It boils down to choice: Coping with adversity

Life is the giver; life is the taker; life is the teacher; life is the lesson; and one should never lose the lesson. Life is cruel with bittersweet and sour blows; life is astonishing, majestic and impressive; life is good; to live is the blessing; life is the thin line between good and evil. And that is where the choice stand erected.

See, we are human beings who are living the real life in the real world. And the reality of the real life - within the reality of the real world - surpasses every human morale, ethic and value. Human beings are just imperfect mortals who are susceptible to any form of immorality. And due to imperfection, temptations are normally not easy to resist. That lives the burden to the individual to make a choice between the right and the wrong.

People of African ancestry had been bullied, battered and bruised over many centuries by the Arabs and Caucasians. And they were offered religion in the form of Islam and Christianity as the opium and relief; something to be observed and be bowed on in times of grief. They had been robbed of anything that gives them value and dignity; and thus, they were subjected into slavery globally.

From generation to generation, they had to suffer the indignity of servitude to others. Their offspring had to grow up with little or nothing, from generation to generation like cancer, as if that was naturally implanted to their DNA, or divinely ordained. That is something that naturally triggers the mind to be corrupt – hence being denied of the best things that life has to offer - due to the lack of access and privileges – can naturally subject one to want more – with enormous amount of greed. And greed prohibits one from making good choices.

That has generated vast corruption in business, sport, organisations, churches, politics and government globally over many years – hence greed knows no race, creed and nationality. But it is astonishing when corruption is being practiced by people who had been denied, ridiculed and subjected to servitude - over others who had suffered the same fate in the past – when those people assume leadership positions in any spheres of life. I guess that it boils down to choice, as greed can be controlled through the act of good deeds from good choices.

Is it simple for one to make good choices, and do good all the time, when one has been subjected to enormous poverty and deniability for all his/her life? It is very hard to fight temptations, particularly when one has a lot of dependents; and also, the extended family structures that are looking up to him/her (black tax). There is too much pressure that beset people of colour. And black people, particularly in the townships, are growing up witnessing a lot of hypocrisy from elderly people. People lie, cheat and swindle; breaking rules, procedures and processes to get things in their favour.

Life is cruel with the ability of turning a good man into a bad man; a saint into sinner; it all depends on one’s experiences; and how one chooses to deal with different circumstances. When the reality of the real world gets real, it gets real for everybody. That goes for men of cloth, political leaders, business leaders, community builders, trusted community elders and change agents.

People are sometimes losing the sense and essence of who they real are. People lose characters and control. As the legendary poet Mzwakhe Mbuli had plainly put it on one of his poems in Zulu: “Ukulimala kwengqondo, kukulimala komuntu; ukulimala komuntu, kukulimala komphakathi; ukulimala komphakathi kukulimala kwesizwe”. Loosely translated as: “The damaged mind is the damaged soul; the damaged soul is the damaged community; the damaged community is the damaged nation”. The mind is capable of building and destroying, as human beings are biblically stated to be made in the image of God. It all boils down to choice.

AND ANOTHER ONE

My journey has been that of searching, seeking, stretching, finding and achieving fulfillment. My focus has been that of academia. And it is due to the fact that I was brainwashed to have that level of concentration in pursuit of success. And partly, due to my living conditions and struggles. It has also been the same journey for many people across the world.

Despite the fact that there are many unemployed graduates roaming the streets, none of us can deny the fact that there are many graduates who were able to secure employment in the fields that they have studied for. In many instances, it is about pure luck; in some instances, it is about connections, whereby someone would have to be sacrificed for the connected one. One’s connection is someone else’s denial of opportunities.

Patience and perseverance; the persistence even in severe circumstances has never failed. It always wins. Optimism wins. The strength of positive spirit always wins. And I have decided to revise my strategies and went back to school. Despite the setbacks, covid-19 and local thieves – stealing my brand new laptop, something that has negatively affected my studies - the price that one has to pay for living in impoverished communities, I was able to complete the Bachelor degree in Business Administration via correspondence with the University of South Africa. To me, that is the testament to the strength of my character.

I am technically unemployed, partly due to the impact of the covid-19 pandemic, but I am positively certain that I shall be able to secure employment soon. My long-term goal is to work for myself as an independent consultant for other businesses and non-profit organisations. I should then keep on improving myself academically; and also, with self or non-academic education, picking up the pertinent and non-pertinent work experience here and there, up until I ultimately reach my long-term goals.

I would encourage each and every reader to never give up, never give in, and never lose the essence of who you really are. Stay true to yourself and keep on trying. You should strive not to let disappointments and negative comments to get to you, and divert you otherwise from your journey. Be strong in your heart and keep the flame of hope burning within you. You’d rather be a loner than to try to fit in. Be a leader and set your own trajectory.

