By Nadia Muthoni
One of the limiting factors to creativity is fear of competition. Going past competition is what unleashes full creative potential. Africa is gifted with art just about as varied as our own ethnicities. When you make the discovery that you are unique, you can make the African art in you count.
We are preoccupied with the hustles and bustles of bringing food to the table – fixating our minds on survival. Many of us believe that the only way to make a living is by getting that regular day job.
Africa is an “art gallery.” Let us creatively organize the pieces and rise to a point where we look at things with a bird’s eye view. For as Ben Arment put it: “From 30,000 feet, creating looks like art. From ground level, it’s a to-do list.”
Life has many moving parts. It is a balancing act between hobbies and work. Art sometimes touches both sides. Think of the paintings that line your wall; the movie that you find overly exciting; the fancy car you drive. All these pieces of art were mere thoughts beamed into being by someone’s creative work.
Go Past Competition and Make Your Art Count!
If you are that person to whom some work of art comes naturally, act on it! You will realize that the bigger world awaits its fruition. Sleeping on your creativity self-diminishes your life. Shake all fear of competition, take your art and face the obstacles and challenges. Life, especially in Africa, has subjected us to conditions that sharpen our abilities to solve problems.
We live in a world that depends on the creative works of people. Have we not appreciated other people’s pieces of art? How much more would we appreciate our own creation? Overcome your competition thinking, take your creative brush and paint Africa with its own art.
Go past competition worries, give yourself an opportunity to connect with art today. Read a book, engage in photography, make a piece of art out of your own passion. Use what is around you. God has bestowed Africa with as much resources as any other continent and even better artistic endowment. Discover your art and make it count.
Also Read: Africa, Youthful Creativity and Vision
