Hello everyone,
On the 1st of August 2014, I turned 20. On the 1st of August 2014, I completed my one year internship at CNBC Africa. At the send forth and birthday party at my office, everyone gathered to say a few things to me. The two people I liked the least said the same thing and interestingly, the people that knew me the best, disagreed with them. What did they say? Dara is too quiet and needs to be tougher. Basically.
I remember giggling silently to myself that day. If only they knew the truth. I went quiet around them because I know myself. If I was to say the things I wanted to say about whatever they were discussing (which annoyed me most of the time) there'd have been fights and arguments. Thus, considering they are both significantly older than me and I was just "little Dara" I ignored them and played the part of the naive girl whenever I had to speak to them. Another thing that struck me was how they had associated my quietness with being weak.
Quiet does not mean weak. I don't know when we are going to realise this. Infact, it means the exact opposite. The quiet person has more time to analyse things and in this world where everyone is talking and no one is listening, that person holds significant power. A classic example is my Maya. Maya Angelou went mute for a couple of years as a child. She probably looked weak and dumb but her mind was very alert and look at what she went on to do.
The people that know me, know that I am far from quiet so for the more outspoken ones, I think we could learn something from quiet people. Sometimes, you really just need to be quiet. You'd be amazed at how much you'll see, notice and learn. For the quiet ones, don't worry, being quiet doesn't mean you are weak. In fact, you'd be surprised at how much power you hold.
Have a great day everyone!
With all my love,
Dara Rhodes
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