Give them their flowers
Let them smell their flowers whilst they're alive
Although I failed to rest last weekend, it was filled with so much love and impact. On Friday, I appeared on The valuable Podcast’s Instagram live with Victor Sosanya and Jonas Andrew-Philip around public speaking, communication and confidence which you can watch here. It was an honour to share the stage with such prolific speakers, allowing me to share my tips and also gain invaluable insights about the industry. Despite having done quite a few speaking engagements, public speaking is an area I still want to develop in; honing the art of captivating an audience whilst conveying a message that is useful and outlives that moment. On Saturday I also got the chance to go with my mentor to minister at a youth conference in Andover (when I heard the location I thought it was a different country) where he led the first two sessions and gave me the opportunity to lead the last two.
The love you guys have been showing me and this blog in the past week has been unreal. The community is growing! (although many people still aren’t subscribed, that's okay because you can subscribe just up there^.) Throughout the week I received so many messages about last week's post and it inspired me to begin to message my favourite creators about their content also. Doing this led me to think about how much I show my appreciation to people, those who I personally know and those that I don't. Cadet was one of my favourite rappers for years, I knew a lot of his freestyles from start to finish, but I can't help but think the world didn’t give him his flowers whilst he could smell them.
A culture that appreciates
I’m of the belief that we need to be a culture that acknowledges, appreciates and honours people’s “yes.” It’s very very easy to assume people know how great and inspirational their work is, but let's be a people that tells them. Our perceptions of ourselves and our output often varies heavily to public sentiment. Your message of encouragement or feedback, could be that stimulus that's needed by a creator that's considering throwing in the towel. This isn't to say that creators live off motivational spurs, because there’s an underlying consistency required, but the acknowledgment and appreciation of their output makes apparent the fruits of their initial “yes.” For myself and other creators our content isn’t for recognition, but knowing that at least one person has benefitted from it makes all the difference. Honestly, I love the feeling of hearing that a post (especially the ones I put out that I didn't think was the “best”) has had an effect on someone's life or has created new thought patterns and discussions.
Thought: Often, we seldom appreciate people in the name of not wanting their head to get too big. May I suggest that this may be from a place of pride, where we in fact feel like appreciating someone else raises them higher than ourselves because we begin to compare revealing a deeper heart issue. Their “head getting big” is their own responsibility to deal with, don't let that stop you from expressing your gratitude.
Appreciate the yes
On Sunday, I was back at my homechurch where the preacher spoke on John 12:23-24 in the build up towards probably the Christians’ most important period in the year, Easter.
John 12: 23-24: 23 Jesus replied, “Now the time has come for the Son of Man[a] to enter into his glory. 24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives.
The scripture speaks to the beginning of what we celebrate at Easter, the death and resurrection of Christ, using the imagery of a kernel of wheat falling to the ground and dying alone. It was through a singular death that produced a “plentiful harvest.” Within the microcosm of creativity, it’s the sacrifice from that creator of all their fears, anxieties and potential gain elsewhere, that they put to death in hope of seeing “many fruit”; a multiplication of their input. It’s the passing on of a light that motivates many creators, in hope their audience are inflamed and thus scintillating others. Especially when you’re making impactful content, it’s the hope that the messages transcend and outlive the messenger; influencing and changing how people live for generations to come. I’m a beneficiary of many people's decision to put to death those fears and worries when releasing content.
“They ain’t showing love”
Absence of flowers doesn’t mean you’re not doing well, growing or a failure. I'll say it again for the person at the back, Absence of flowers doesn’t mean you’re not doing well, growing or a failure. As much as appreciation is nice, it can't be the sole reason for your creation and overreliance on it can be the bane of your creativity. I started running projects young and everything I did was celebrated, so much so that one of my biggest fears turning 20 was that my achievements aren’t going to be as big. Even recently after organising an amazing event at a huge corporate partner, where young people gained invaluable insights and opportunities, the absence of basic fundamentals in some of the young people like confidence in introducing themselves and session etiquette raised scrutiny on how I ran the program. Ostensibly it all looked amazing, but the event really exposed certain issues. Rhetoric on restarting the program, necessary changes and XYZ from people honestly made me question my ability and I genuinely considered relieving myself of my duties and putting an end to it all. I was reluctant to include this, but why I am is to get across the message that even in that moment, void of any praise, it was the realisation of my impact that made me discard thoughts of unappreciation.
“I'll bring you flowers, in the pouring rainnnnnn” (Only line of the song that I know but its a banger and came to my head whilst writing)
Let’s try something this week. On our socials, let's shoutout/message and comment below some of our favourite content creators. Mine are below.
Thanks for reading,
NYA
Last week in Loving is a contact sport I spoke about tangibly meeting the needs of the people around us. One of my friends has joined the largest student-led movement for global health, to volunteer in a free clinic in Africa. As the filling and Pouring community, let's support her as she embarks on this journey to live a life poured out. You can support here.
I want to appreciate some amazing creators today who you guys should check out.
my fav piece so far!
Learning so much from you always !