The Big Sort: 7 - This is a sign to do the thing
Hackney City Farm, London
2022.06
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She cut straight to the chase. Seeing anyone? Where in the world have you been? And what are you making at the moment?
It was a quick catchup — we squeezed each other in on a Saturday afternoon after a long back and forth between WhatsApp on her Nigerian number, her UK number, and Instagram. We met up in front of Box Park in Shoreditch and started walking north-east to Hackney City Farm. We went through all the main life highlights of the past few years as we walked single file on the pavement to dodge rubbish bins. She moved like a swan as I waddled alongside her with a belly full of cacio e pepe.
The last time we saw each other was in San Francisco. She came to my birthday dinner with a circular handbag (an actual a macaron-shaped thing with handles), and tiny red ribbons in her hair. She was a student at the time. Neither of us were on a set path yet, but the seeds were already there; she was DJing, directing short films, and making dramatic entries.
Meanwhile, I was having a rather tumultuous start to adulting at that time… I moved 3 times in one year. I once had 4 rounds of interviews to compete with 99 others for a tiny closet-sized room that I found on Craiglist. I was struggling to get my first photo book project off the ground after restarting from scratch 3 times. I poured part of my soul into developing a story for a documentary but just didn't make the cut for the celebratory dinner table, which upset me at first, but became fuel for my fire. I had my bike stolen before I had the chance to ride it. I got followed home in daylight in Potrero Hill that triggered paranoia and panic attacks for months. I'm painting a bleak picture, but it was in that rock bottom that I found hiking, yoga, friends who made things that inspired me and ones who taught me insights from their therapists. It was an eye-opening time to say the least.
But back to her.
I’ve never heard anyone refer to themselves as an artist with such peace — no emphasis, no flick of the eye to the side, no rummaging. There was no ego dance or resistance, which I sometimes notice in others only because I feel it in myself.
She said she’d just returned from a residency in Botswana like she was popping back from a milk run to the Sainsbury’s down the road. She added that she now did graphic design on top of her filmmaking and DJing.
"Had you done it before?" I asked.
- "No."
"How did that come about?"
- “I just... did it.”
It was a small and simple reminder. Just do the damn thing.