Back to Basics: An ode to Wakanda
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I’ve been back home in the UK from my trip
to Ghana for two months now and its no secret that I find it extremely
difficult to blog about the UK – Ok, maybe not difficult as I haven’t tried too
hard to do so but that is because enough bloggers do that and that is there
niche. Unless I’m going to a cool event, I have no zeal whatsoever to blog
about travel in the UK, but who knows that could all change.
This time last week I had no motivation in
the world to blog, to be honest I’ve even thought of packing it all in. Only to
be reminded of how far I’ve come every time I mention it to my friends. I was
looking back at photos I had taken the very first time I visited Dakar, Senegal. I went to find them again after watching the Black Panther movie as the
euphoria I felt reminded me of that feeling I had back in 2013; The excitement
and relief that a country on the continent is so beautiful and contrary to the
pitiful stereotypes of Africa. A highlight of last month was most definitely
the long awaited film Black Panther, I’m not here to review it or give any
spoilers if you are yet to see it but it is fair to say the film is a game
changer. In my twenty-five years of life I had never seen an all black cast
depicted as strong and influential characters, it was so refreshing. I know the
feeling is mutual amongst many black people as the #wakandaforever and
#inwakanda hash tags continue via social media. I was stunned by the amount of
research that went into the film in terms of the production as they merged a
variation of cultures from West, North, South and East Africa to form Wakanda from
the Malian architecture to Senegalese Music to the South African Ndebele tribal graphics. It was overwhelming to process, another similar emotion I feel now
and then while creating content online.
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| GOREE ISLAND, SENEGAL 2014 |
All of these blogging strategies, Pinterest
and all that jazz to boost your blog profile are time consuming and
overwhelming to learn. It almost takes the fun out of blogging. I was speaking to my Dad recently about the
pressure around blogging and how everything now heavily revolves around your
stats and figures. It is a lot to take in alongside creating great content. It
can be difficult not to look at what other bloggers are doing and compare
yourself and think you are not doing things right, failing to realize what
works for them may not work for you, every blogger is different. There is a
general ideology that ‘consistency is key’ but what is the point of being
consistent/active if you’re not adding value? I’ve really had to be honest and
ask myself that. It’s ok to not be active and to take a step back to rest and
prepare, as the saying goes ‘Rome was not built in a day’ and I’m pretty sure
Hannah Beachler the Set Designer of Black Panther spent multiple hours grafting
before making Wakanda come to life.
Other than thoroughly enjoying the film, I
guess it reminded me too of my purpose as a ‘Travel and Design Blogger’.
Something I feel that I segregate quite often when I really do not need to. In
the words of my Dad “Remember why you started”. The reason I continued blogging
was to document travelling elsewhere, especially the continent of my heritage, to
the places that are not advertised the way they should be. To learn more about cultural
history that was never taught in school. To document the design, people and
artisan culture I was discovering on a daily basis, to make comparisons and
observe the similarities of neighboring countries in Africa within culture and
design.
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| DAKAR, SENGEL 2014 |
If you did not know Yasmin TELLS stands for
Travel, Explore, Live and Learn. I feel I sometimes stray away from the purpose
of my blog, which is not a bad thing, but Black Panther’s virtual city Wakanda
gave me the wake up call I needed. Whenever you are suffering from a creative
block or feel like giving up, remember why you started and focus on your core strengths.
For more and the latest blog posts keep it touch!
YASMIN TELLS