Will you choose to be different?

“Art is a personal gift that changes the recipient.

An artist is an individual who creates art. The more people you change, the more you change them, the more effective your art is.”

Sit in tight for this one, and I kindly ask for open-mindedness.

Now, how many of you don’t like school? For what reasons don’t you like it? Or say, doing jobs for instance? Perhaps, ‘boring’ people? Why?

I remember reading a book about left-handedness a while back, see here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-handedness and apparently how it is associated with creativity. I also remembered how when we are young some people are almost beaten and warned not to use their left hands. In other words, stop being different. Stop being creative.

Back to my previous questions. You know why you and I hate routine? It’s because it brings the same things to the table. It’s because it kills creativity, passion, it kills being brave and being bold, and it kills the very essence that we live for – To be ourselves. Being ourselves means expressing ourselves. Expressing ourselves is being artistic. Being artistic is offering your best, being at your best at all times. That means greater impact on the people around you because when you are good at something, and passionate about it, people see it. People react to it positively, and it challenges them to be artistic. It encourages them to share their gifts with the world, and we hence end up making the world a better place. A happier place.

With the onset of capitalism came an emphasis on money. Having money is great. I wouldn’t have this blog up if I didn’t have this laptop with which I am typing all this. I wouldn’t be able to share my art without money. It’s a means to an end. And what is the end? I am sure it is finding our purpose(s) i.e. finding what we are good at and being the very best at it. Also known as, being artists.

Art is not drawing only. Art is not musical tunes or paintbrushes only. Art is innovation, passion, boldness, creativity and purpose. Art is that waiter who goes out of their way to make sure that the customer is smiling. Art is not a cook. Art is a chef, who in a situation of risk and adventure creates their own recipe. Art is being different. Artists are people you want around when there is no manual to do things. Art is what makes the world go round, and Artists will forever command our attention, whether we like them or not. In short, Art is the ultimate expression of our true selves, when we are ourselves and when we are in a creative and high-energy mood.

·    The most important thing is that eventually art rewards itself and the artist. It is usually ‘best served’ free, with a lot of passion and energy. It usually changes the way we live in a better way and makes the world a whole lot better place. Kindly go ahead and be that artist you have been destined to be. That is your purpose.

Yours friendly.

My Public Service Announcement

{It is now 4:05 AM in Szeged, Hungary. I woke up an hour ago to go to the toilet and for the past hour I have been THINKING. Thinking a lot. This is some of it . . .}


Matters Spirituality
I believe in a supreme being, and that supreme being is God. I believe in God because his qualities (whether proven or not) I want to aspire to or they give me inspiration. If you think about your personal heroes, they would not compare to God in terms of their character. I wanted to update my status as "Before you judge, Before you complain, Before you regret, Before you make a choice . . . EVERYTHING is a choice. EVERYTHING. You need to believe in your choices." I consider myself highly. Its good, it gives me confidence in the choices I make and in what I believe in. But it also makes me self-centred and a bit selfish. One of the chief reasons I believe in God, is because it makes me humble. It makes me humble enough to make me to want to learn about other people. To be compassionate. To love (cc: conscious love). It makes me humble enough to think about others, which brings me to . . . 


The reason why I live/write
Some say I talk too much. Others say that I write good things that make them want to be better. Others have no idea who I am. Others just don't really care ENOUGH. I might still meet more people. Others might never get to know me or will never even have a clue of who I am. All that is good. I do what I can and I do what I believe is the right thing to do. I live to share my story and the story of others. That I think is my purpose {up to now :-)}. You can also say it embodies a sense of leadership. Actually you can call it very many things. 


I write because I believe in the power of words. I write because I seek to be a voice for those who cannot speak up. I blog because I believe in the power of the internet and how it can change people in a wider audience. I feel very deeply about exchanging ideas because I believe in the power of learning. I am not afraid to make mistakes, and when I write, I write to hope to learn. I write so that I can challenge your thinking and through your feedback, you can challenge mine. I do all this so that we can find our similarities that can bring us together to do GREAT THINGS and to appreciate and BE AWARE OF our differences and to ask WHY?


This is my purpose and I will do it ceaselessly.


The Guardian.

This life of mine

Today, this very second. . . 


I write just because I feel like writing.
In this journey of mine, 
I have taken steps of courage,
I have taken steps with my heart and with my mind,
In this journey of mine,
I have chosen to feel,
I am alive.


