My heart loves the Mambo.

Flashback:

The year is 1998. I have just completed my form four exams and I am pretty excited.

I have a wish list, something I had since I was a little child. A guitar, a dance, a song and a poem.

My life revolves around these things.

I had no big dreams of being a musician or a popular artist; I just wanted to learn how to flirt with the strings. I took up guitar lessons at Church in the evenings, and perfected my singing. I loved every minute it. I didn’t get around to getting a guitar, there were far more pressing proprieties for my parents to attend to, and slowly, that dream drifted away.

A couple months later I came to Nairobi; shortly I was acting at the phoenix players, pretty small roles (I don’t consider myself much of an actress though). I played as a Chorus girl in Christmas Musicals and my first single acting role was a French maid in a play that had big names like Joy Mboya, it was directed by James Falkland. And that, ladies and gents was my first brush with the rich and famous!

In many ways Phoenix opened up a whole new world to me, and I began feeding my dreams . I wrote poetry and signed up with Kwani’s open mic events as well as Mbalamwezi players, with whom I did my most memorable experience with Poetry and Dance.

Fast track to almost 8 years later.

I am a mum, an employee, a friend, a girlfriend and a student.

That’s what my life revolves around now, and I am sure the same applies to most parents.

I ask myself though if that’s the turn that life’s supposed to take. Not that it’s a bad thing, it is lots of fun and I immensely enjoy it. I have comfortably immersed myself into responsibilities, budgets, and play days, and It has become my life.

So what happened to the dreams I had when I was younger? Shall I let them remain as dreams, and shelve them completely, and move on to what my life has become today?

I am a fleet footed, and I get restless quite often. I have grown though to prioritize my life, and to hold my feet firmly on the ground when I should. Though, Naturally, My feet are in a constant flight in search of something new, something exciting, and this time round, it’s on a search to find that girl I could clearly describe back in 1998.

I started my salsa class yesterday, and as stepped back and forth in my beginner steps, I reconciled with my dreams again, and in my heart I began to sense a satisfaction I haven’t felt in a long time.

It was as if my heart was dancing in tune with my feet, I smiled, I laughed, I missed my step and stepped on the Tutor’s feet more than once, but I saw sneak peaks of that girl I knew, and I am loving the beginning of this journey;

I’m finally making time to smell the flowers.