Echoes of Sinorita

Creativity, Self Reflection – Interlinkages

Long before my sister went to school and learnt how to sing and dance to songs that I found truly hilarious like mzee mzee nipatie tumbako nikuchezee kidogo, nikuchezee kidogo, na breakdance kidogo, na twist kidogo (old man give me some tobacco snuff I dance to you a little, some little breakdance and a little twist), she had a doll.

She gave the doll a rather curious name because none of us had ever heard it. In our Kitaita accent, we pronounced it Sinyorita. It sounded exotic, mysterious — and baffling. I remember asking her what it meant and where she got it from. She didn’t give much of an answer. It was simply Sinorita.

Wele doli wako wangwaa ani? Wawangwaa Sinyorita? Sinyorita, ijo ni irina jahao? Ni Sinyorita (By the way what is your doll’s name? She is called Sinyorita. Where is that name from? She is Sinyorita.)

Years passed and then I discovered to my amazement the name Sinorita does actually exist. I recognized it for what it likely was — a child’s version of Señorita, the Spanish word for a young lady. The mystery of where she got it from has endured though!

I have been thinking of my sister’s Sinyorita and its mysterious origins in my sister’s mind as I contemplate the miniature succulent called orostachys that graces the banner of this blog post. It was gifted to me by a florist who sells flowers along Peponi road near Sarit centre between Mwanzi and Lower Kabete roads. It was a tiny sapling by then at the base of a haworthia which was what I was interested in. Rather than uproot it or charge me for two succulents the florist graciously let me have the two for the price of one.

I only got to know of its name and that it is not native in Kenya this morning. This must be part of the manifestation of globalization! We get to see and interact with plants we would never have come across had the world not globalised. My main preoccupation with the plant though, has not been its taxonomy or the accuracy of the same. As it kept growing and its tendrils kept shooting out, slowly filling the tiny pot I had placed it in especially after I had placed it in a sunny spot, I could not stop being fascinated by the cunning resemblance it bears with my pathetic artistic impressions of flowers.

My drawing abilities are very limited, a fact I made peace with when my children started bringing me their drawings of various models of cars and superman. Looking at their impressive 3 dimensional representations I could only laugh at my own miserable efforts at their age and even now. My own impressions of living persons are some pathetic looking combinations of straight lines and various geometric shapes.

In my younger years my drawings would invariably end up as calendar designs. I have never managed to figure out what the preoccupation with calendars was all about. But designing calendars was a big thing then. Back then I probably took my drawing efforts very seriously maybe even imagined they would transform into something serious. I snapped out of those false dreams ages back. Not all dreams are valid, surely! For them to be valid they must be in touch with reality and be aligned with it!

But time and talent was on my mind as memories of Sinyorita and the miniature succulent orostachys sent me to the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. How did Michelangelo hoist himself to paint those awe-inspiring frescoes more than 500 years ago?

All this makes me wonder about the unexpected beauty and potential that exists all around us, often in unassuming forms. Just like my sister’s Sinyorita, a child’s unique take on something grand that suprisingly actually exists, and like that tiny orostachys that cunningly resembles my artistic impression of flowers, a surprise gift that stubbornly thrived.

Our own journeys of self-discovery are often filled with unexpected twists and turns. My own limited artistic abilities, a source of amusement when compared to my children’s creations and the mastery of a Michelangelo, remind me that growth isn’t about reaching a predetermined ideal. Instead, it’s about recognizing and nurturing the unique sparks within us, those unexpected blooms that, with a little sunlight and care, can reveal their own surprising beauty. Perhaps, in embracing our own “Sinyoritas” and allowing our inner “orostachys” to flourish, we begin to uncover the masterpieces of who we are truly meant to be.

How awesome and fun filled this self-discovery when it is undertaken with some childlike playfulness and not taking ourselves too seriously!.