Do you have that crazy friend who pulls you into all sorts of challenges and doesn't back off till they are done? Well I have one. A new one. And his name is Arthur Sempebwa. Now you may be thinking that you've never heard of this particular superhero before but I'm here to make the introduction and to give you a heads up about the next three months of blogs coming up.
Consider this Day 1.
It all started with a rant. Not an angry, menacing, type the glass screen off my phone kinda rant. No. Just a simple knock, knock, this intrigues me too kinda rant, lets talk about it please. Thankfully, Arthur whom I had not spoken to in years responded cordially and gave me a little bit more insight into why he does what he does. What does he do? Check out his website below. He helps people tell stories.
After reading his latest blog post that morning, I was filled with a massive need to talk about performance, christianity and why it feels like there is something missing. I expressed to Arthur that I want more for my work and my art. Not just to create art because I need to keep the content popping but art that shouts the awesomeness of the maker of creativity. God! It was a great conversation with my DM column chunkier than his but Hey! Girl needed to elucidate on some things.
I like Arthurs work simply because he is consistently growing in it. He has his own unique style, his own signature edit that is admirable. Plus, he is Ugandan! His short stories are hilarious with content that is out of a purple sky. Its not usual. During our conversation Arthur challenged me to highlight a person a day who inspires me and I should do this for three months. The goal is to identify them, hit them up, tell them what they mean to me and like, share or comment on their work. Easy right? NO! Do I have ninety people who inspire me? No! Do I have all their contacts? No! But I will try. Arthur is number one. Superhero number one.
You guessed it. I will be blogging about each one and what they mean to me. Initially, I thought I would sorta just type their names down in my phone but thats easy and a challenge should challenge. Neither do I mind the little writing practice I will get with it. Wink wink. How am I doing so far? haha.
Here is Arthurs blog post that sparked off my rant:
So ladies and gentlemen, those who are new to my site and those who are not so new. Welcome Aboard! And a big Salute and Merci Beaucoup to my first inspiration Arthur for sending me out on this journey.
Ciao
Hi Linda,
Thanks for this comment. I share a lot of your sentiments. After reading your comment, I went back to re-read my post on "Every Creative has their time" and I think the best way forward is for the creative to be honest with themselves and pursue that self-integrity without demanding it from others. Cause each one is on their own journey.
However, coming to place where you can breath and let go of the pressure is difficult. This year, for me, saying that phrase you wrote of, "I'm not working on anything at the moment" was so difficult. SOOOOO difficult to say but once I did it the first time and the second, I felt myself being able…
Hello Aganza
Came across your site from FB and your blog post.
Thank you for sharing Arthur's blog ( I didn't know about him) on what success in the creative industry means to him.
I can relate to him and your statement. I paraphrase, 'how can I do work that's fulfilling and shows God's greatness.'
I agree that most times as creatives, once one show or project is finished we ask ourselves
"What next?" instead of evaluating ourselves, we rush into a new project because every now and then you come across people who ask you
"What are you working on?"
This is really a pressure question where it's not like you don't have the ideas or projects but you…