AND THE BEAT GOES ON

As the saying goes in Northern Sotho or Sepedi: “moshito o tswela pele” – meaning the beat goes on. I am writing metaphorically to insinuate my case, regarding my journey and my quest, for education, learning and progression. I had been hopping like a grasshopper, from one discipline to another, in the process of learning and acquiring the necessary skills, in my journey to secure employment; and also, to acquire the relevant working experience and monetary value, to benefit my children, and the significant other.

The journey has never been a smooth sailing, with the fleet of disappointments and disillusionments. I have had plans of reaching a certain level of achievement and progression at this stage of my life. But life is life, with full of surprises. And the reality gets real for everybody everywhere. The covid-19 pandemic had poured the methylated spirit on the open wound globally. It had initiated the forth industrial revolution in the process, disrupting the norm in the corporate world, and rendering certain academic qualifications useless.

Many jobs are not coming back. The huge amount of skillset cannot be applied, as the changes in the job market requires the work of computer programmes, computerised apps, manufacturing machines, robots, self-driving vehicles and the varying technological developments. All of the advanced technology within the work environment renders the lot of manpower skillset unnecessary and useless. And that influences the huge rate of global corporate downsizing and unemployment.

The world of work is currently requiring skills that revolve around technology; but not everyone is set to pursue the technological careers. And sometimes, it is best for one to pursue one’s passion, as it has the potential to turn one into an expert of the particular field. None of us can deny the fact that lots of graduates are able to secure the relevant jobs after course completion; but the lot more remains vulnerable to abuse, exploitation and degradation. And the advice is always entrepreneurship.

The small business sector is not conducive for everybody to thrive due to enormous competition and technological advancement; on top of that, one need capital to start the business venture. Most people are struggling to purchase just small groceries for their household, and there is not enough funding for startups. Funding is sometimes available when the venture begins to grow with symptoms of success. The potential funders or investors are shy of investing in the business venture that has not been tested or initiated. So, most of the beautiful business proposals shall always be rejected.

There is no formula to success. And there is too much corruption to keep the wealth and riches to the selected few. This world is crazy and sometimes requires crazy ideas and decisions in pursuit of success. One ought to pursue one’s interest and passion at all cost when it comes to academic learning, for the sake of sanity, self-fulfillment and self-happiness. One ought to try different things and pursue new arenas. One ought to learn something new every day, as the internet is providing too much varying educational content for free.

AND THE BLOG PROCEEDS

It has been a minute since the blog has been dormant, hibernating and void. I have lost some inspiration to write, to be creative, to wax lyrical, to be poetic, to be artistic, to be a wordsmith, to entice my readers with words. Life is the two double edge sword. That can be the blessing and the curse. It depends on how one reacts to any situation. And every human being is blessed with the ability to control any reaction to any situation.

Sometimes it is better to halt, to be dormant, for a while; to take a break, to refresh, to rejuvenate, to invoke and ignite the creative juices; to let them flow flawlessly, perfectly. To find the new inspiration to proceed, to succeed, and to achieve, in enticing the blog readers with words and good content. And quite frankly, the blog resumes, the blog proceeds, with generic content for my readers.

I will be writing on varying topics generically to build content, to journalise, to educate, to inform, to engage, to form opinions, to verify facts, and to critically analyse varying topics, and the myriad of information. And I expect my readers to engage the blog posts critically and maybe to write comments for each blog post.

My intention with the blog this time around is to create a lot of content. There would be a lot of blog posts for my readers to feast on and engage. The blog is officially resuming from recess, and it proceeds.

Day of Imprisoned Writer

PEN South Africa, in partnership with the Institute for Creative Arts, has organised Day of the Imprisoned Writer event on Friday, the 15th of November 2018 - to commemorate writers who are serving sentences and awaiting trails for their works at the Hiddingh Hall in Hiddingh Campus of the University of Cape Town. It is the annual event, and they always have an empty seat that represents the imprisoned writers.

The writers who were commemorated this year were Wael Abbas, Dawit Isaak, Miroslava Breach Velducea, Shahidul Alam and Oleg Sentsov. The readings were presented by Rustum Kozain, Desiree Lewis, Yewande Omotoso, Wamuwi Mbao and Nick Mulgrew. 

To read about the arrests and sentences of the commemorated jailed writers, kindly visit PEN South Africa webpage: http://pensouthafrica.co.za




Source: http://pensouthafrica.co.za

The blog resumes: Reflecting on the past 18 months

It is me, as it has always been me, pushing the pen as it regurgitate ink on the paper – like a vulture regurgitating rotten meat in the mouth of its chick. Writing is therapeutic; but most importantly, the art of writing facilitate to store information, ideals and formative thoughts that surfaces from the caverns of the brain. Writing helps to spark debates that generate indispensable remedies. The art of writing should be perennially encouraged. I just cannot rest my pen.

