Blog de Mylène Otou

I remember my teenage years. That one night, I went to a party with my friends and it so was jam packed we weren't able to get in. As we were waiting inside the "abribus" to go back home, defeated from our failed outing, I noticed un unusual smell. "What's that smell?" I asked. My friend at the time, who visibly had more experience than me in the things of life, replied "It's weed, duuuh!" I remember feeling ashamed and ignorant for not knowing what weed smelled like. Over the years, I would have a few encounters here and there with the substance, which even though was illegal at the time, was quite common in parties and pretty much anywhere where young people gathered, with the exception perhabs of Church groups. After trying a couple of times, by the time I was 20 I had lost interest in having any more of it, so I would pass when being offered. Perhabs because by then, I had seen the destructive effects it had on some particular young pe...

My family is from Cameroon. My parents decided to go back there for retirement 10 years ago now. Last Sunday October 8, Cameroonians went out to vote for the president of the Republic. The thing is, we have had the same president for the last 36 years. The man is older than Pope Francis, just to give you an idea. Yet, a big part of the population still supports him. So let's just say the results of the elections, which are still being compiled after a week, shall surprise no one.    On the same day Cameroon was voting, so was Brazil, a beloved country of mine in which I have lived, and with which I still have a strong bond, as the Community I am a part of is from there, and therefore most of my brothers in Christ. Not to mention hundreds of Facebook friends of mine. So as much as I tried not to get dirty and to close my eyes and ears to what's going on in that country, it is pretty much impossible.   Let me make a brief recap for those who might not kno...

During the past ten years of my life, I have been travelling around the world. To be more specific, I have lived in Spain, Mexico, France, Cameroon and Brazil. Besides these countries where I lived for at least 3 months each, I visited many more. Looking for what? Not sure. Some said love, others a purpose, I just felt like I wanted a place that felt good, that I could call home, as many life events had removed the home feeling from my hometown Montreal. Well, as a girl who grew up in Montreal, I never imagined that the place where I would eventually settle would be Toronto. THE Big City/Economic Center of Canada Toronto. And yet, that is the city where it was written that I would spend an undetermined amount of years of my life. Well, it has been a year since I arrived here now. I have spent a great deal of time analyzing this city, comparing it to my hometown Montreal, writing articles about how Montreal is so much better than Toronto. Yet, today I decided to publish this new artic...

I wasn't going to watch it. As was actually at work (yes, I work on Saturday mornings at 7 AM - believe it or not, I chose this schedule!). And even there, there was not escape from it, with the news screen only talking about it and showing clips of it all day.   That’s how I found myself, on a rather non-busy morning, tuning into CNN live to see live moments of the wedding. I didn’t expect to be moved in any way. I mean, as a Black woman, the whole “Half Black girl in the Royal family” thing sure had touched me in some kind of way. But as I my work day went on, I found myself particularly moved by the whole ceremony, to the point where I decided to write this article. Here’s what I take away from this special and historical event. Love and weddings still exist As our society and mentalities change, we now live in a world in which getting married is not necessary anymore. For many, marriage is an unnecessarily stressful and expensive commitment that does not add...

I've always been wary of the word "feminism". Ok, not always. I would say probably for the last few years, after I started growing in my faith. In my head, when I thought about feminism, I pictured either suffragettes all over the streets requesting female vote, or Femens all over the streets with their breasts out and something like "My body, my choice!" written on them, or Beyoncé surrounded by an army of half-naked girls singing and dancing "Who run the world? GIRLS!" And quite frankly, none of the above seemed very appealing to me.   However, I know deep inside I've always been a feminist. That feeling re-emerged a few months ago, in the midst of the whole #MeToo movement. I guess I'd just stopped identifying to the feminist movement, because I thought it wasn’t quite well represented nowadays, while being poorly viewed within my Christian faith, among other circles.   As I got more and more involved in my Church, it somehow...

  A year ago, I inaugurated this blog with this article, which has been translated into English for this Lenten season. Enjoy! It's Lent! If you're like me, you are probably overwhelmed with prayer and meditation proposals for that special time of the liturgical year. And you probably have plenty of disorganized Lenten resolutions in your head. Perhaps, just like me, you never really sat down to think about your New Year resolutions, so Lent is the perfect time to do it. Well, my brothers and sisters, it's time to stay focused! Time to put all these ideas in order, choose a prayer mode and stay as faithful to it as much as we can. Time to fix some realistic Lenten resolutions and go right at it without thinking twice! Time to take out them spiritual books that have been sleeping on your shelves taking dust! Time to clean up our soul from all the dust we've been sweeping under the rug all year. Time for retreats and sacraments! Sure, it all looks a bit intim...

I wrote this article last summer and have been waiting for the perfect timing to release it. I decided I would do it on Valentine’s Day, since it refers to couples. In the meantime, I was blessed to attend to a Christopher West conference for the third time in my life, which fueled my desire to share this article, as it is inspired by his works on John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. So here we go! Have you ever heard the expression "Never go to bed mad" as an advice for couples? In other words, couples should talk out any problems they might have and make peace before they go to bed together, so that the next day becomes a new day, free of resentment and grief. Well, I was thinking about that, and then I had this epiphany. I had already read books in which Christopher West makes an analogy, comparing marriage to the sacred altar on which the spouses reproduce the Holy Communion of love making, becoming one flesh, as we become one flesh with Jesus in the Holy Communi...

We are entering Black History month. On February 16, the “Black Panther” movie is coming out. Everyone is talking about Blackness, Afro-descendants are going back to their roots... And so, I decided to write my first article on this blog that is not related to my faith. Rather than being about my one true first identity (being a daughter of God), this article will be about one of my many other identities, that of being a Black woman. Being a Black woman in a White-Male-dominated world, even though I consider myself very lucky, as a Black person, to know exactly where I come from, from what country in Africa, what village, what tribe, and to know exactly who my ancestors are. Not all of us have that chance. So let's start. As a Black woman, I was always told, out loud or not, by my Black community or not, that when it came to hair, the longer, the straighter, the better. I don't remember at what age I got my first perm, probably around 5 or 6. I just remember the be...