Hi there!
So I decided to try this writing thing out. I’ve been writing songs for years, writing an article shouldn’t be that hard, right?…..WRONG.
Huge shout-out to every other creative writer on this platform doing amazingly well at putting words together consistently like this. It’s not as easy as it looks, I promise.
So for my first post, I’d like to quickly share some random thoughts. I feel like all through my musical career so far, I’ve scarcely had the opportunity to express my innermost thoughts and thought processes to my audience. I mean it’s hard enough giving a good performance, slotting in a good speech with limited time is another thing entirely. I hope with this platform, I’ll be able to do a little bit more than I normally would with 10 minutes on stage. So here goes…
I pride myself in being observant. I like to watch things and scenarios play out. I love reading biographies just to see how things work. It’s a strength and a weakness, because more often than not, it puts me in a state next to dormancy where it’s like I’m just watching everybody else live their lives while I’m spending my life learning from them. However, I treasure it because it’s helped me make some of the best decisions of my life so far. A lot of things I’ve learned from observation, and while I acknowledge wholeheartedly the fact that not every lesson can be learned to the fullest just by observation as I have found in my personal experiences, observation is indeed a great way to learn nonetheless.
I learned to sing from observation. I spent a lot of time repeating the vocal riffs and runs of my favourite artists until I got them. My roommates in 1st year suffered dearly for it (shout-out to my man Osita, lol). It didn’t matter what time of day, I would rehearse and “disturb everywhere”. For the entire first year and most of my second year in university though, I think my course-mates and a few others were the only ones who knew I could sing. I spent all that time just trying to understand the way things worked in the music scene and prepare myself adequately for it. Looking back now, I know I wasn’t fully prepared for it but I don’t completely regret jumping into the spotlight when I did. Some things you just have to learn on the go you know.
I learned to love from my family. By just observing my father love on my mother, my siblings and I, I naturally grew into a soft heart-ed baby boy. I also have the utmost respect for women because I was raised around girls who were constantly under pressure from the boys in their lives. By seeing these bad examples, I said to myself, “I don’t want to be like these boys, I don’t want girls sitting around in their corner talking about me like this”. So I adjusted my life to suit these preferences (later on in life though, I learned that no matter what you do, they will still talk. Even if you die, they will still talk, lol). But all these I learned from observation.
I’ll tell you one thing I didn’t learn from observation though…
I didn’t learn to tell the future from observation. I couldn’t. At the very best, I could come up with some great hypothesis, but in the end, nothing prepares you for the future. For the wind of the unknown when it comes blowing in full force. For instance, nothing prepared me for the loss of my dad when I was 9. No amount of observation could prepare me for the pain that we all went through as a family when he couldn’t make it home that night in ’04. Nothing prepared me for the void I felt when I had to grow up and pretty much figure life out on my own. Nothing.
Nothing prepared me for heartbreak. I’d seen it happen to people around me, I’d read about it, I’d heard multiple stories about it but you really don’t know until you know fam. Same way you can’t really explain with words what it’s like to fall in and be in love, you can’t possibly explain succinctly what it’s like to go through a heart break.
I did say this was random though…
But here’s the thing. In all my little observations and findings, I’ve come to find a place of rest and solace and I’m glad I can share this with you.
We have a Father, who knows the end from the beginning! Nothing catches Him unawares, nothing takes Him by surprise. If it’s ever going to happen, He saw it happen an eternity ago. He didn’t just realise that Donald Trump would actually be voted President. He knew the results of the 2016 American Presidential Election before He even said “Let there be light”. That’s our Father.
So if you’re like me, and you’re very observant and analytical, always trying to figure things out and plan way ahead of time and structure everything until it’s picture perfect in your mind, air-tight with no mistakes or errors, I need you do one thing right now. Like right now.
INHALE.
EXHALE.
One more…
INHALE.
EXHALE.
There you go.
Relax. You don’t have to worry about everything. You have a Father who has your best interests at heart. No matter what comes your way, rest in the assurance that He’s in control and He’s watching over you. And while it shouldn’t stop you from planning and structuring, it should take away the anxiety and uncertainty that you feel.
One thing is certain brothers and sisters. God’s got you ❤
Love, C.R
If you enjoyed reading this, do comment your thoughts below and share if you will. Thank you for reading anyway!