I am back after eighteen (18) months of recess from blogging. The blog is no longer dormant. I have decided to halt for a little while to avoid monotony in the tone of my writing – which is largely influenced by my frustrations and acute depression. I had been nursing wounds from life brutal blows; however, even though the wounds are not completely healed, I am currently in the better position psychologically to endure the agony.

The past 18 months had been filled with positive and negative events that have filled me with great ambivalence in my reflection. I will not reveal much, just one event which is of great interest, and so glorious - a human achievement. I have completed a BA Communication Science degree at the University of South Africa (Unisa) in June, and it was conferred to me in the spring graduation ceremony – held on the 19th of October 2018 in Friend of God Church, GOODWOOD. It was my debut participation in the graduation ceremony; I could not participate in the autumn graduation ceremony at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) - about a decade ago (in 2008), due to administrative incompetency at the exam office. 

I came across tremendous odds in my journey; I won’t dwell on them to avoid scratching on dreadful memories. I can happily say that I have covered the milestone; the challenge now is to secure pertinent employment. I am planning to study further up until my forties, for as long as I am able to study.

Kindly view some of my graduation images that random people took with my Tablet PC Smartphone below:  

This is our future: Gambling through Education

So, quite recently, my hands had been numb as if they had been injected with a highly intoxicating drug, or they had been paralysed by a North Pole winter biting snow. I could not move even a finger to push a pen. I could not think of anything of interest too. See, I am nursing life brutal blows; and my thoughts are struggling to ascent above my own unique status quo. I could not bring myself to a state of pessimism and bombard my readers with my mere obsession about my tribulations - hence that could cost me dearly, to a point whereby I will find myself losing an inch of my readership.

The reality is that I had been paralysed, and/or faltered, by/or with a writer’s block. It is not that I have nothing to think of, and/or write; for every soul that has faced, and/or is still facing life brutal blows, have a lot to say, to think, to write. I have only been careful not to allow the tone of my writing to sound autonomous. So, I chose to allow myself to falter with the writer’s block – up until the new creative tone finds its way to my soul, and nourish my skill.

They say, sometimes a writer need to walk around and observe when faltering with the writer’s block; and through observation, the inspiration will find its way to the writers skill. Sometimes the inspiration can ambush the writer through life’s vicissitudes and harsh perennial realities. And that can often happen at anytime, anywhere, anyhow. And the inspiration hit me on Monday (the 22^nd of May 2017) at All Nations Church in N1 City, just adjacent to N1 City Mall.

I went to All Nations Church earlier in the morning to write a Unisa (University of South Africa) Winter Semester Examination. There were people who were not allowed to write, due to being two (2) minutes late. To me, that was so unfair. Consider the fact that they have invested both time and money on the modules that they were supposed to write. That investment in terms of time and money is most definitely the reason one African guy was so frustrated, citing “this is our future”. He pushed a security guard who stood on his way and forced his entry. They did not provide him with examination documents, and threatened to call police. He had to leave the exam room on some anger tip.

His “this is our future” utterances rang on my mind perennially. And I kept on thinking; we were bombarded with the perception that education is the key to the future from a young age. We grew up with that perception. As a matter of fact, we were indoctrinated with that perception. Even the late first South African black democratic president, Nelson Rholihlahla Mandela once said “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world”. That is debatable when it comes to academic and non-academic learning. And that is the reason that there was a woman who died in a stampede during registrations at the University of Johannesburg in 2012 (http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120113110018923). One columnist from City Vision community newspaper denounced that incident as an act of desperation. He went further to allude that even though education is the key to the future, there are lots of unemployed graduates in South Africa.

My stance is in affirmative with that columnist when it comes to desperation. And that desperation stem from the fact that we were indoctrinated since knee high that education is the key to the future. That without education one will amount to nothing. That’s definitely the reason that guy was shrieking “this is our future”. One needs education to secure good employment. But nepotism and racism is rife worldwide. Jobs are not guaranteed even if you are highly qualified.

Education was developed to meet the rise of industrialisation. All tertiary courses are specialised to fill a certain gap in the industry. Now that the world is globalised through technological advances and machinery, there is no need to hire many people in the industry, because one machine can perform tasks that are performed by vast manpower. What does that mean? It definitely means that many graduates will never secure employment in the fields that they have studied.

If jobs are not guaranteed, why am I pursuing a BA degree at Unisa? The answer is: I am gambling. See, life is a gamble. That’s why people get hired and fired, fall in love and break up, marry and divorce, accumulate wealth and lose it. It is all a gamble. I recently had a chat with a UCT (University of Cape Town) graduate from Kwa-Langa, a township near Cape Town City, on a temporary administrative job I had at St Marais TB Hospital in Retreat. She said: “Anele, education is the security over jobs, not a guarantee. When job opportunities avails themselves, you stand a better chance of obtaining them – than someone who is uneducated”.