About this blog

I started this blog in 2008 as a way to document what, in my opinion, is glorious about Ghana. I shared my first posts with a few friends. They shared them with a few friends, and in two years, it had become one of the foremost blogs in Ghana and arguably, the most loved. It was written very much from the perspective of a returnee. 

After two years, however, my romantic notions of the Ghanaian experience began to fade as the not so wonderful realities gradually became evident to me. I deemed it wise to attempt to solve, rather than complain about problems. However, I did not then understand that my writing could be a tool to contribute to Ghana, and I certainly didn't know how.

I became an entrepreneur, and along with a friend, pioneered e-commerce and social-media marketing in Ghana. Even though that business failed, I committed to entrepreneurship as my career path, and went on to learn how to succeed at it. Now in my twelfth year, I can share that my journey has been long, difficult, and rewarding. 

Developing and implementing solutions to problems has proved to be an enduring interest. My career choice, my spiritual birth, marriage to a loving and supportive man, my role as a mother to our two delightful girls, and my relationships with my birth family, have challenged and stretched me, and as by God's grace, I have been able to find solutions to the problems I have encountered, I have grown. 

Although family obligations have necessitated a move abroad, there remains a piece of my heart reserved for Ghanaians. And so at this time,  I've decided to return to this blog for three reasons: 

First, my mind is teeming with insights about the problems I'm solving in my own life that I want to capture. An old email that a dear friend wrote me in 2014 is proving particularly apt at this time in my life. 

The email was entitled: "The advantage of writing". It read: "The palest ink is better than the best memory". Chinese proverb. 

As I age (I turned 40 last month), it is just the nudge I need. The best time to have written was in 2014 of course. The next best time is now.

I also find myself beginning to really enjoy my life. I'm exploring the world with an approach and verve that is distinctly my own. I would like this blog to become a space where I process all that is happening, share my lessons, and maybe even inspire you to become more engaged with your own life. 

Second, it is my hope and desire, that a community will once again form around this blog and that this community will discover and enjoy the hilarity of the older posts and at the same time enjoy the lovely balance that the new posts bring through their utility. A little play. A little work. And Jack is neither lazy nor dull. Perhaps more importantly, I hope for constructive sharing in ways that move us all forward.

Third, what compelled me to continue this blog rather than start a new one was that I discovered that not only is this blog still being read by more than one thousand people every month even in its dormant state, but that in fact, most of its readers are people who search specifically for it on google. I'm amazed and gratified. And also encouraged to grow it because I do not have to start building an audience from scratch. I can write for the already existing audience. Not only that, doing it this way allows me to live one of my core values which is being integrated.

The name maameous can be considered an anglicised form of Maame. It was my late Dad's nickname for me. It comprises of two elements. The first piece is Maame. The second piece is ous as in delicious. So it is pronounced maame ous with something like a French liaison between the two elements. For those who don't know me personally, my first name is Maame Esi. 

So with all that ground covered, welcome! Don't stay here too long. I'll try to keep the posts useful and concise so that you're not procrastinating here, but finding information that spurs you on to work on rather than avoid your problems.