Broken Rose Colored Glasses

Hey All!

Welcome to my first real attempt at blogging. I'm here because of group of young revolutionaries who challenged me to put "virtual pen to paper", and here we are. I've always loved reading and to some extent, writing. I think it's amazing the way people are able to voice their innermost thoughts in a way that draws others in. I feel as if I have so many friends, all because of the way a blog post was written, or a book was penned. And a few years ago, at the prime of my early 20's angst, some persons suggested that instead of hiding behind the privacy wall of my FaceBook I start writing openly. Again, because I'm such a fierce protector of my privacy I declined. But apparently 2013 may be the year of change for a lot of us.
Fast forward to the dredges of November when the year is about to end and I am one of many recent disillusioned graduates unable to find a suitable job across the Caribbean region. I was sitting in a building that is supposed to be a rehab centre but currently has no clients, and I was frustrated. With my job. With my life. With everything that was everything and everyone and all body and somebody and nobody. And I took to my beloved Facebook to vent, blindly unaware that I was about to fire up a group of people. This happened:
"*begin musings* I don't read those uplifting little blogs about life and things 20 and 30 year olds should be doing anymore. You know why? It's all a lie. "They" say your 20's are supposed to be some of the best years of your life. Then someone says no, your 30's are supposed to be some of the best years of your life. "They" are obviously people who live in humongous developed countries. "They" don't know bout paying back student loans, going to the same ONE club over and over, seeing the same people, over and over, becoming disillusioned by your government's lack of youth representation over and over, being overqualified for jobs that pay you just enough to cover your loan and buy a box of KFC... Maybe I'm asking for too much, maybe I should write about the reality of life for an average Caribbean 20-something year old who has to fight for a job; (unless you have a friend in high places), who has no family overseas so you can't run away and scrounge for a living in the promised land of America or any other place called "foreign"; who fights with thoughts on life direction when you look at the square box of lies and static (TV) which suggests that OBVIOUSLY your life isn't worth ish cuz you still live home with your parents, don't own your own vehicle and sometimes they have to give you money cuz you don't have...
*ends musings* Jesus."
Let me be clear. I threw a maybe in the aforementioned rant and was challenged by my peers to make it a reality. So I'm going to write. And *you* my peers are going to help me. You're going to challenge me. You're going to interact with me. You're going to (constructively) criticise me. And we are going to *actually* make a difference. Because from that one rant, came ninety-nine (99) comments, ideas, proposals and suggestions on shared feelings, needs for change and a willingness to do something about it. A good number of the commenters are unemployed graduates. A few are also employed. The collective sum are brilliant. Notes were taken and in following posts, I'm going to map out clearly the suggestions that were made and look to you all for ideas on how to change the landscape of the country. I no longer want to promote a culture where graduates are hired on the basis of political preference and godparents in high places. Entrepreneurial spirits can take flight and we can push to be hired off the strength of our degrees and brilliance. This could be the beginning of true visionaries taking off our rose colored glasses and seeing the world through a different pair of lenses.
To be continued...

Peace and lack of hair grease, cuz it's rainy season.
K.C