The search for alignment

Greetings,

I am not complaining too much but it has been harder to get the time to work on the newsletter in the last two weeks as more work is starting to come in. And yet, there is the space between when you start doing work and when you can start invoicing; a space many a freelancer knows all too well.

I can comfortably say that, regardless of how much lip-service gets paid to the importance of small businesses in driving any country’s economy, most of the time, processes don’t take the challenges of small businesses into consideration. Especially cash flow management.

But it is the reality. One has to find a way of focusing on what you can control and not expending too much needed energy on what you can’t control.

---

1

For years now, I have wanted to write a book. Despite having spent the last decade or so as a working writer and, therefore, having written thousands, if not tens of thousands of words, this has been the one place where ‘imposter syndrome’ has regularly been felt. I have finally written one, titled Listen To Your Footsteps, which will be released in June this year. It is the one thing I can say I got right during lockdown last year. The book is available for pre-order, if you are in South Africa. Otherwise, it will be available globally upon release. For info on it and where to pre-order, check out Pan Macmillan’s site.

---

2

Siphiwe Mhlambi is a phenomenal photographer, especially when it comes to jazz photography - and I am not just saying that because I have worked with him. Over the years, we have talked about collaborating on creative projects but still haven’t got there yet. Mhlambi’s images conjure jazz’s call-and-response is a dope piece on an exhibition he had in September 2020 called Expressions as well as his journey to get there.

---

3

A podcast is next on the list of things to be done. I’ve been procrastinating on it for about seven years but I am also very comfortable with allowing things to happen when they happen. In the last 2 to 3 years, it does feel as though it is a medium that is being embraced more and more on the African continent. Podcasters Are Reclaiming Storytelling in Africa gives a glimpse into that space, with an African lens.

---

4

If we do not document our history, it will fade. Nii Tei Ashitey and Wulomei - May We Not Forget is about a musician, a band, a music form, history and its impact on the present.

---

5

Kamal Obat writes, “The Nothingness series celebrates the life of a fisherboy, whose power is evident in his mastery of an element as essential but as tricky, as water” in the intro to Nothingness photoessay on Lolwe.

---

6

Would love to see more writing like this in SA. Criminal record: How Malcolm McClaren ripped off SA musicians.

---

7

Algorithms rule the world.

---

Have a great week. Please comment, subscribe and/or share. Have an awesome week.

Easy

Kojo