized that I have had phases in my life where I was either super confident or super shy. Like many things in my life, grey areas rarely exist. Being a trainee journalist, there’s more of super confident me now. This is because I have had to interview lots of people—on the street mind you, ergo strangers—when covering stories, I have grown confident in my encounter with people and Hello doesn’t feel like a heavy word anymore.

Well not like it used to. Paired with a smile, this word has the power to open up conversations laced with stories and warmth.

Yesterday on my flight back to Nigeria, I saw a familiar face. But for some reason, I reverted back to my old ways of caution and convinced myself to not say a thing. See I know this person through the social web and this will be our first encounter IRL.

About 8 hours later whilst waiting for our luggage in the crowded halls of Baggage claim at the Abuja airport, I spotted her again and I said to myself just say Hello. What could possibly go wrong?! If it isn’t her, then fine. And do you know what, I did say hello, and she also recognized me and she mentioned how she wasn’t sure either, meaning she had been in the same dilemma as me for the past 8 hours.

I say all this to say that, the art of conversation is a beautiful thing that we shouldn’t miss out on.

The lady who sat next to me on the plan introduced herself the moment we settled in, and that put me at ease on the flight and we shared a few stories throughout the flight which was nice. So when you think about the awkwardness of a conversation, just think about all the gains you will get from a simple Hello. That ought to put a smile on your face.

On that note, hello again dear readers. I solemnly swear that I will try my best to keep this space updated and filled with content. I hope to get to know more of you and I hope you leave me emails and comments. Find me on the social web:

Instagram: Planetmeera—expect lots and lots of pics on my adventures in Nigeria.

Twitter: Girrlmeetsworld—I talk everything from books, rants, politics, human rights, fashion, travel, food, TV shows and a bunch more! Tweet at me 🙂

Until next time.