Àwárí: Reliving Childhood and Finding Serenity
Puzzling my way to relaxation and rediscovery
One of the ways I unwind is by playing puzzles. I love puzzles. I remember how I used to hunt for newspapers just to play puzzles and Sudokus during my pre-teen and teenage years.
It was fun. Lots of fun.
Books and everything in-between were my sanctuaries; my haven. They were my escape from the boiling pus and the howling Tyburn of Lagos Island, the heart of Lagos, where I was born.
Far from the nauseating noise, I would bury my head inside the invisible vehicle of mortals. And immortals — beside the narrow gutter of Isale-Agbede, damning the cyclonic wave of hemp that hijack our air like daylight bandits.
Tonight as I wrestle with my focus, I stumbled upon the free Lost In Lagos magazine I took from Rovingheights bookshop when I stepped down to get a book earlier this evening.
I think the magazine caught my attention because of the calming effect of its front cover. It is laid in the thick black hair of a human portrait, with graffiti of a half sketched face, eyes closed as if it were in a deep meditation. You could imagine it as a monk in Anapanasati, whose other parts of his body were missing. Just above this is a beautiful Eden Rose flower that covered the width of the magazine with a bold cursive title, sitting on it, that reads:
‘For Love’
As I flipped through and rummaged around the heart-warming stories of Ayanfẹ: Chosen Love, and the thrilling images of Spaghetti Bolognese, Penne Arabiatta and Irish ice cream, I felt some stiffened knots loosened from my cheeks, letting away some innocent blushes on my round face. My saliva became the vehicle by which the invisible dots of the cream’s flavour travelled.
I became, once again, a child.
Free.
I flipped once again and found this Àwárí** word search puzzle, which reminded me of childhood.
I became child-like.
With every word search, I relive the past…
And for a moment,
all worries melted like tall ice cream on the lips, leaving fragments of lingering flavour, enough to last the entire night.
Until the moonlight vanishes,
like it was never -
here.
PS: Àwárí** is a Yoruba word derived from two separate words: wá (search) rí (see/find). The À before it makes it a complete phrase, meaning; to search and find.
This title embodies what a puzzle is, there is something we need to search for and find.
