Hey there,
Hope 2021 has been nice to you? We’re not leaving this panasonic anytime soon, so all we have now is ourselves and hope. I’m trying to stay positive, and I hope you are. I keep reading about the coronavirus and it’s very unsettling for me that there’s still a lot we don’t know about this virus, how it spreads and just how it takes control of your body etc. If anything sha, we’re thankful for life, so bless God for little favours.
Thank you for all the love, and feedback with the previous newsletters. I’m delighted when people write back on how they enjoy reading and offer suggestions etc. It’s basically like an online diary of some sort (seeing how I’m lazy to keep an actual one) and I’m happy to take y’all on my journey. By the way, I got a few emails about the last newsletter especially asking me about work. I’m currently fun-employed. Hopefully, I’ll write about that soon, but for now, that’s all you should know. It explains why I kept re-iterating the fact that I was open to freelance gigs, and consulting opportunities.
Being fun-employed is what you assumed it would be - fun. I’m mostly sleeping these days or watching stuff, or just resting. Often, I think about the possibility of being like this and having issues like deciding what to watch on Netflix.
My daddy isn’t Dangote and I don’t have a daddy like Dangote so you know, man’s has to work. I’m currently taking interviews for jobs - actually sat with the CEO of one of the biggest banks in Nigeria a few weeks ago and that’s another article to write (so two more, I’m counting).
Oh and I’m REALLY excited about Biden/Harris. I watched the inauguration ceremony yesterday and was filled was so much optimism and I like how hopeful I was. There are a few issues I have to be honest, but you know we’re hopeful and I’m reading the room. I enjoyed watching John Legend sing one of my favourite Nina Simone tracks, and just enjoyed the performances from Lady Gaga and Katy Perry, not really the straight country musician who thought it was okay to wear jeans to such an event.
All The Good Stuff
During the holidays and my time off full-time work, I’ve been doing a lot of television as expected. I’ll do a list of some that I’ll recommend
The Spy - Excellent television. Starts really slow, but it’s really interesting
Little America - An anthology that focuses on immigration stories, really enjoyable watch too
Bridgerton - Because the Viscount, the boxer and the Duke of Hastings duh
The World’s Most Wanted - Interesting documentary on some of the world’s most wanted people
Lupin - If you want a handsome lead like Omar Sy, and you’re into heist stuff and their unbelievable scam
The Morning Show - Just because you need to remember Jennifer Aniston for something way more than Friends
Bling Empire - Rich kids living their life will not be good television for me
Oh, and I got to see the beautiful movie that was The Milkmaid (yes, the same one that’s Nigeria’s pick for the Oscar but somehow, the video censor board says it shouldn’t hit the cinemas). The acting is really great and it comes from relatively new actors. I thoroughly enjoyed two hours of watching that film, and when it hits the screen, please watch. It was actually featured in my Okay Africa article on the best films of 2020.
I also found myself reading a lot this month. Actually, most of them are old reads but I didn’t share in December so you get a lot
This article that talks about ditching to-do lists
This read that talks about leaving and acknowledging that what you once had cannot exist
This beautiful article about love that made me feel warm and fuzzy
This one which I’m sure I’ve shared a lot of times by this gay Christian writer who believes that people can be both.
Then there’s this from this woman who tested positive for COVID but felt fine.
I’m sorry but there are more articles
One about Ryan Murphy and how the quality of his production has dropped since he started creating for Netflix
One about how indoor dining can spread COVID-19
This very cute Modern Love story about dating and love even when the ages were different
This about strangers booking an Airbnb together and what ensued
This one about the woman who married someone she had met only thrice
Okay, that was a long list! With music, I re-discovered a few albums - Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa, The Lagos Music Salon by Somi, Title by Meghan Trainor, Kedu America by Stephen Osita Osadebe, rare by Odunsi. I’m also in love with some new stuff like Heaux Tales by Jazmine Sullivan, Plastic Hearts by Miley Cyrus and Nobody is Listening by Zayn.
More Serious Stuff
(Feels like I should tell you that I’m listening to Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Drivers Licence’ and writing this at 6:15 am.)
Anyway, at the risk of sounding like my personality is based on being ‘funemployed’, being funemployed has been very introspective for me. Earlier, I had made mention of how I want to approach life and just having all this free time has influenced how that works for me. I want to work in spaces that allow me to thrive and I’m very much unapologetic as to how that sounds. I think being born into the Nigerian work system, you’re taught that work is supposed to be a favourite. So automatically, it feels more like a commensal relationship, as opposed to it being symbiotic. You require a person to work for you and meet needs. I want a job and I have this skillset. We decide on a price, and work commences. It’s why I find myself reading this Toni Morrison article about work all the time. Just to re-emphasise some of my favourite points from it:
Whatever the work is, do it well - not for the boss but for yourself
You make the job, it doesn’t make you
Your real life is with us, your family
You are not the work you do, you are the person you are.
I have also managed to focus some of my energies to other things really - things that matter to me and I’m excited about it.
This break has also reminded me of how disgusting dating platforms are. If you remember the last letter in December I had spoken about finding love and all of that this year and I am honestly optimistic (still am, to be honest). I have however realised that maybe dating platforms isn’t how I’ll go about it. For some reason, the crop of selection I was provided wasn’t necessarily my thing. I know it makes me sound elitist, and maybe I am, but the truth is that for every 100 persons I spoke to, only one person was decent enough. That’s wasting your energies into dumbing yourself down for people, and realising that maybe, just maybe, the only reason I’m having a conversation with you is just for the idea of some superficial activity (maybe?) and that itself is tiring. So I deleted all of it - Tinder, Bumble and those which shall not be named.
I’m also taking a break from most of the social media platforms. In July 2019, when I joined Wallets to handle digital marketing activities, I was very happy to leave Ringier and move into a new phase. It was financial technology, it was offering a better environment and more importantly, I was running away from constant social media monitoring. At Ringier, I handled the social media team - which means I kinda had to be online even when all I wanted to do was unplug (I did well, I mean the page I was in charge of was awarded the most engaging news platform by Social Bakers) but it was very draining.
More recently, I’ve had social media just for my personal purposes and it’s been liberating. So, I’m taking a few steps backwards. I’ll still tweet, maybe like one or two things on LinkedIn that aren’t inspirational messages, and mostly post embarrassing stories on Instagram but just not as regular as I probably do now. Here’s to knowing when to take breaks, and taking them when you should.
This brings me to a hill I’d probably like to end this newsletter on - take your leaves this year (still in line with taking breaks). Except they’ll pay you for working through them (which is a big lie because I know half of you work at Nigerian companies)
OH BY THE WAY, IT’S MY BIRTHDAY ON THE 12TH OF FEBRUARY. SEND ME PRESENTS BECAUSE YOU LOVE ME. Here’s my wishlist :)
Love and light and stay positive while testing negative.
Franklin.