Social media has become deeply intertwined with the human experience that opting out feels like social suicide. The pressure to show up doesn’t just feel cultural, but existential.
And for those of us looking to grow our brand or business, showing up is not enough – we need to grow. Yet, in trying to grow, we tend to follow the same playbook:
In the messy space of real life, values like loyalty to family, respect for elders, devotion to faith, ethnic solidarity, and communal responsibility sometimes conflict with moral codes like honesty, fairness, justice, stewardship, compassion, and respect for human dignity, and so the real struggle begins
What nobody told me then, what nobody might have told you now, is that the “designated time” when “success” is supposed to happen is arbitrary. And the anxiety that comes from these designated timelines destroys your peace and hampers your growth.
Yet, we run with these timelines. Society as a whole has invented two categories of individuals, early bloomers and late bloomers, to further solidify these arbitrary timelines. Both labels further intensify the issue with the timelines.
We perceive other countries as the proverbial promised lands: clean, safe and functional. Even the internet doesn’t fail to remind us each day of Tokyo’s cherry blossoms, Paris’ romantic cafes, and the Caribbean beaches, where the sand kisses your feet and the breeze wraps around bare skin.
And so, we dream. We wish. We plan to leave.
We often imagine life as a straight line. Do X, get Y, or go from point A to point B. But most of us already know, life doesn’t always work out like that.
In our treacherous yet beautiful reality, the path looks more like what mathematicians call a “random walk with drift.”. It is a messy, unpredictable journey influenced by detours: chaos, choices, failures, and fortunes.
As children, people told us our 20s would be our prime: full of beauty, clarity, and everything falling into place. Some even advised us against overindulging – enjoying it so much that we make mistakes. But for many of us, our 20s seem to be the most confusing and painful time of our lives.
We now have a generation that is growing up believing they’re the only ones who are imperfect and struggling. As though failure, betrayal, struggles, disease, injuries, lack, stains, death, etc. are not all part of what life is.
If you ask me, storytelling isn’t about sounding smart, being right, or appearing flawless. Neither is it about getting likes nor rewards. It’s as simply…
In this place where almost nothing works the way it should, well, money surely feels like the only way out. However, I like to think money isn’t the only thing that builds people or society – our attitude is far more critical.
Going back to the year 2020—it was lockdown + death anxiety for me. I was tired of being stuck indoors, tired of the voices in my head telling me I was going to die soon. So when a friend invited me to some church, I tagged along, hoping for a change of scene.
We got there, and the prophetess or whatever title she preferred, looked at me and said she saw a vision: I’d die in 2023.
Tuesday mornings were the worst. Not because school was hard, but because Mr. Emeka never missed a 9:30 a.m. class, unless he was sick or pulled away for some urgent matter. And when he showed up, I knew I was bound to be embarrassed.