I am alive because I have come across many crossroads,
I have seen so many faces and I have taken many corners and U-turns,
I have been on the edge,
I kicked a ball yesterday when I was flirting with football,
My "one true love",
And just like that I felt a rush of strong emotion,
I choose to do the things I love,
To read, to learn, to connect, to share my passion,
To share my life with my friends irrespective,
To feel what it feels to be someone else apart from me,
To observe my surroundings
and see the beautiful butterflies,
to hear the chirping birds,
to talk with the daunting dogs,
to see the swaying pine trees,
I dream of places,
Places far and wide, out of my comfort zone,
and I embrace that feeling of the unknown,
Because through that adrenaline,
I am able to focus on the things that matter to me most,
I feel people make a lot of decisions in life,
and we end up thinking and not living,
but lets for a second think about what we love,
this very moment,
forget about the "what if's?"
forget about what is "right or wrong"
forget whether other people are watching,
forget the rest except yourself,
do the things that you love to do,
Connect with the people around you,
Appreciate your life in all its perfections and imperfections,
Live to live.


Passion, Motivation and the journey.


That is what we are all in this for. Together.

maisha Architecture. . . A new way of life.

What kind of vision do you see for Kenya? For Africa? I say Africa deliberately because it is our motherland. I believe everything happens for a reason and hence we are not here to pass time, lament and continue tirelessly to harness our potentials blindly. We need to be very careful, and very intent.

At times I almost shed tears. My eyes are watery, mainly because of the picture painted about Africa. I am sad because of the negativity synonymous with our continent. At times I cry because we continue to dig ourselves pits that I know one day we will get out of. All this is partly because we are not proud of who we are, and no one can stand up for us as a people. Everything would be pointed down to leadership, if you look at this situation critically. And at this point then, we would have to ask ourselves who leaders are? Leaders are you and me - Leaders are the people in our societies who are privileged and who people look up to. By extension then leaders are the people in charge of public institutions, people who offer public services such as education, healthcare, policies and utilities. In Africa, all these institutions have failed. Miserably. They can barely keep up with the bare minimum of our expectations. The saddest thing is that it has robbed most of us our dignity, our voice of hope and lead-strong will of ambition. Worse still, everyone seems to be telling only THIS story - They only focus on what's wrong.

What would you be with only those 'bad' stories told about you? Would it describe you as a whole person or would it be just part of you. What then are we without our good and bad? What are the kind of stories that are only told from one perspective? What becomes of us then when we are only forced to think in one line of thought? Forced to follow a certain system?

Why do we not tell the stories of Heroes and Heroines? Brave acts of selflessness and strong characters and personas both in the present and in the past. Why do we not tell about Tom Mboya? Why do we not here more about young people, young Africans, creating change? About good case practices of good governance and accountability? Why not have daily conversations about our dreams and our ambitions? About the pictures that we paint, and those frames that we hide deep in our closets? About William Kakwamba who harnessed the power of the wind? About great business start-ups in the continent? Success? Hope? Love? Passion? Why should we keep silent about these?

My own perspective is that leadership matters. It matters a lot especially in places where our leaders are not responsible for their actions. Where we cannot even depend on them . . . So are you willing to become a leader? Are you willing to go out of your way to mentor? Are you willing to do something in your own capacity to make a change? Or are you willing to close your eyes, blame everything negative on other people and only take an account when things are all rosy?

At the end of the day, we will be older. We will pass on the baton to the younger generation to drive our societies and make strides. What kind of picture do you want to see then? We are those people now - It is our time, now than it might ever be. We have to look at these things straight in the face and provide solutions. More importantly, we need to protect those that are younger in mind, from these false pretenses, these negativities and instead, light up their candles, give them a slight nudge and make them feel like they can be all that they want to be. We need to create an atmosphere for them, where they will feel comfortable and appreciated. Where their dreams will count. We need to mentor them to uplift their dreams and hopes. We will want them to be so sure of themselves so that they don't need to go outside the country to look for greener pastures because Africa is the greenest. There is food. There are resources. There is abundance of diversity. There is a strong will and determination to defy the odds. It is our motherland.

Embrace yourselves as we take this journey because it will not be easy. We need to be strong, and sure of what we envision. Welcome to maisha architecture :-)

a bit more humanity. . .

I sit and ponder. I am all alone in this room. The ipod is on shuffle and at this moment there is some soft house music playing in the distant background. The walls seem bigger today, and I feel as if there is more to aspire for - Considering especially the tall roof. I think I am grasping the hush gradually now. I think I have limited myself, sort of. Hard to believe, but I think that's usually the chief cause of monotony, which I have been feeling quite a bit of late. Limiting myself in terms of dreams and aspirations. At times we do that - we limit our thoughts towards only one direction and we fail to reach the unthinkable because of that. We haven't usually thought that far.


