Don’t let them call you a spark if you are the whole fire

Bandiswa Vilane
Nov 5 · 3 min read

“If they try to box you, unbox yourself!” — Bandiswa Vilane


A friend said once said, ‘when you hear me say ‘here’s my two cents’ leave the country’ (inserts laughing emojis). I couldn’t agree more because, after this, we might all be leaving the country! We’re all so scared to address the people that have boxed us, created ornaments and moulded us to fit their preferences for reasons we can never care to know. Yes, I said what I said. We can never care to know the excuses that people hold to placing us in spaces that are nothing like what we are.

Everyone has a choice, to be everything they wish to be, and unfortunately not every choice is good. That’s the thing with freedom when you give a human that has no destination, they use it to be a dilemma to everyone else. Of course, we are this and that and so many things short of perfection! It is also ‘this and that’ that makes people bring tags to our tables and start creating a circus of the things we serve. Please don’t allow anyone to disrespect you and determine your level of understanding and comprehension according to their desires, to feel superior, or to feed their eagerness for intellectual uppity. Don’t let anyone standardize how plausible it is to know anything beyond the par they have placed for themselves.

You are not basic. ‘This and that’ is a menu that doesn’t serve ‘basic’ so don’t make room to be a clown in someone’s mediocre. Don’t set yourself up based on someone’s idea of intellect when it only stems from arrogance and trivial thinking. No one gets to set your level and capacity to carry yourself or let alone hold a conversation with utmost grace or like a king.

You also aren’t subjected to stroke egos in place of your dignity to keep anyone on a high horse because they like to stay relevant. See, the thing is relevance is like any other thing brought to a picture for ambiance — useless — when the intentions are messy. Teach yourself to call out anyone who looks at you and calls you a spark when you are the whole fire! Learn that the only person who gets to set standards and labels on your capabilities is you. No one gets to waltz in and dance on your stage. This space is for your solo performance and you do stellar! No one can stop the routine and tell you how much you can dance or how much of the dance you know based on their performance.

You should not take stickers from flippant tongues and let alone futile thoughts and place them on your table. If anyone tries to box you, unbox yourself and if they don’t die from the ‘glorious’ fence they’ve built to cage others. They’ll be lucky enough to see that the level at which they hold you at was never close to who you truly are.

Refined and redefined with Bandiswa

There is magic in the unknown, sprinkled in glitter, and a galaxy of conversations waiting to happen. Here is to provocative topics, hearty conversations and drops of sarcasm, because ‘if they are afraid to start the conversation — spark it’ and dance with their thoughts.

Bandiswa Vilane

Written by

Published Author — Blogger — Visual Artist — Poet — Youth Empowerment — Psalms 46:5

Refined and redefined with Bandiswa

There is magic in the unknown, sprinkled in glitter, and a galaxy of conversations waiting to happen. Here is to provocative topics, hearty conversations and drops of sarcasm, because ‘if they are afraid to start the conversation — spark it’ and dance with their thoughts.

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