“Anything
that works against you can also work for you once you understand the Principle
of Reverse.”
The radio announcer did lend a certain degree
of weight to the phrase, “Come with your
babe or don’t come at all.” I didn’t
have a girl and I figured I couldn’t just pick one and play boyfriend and girlfriend, (the act would have fallen through
with a shearing sound) I’d gone on and attended the event alone. Well, my
decision did ruffle a handful feathers. The guy-at-the-gate’s for one. I gained
access into the venue after a short and terse tug of words—in which I spoonfed
him lessons on my peculiar situation.
It was October 1st; the studio was packed
with radio DJs and upcoming acts. My teeny-weeny voice carried on the airwaves
to fill ears of God knows, how many million Nigerians as I performed a solo number
in acapella to honor my country’s Independence Day.
Way back in the early 90s, (I was in
senior high school then) I started taking tours to TV and radio broadcasting
stations and that’s besides the frequent visits to major recording studios of
the time. You see, I had “waxed” this
demo (that's demonstrational tape, for the uninitiated) a couple of months into
senior high and you know what they say about youth and zeal; I couldn’t wait to
get it published. In that when, you could still cut a music deal with a demo. If
only I’d heard about singles earlier, eh?
Soon enough, I got burned out. It took a modest
length of time but it did occur to me talent wasn’t the chief prerequisite when
you set your sights on the showbiz industry. Cash, on the other hand, wasn’t everything but its claws dug deep
into a good deal of everything. See, I didn’t have a lot of that to throw
around and it pretty much drew a line between me and a spot in what was once considered
the key arm of mass media. Good thing for me, I didn’t quit writing altogether,
even when I had no idea how I was supposed to pass on those write-ups to an
audience. I drew pleasure from my craft and my passion for it fueled the
courage to keep at keeping on.
Enter
the World Wide Web and Google.
Browsing became my fetish the very first instant
I delved online and ensuing days had me investing infinite hours surfing the
web and harvesting reams on reams of info via printouts. Months later, during
one of such escapades, I googled the word,
“writing” and from the top of the first page of the search results, like a
love waiting there with outstretched arms, the link to what is possibly the
greatest website for writers leaped out at me. I posted a poem or two in my
portfolio (that’s what you call your personal page on writing.com) then
I left off for a little bit. Sometime later in 2009, I revisited the website
only to find that my account had been deleted.
Some dude probably hacked into it and broke the site’s ground rules. I signed
up for a new one and this time, I went deep. Somewhere down the line, I got
involved in a writing academy on the site. This blog crawled out from beneath the loins of that
little elbow grease. You know how the rest of that ball of yarn unwinds itself.
Life sometimes gives you a second chance and
when it does, by God, you take it and run with it. I know the weight of freedom
the web has thrust into my laps. I’ve had the privilege of taking my talent and
turning it this way and that trying for new ways to put it to use effectively. I’ve
also learned the heart sees further than the head—mine had been awaiting the
coming of the internet and thus kept my back to the grind scribbling sometimes
in a fever at other times, totally wracked out of my mind. What was supposed to
work against me did cut me loose. From
late January 2014, my blog had visitors from over 106 countries in less than
365 days. Do you think any of those media houses (or record companies) I stalked
way back could have afforded me such a rich and diverse audience?
But hey! It’s a new year to break new
grounds and new records. I’ll see you on the other side of 2015 and we’ll exchange
notes. But until then, have a happy record-breaking new year.
Keep your pens bleeding.
Eneh
Akpan
January 2nd, 2015
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