It sounds very ungrounded but let's get it right. I have always thought big. I actually have a t-shirt on with "the next big thing" splashed on the front - And you can bet on that entandre {I think my ego is too big at times - I think it makes up for some things}. Anyway, I was saying - I have been feeling stagnant of late and so I have gotten this imaginary detective spectacles to solve that mystery. One of the easiest ways I have found to solve this problem in the past has been to go somewhere I can do some self - reflection. Last weekend I had some of that, although accompanied by a bunch of very interesting peoples to fourteen falls - true to the word there was a lot of falling and swimming, see some comments for further details. 


Just read a quote "You should travel to somewhere new at least once a year". New places seem to have this voice that almost challenges you to be adventurous and try out something different. But also, more often than not, we go to these places with our friends. That is my point. Being around people reminds you of being simply human. Around other people, you get to be stupid and silly, you get to have the most stimulating intellectual conversations and you get to learn different characters, moods and personalities. So I am pledging to be more human for the next few weeks. In that respect I will:

• Take a trip to shagz (rural area) and bond with the older folk - Also to have some peace and clean, pure oxygen.
• Listen to people on a deeper level, resonate with them a bit more. Really working on that because at times its usually very easy for me to hum some tunes when talking to some people. I am not perfect.
• Breathe deeply, and think good thoughts.
• Take daily sabbaticals - Spend a few minutes each day to come up with a daily mantra of sorts. Something small that I will be pondering each day to give myself some renewed focus (Today's was on "learning to say no gracefully").

I will let you know how all that goes. Besides that, I am celebrating each of you. You keep me thinking progressively. Oh, and do enjoy your week. 

HUSH

Embrace the silence. We always wait for something big to happen, some sort of chaos or drama. Some form of explosion to get you excited and carelessly cry out aha! As if you know all the answers. Today I think of why we do what we do, and why we believe so much in some things and less in others. This great thing called life always keeps us guessing. We never quite figure it out, and what I have learnt in the few years I have been kicking, is that we don't always have the answers - Because if we actually did, we would lose the meaning of life. . . So embrace the silence :-)

I have been in a very docile state in the past few weeks. I have been feeling as if nothing much has been going on, because there is no explosion! I mean, it feels like there is nothing much going on. I guess over the past few weeks I have shifted my focus a bit, and that is taking some time to adjust and actually click in my head. I am slowly figuring out the silence. Its been there before, and its just a matter of time before I realize the reason and I blurt out an aha! That's how it is. When we look at some moments in our past life, only then do we see the true meaning of each of those micro-specs of events in retrospect. They all seem to fit in quite perfectly. The next time you don't sense a big bang coming your way, breathe deep and embrace silence. Its your quiet way of figuring it all out. We all get the answers eventually, and then we learn from each of those experiences.

 Eat. Breathe. Smile.

Round a round we go

"My thoughts and prayers go out to Perez, and all other affected AIESECers including their families and my neighbor whose house was burned down"

My 2 days have been very worrisome. Fatalities have just hit near home. In life some things happen that live you pondering, especially if you are melancholic like I am. I tend to get very introspective with little stimuli and when you are with people for 10 days in a gathering and they get involved in an accident resulting in one fatality, you tend to ask why?

I was planning to go to the j-town for one of those familiar shenanigans. Just before I leave, my mum tells me to drive her to the airport to pick up a visitor. On the way there she receives a phone call from one of her friends in the neighborhood and you can hear her wailing and screaming, and my mum tries to console her. Apparently, there was a huge fire in one of the buildings, about 4 houses up. Close enough to home.

Misfortunes are a trademark to life, and we suffer small doses of that at times. Yet again, it shows me how fragile life is. I mean, that must have been years' worth of investment and it took less than 30 minutes to disintegrate it. Back to my other story, the accident involved some of my friends-People who are super great leaders in their own right. I begin to think of the consequences that the loss would have on their countries and it’s a bit over my head, not only in terms of leadership but also psychologically for the team. I have been in a 10 day conference for AIESEC, and some of the delegates were headed for the coast for a study tour just after the conclusion of the annual International conference. There was an accident on the early morning of 30th August. The conference was super awesome and the end equally tragic as if we hadn't had the time of our lives. In retrospect, the 10days will be a hallmark in my life - it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.

That is life. One major thought in my mind has been that there has to be something greater and more satisfying than material things. . . Because clearly those can go any moment. Secondly, life is vain. 2 things I have concluded are:

• No matter where you are at, and what you are doing - Make sure you enjoy every moment.
• Do your very best, and live as if it were your last day.

That said, my belief is that we shall all realize that we live once, and that we will live for something bigger than our own selves.