3 Letters to a friend: 1
Letter 1: You have to believe in destiny (you are here)
Letter 2: Like a woman
Letter 3: I am not taking the shortcut
I think I wait too long. To do anything. If I have to write something, I always wait, wait for the idea to click, wait for the story to form. I am always waiting for creativity. The only time I don’t wait is when I want to write something emotional/vulnerable like this letter. I didn’t wait to write it. I was walking and I was thinking of what I would say.
I wait too long.
It was a problem at my last place of work. I took too much time. I’d have a task and all my reports would be ‘I was thinking’. Thinking is nothing. People want action.
One con of not knowing how to flirt is you never get phone numbers. You don’t move from the first base. You are forever stuck there. There have been times when I’d meet someone I found attractive, with who I got along very well, we would talk and then… and then we would go our separate ways. I’d never ask for their number. And in my mind, I’d tell myself that if it’s destiny, we will meet again.
There is someone I met at Dodo pizza on two occasions. On the first occasion, it was some random conversation. On the second occasion, even more, random conversations. This time, we exchanged names. And guess what, I never asked for a number. I told myself if it was destiny, we would see a third time and then I’d ask.
You know I pull that destiny move all the time, all the damn time. I believe that what is mine will come to me and what isn’t will leave. And so when I fail, I might say destiny and when I miss something I might say destiny and if I don’t get a job then it’s destiny. When things don’t work out for you, you have to believe in destiny.
At the end of last year, I saw two things I wanted to apply for. The first one was a workshop for podcast editing. The deadline was the 20th of January. I opened a notion page, called it ‘apply to this’ and put the link and date. The second thing was a BBC podcast competition. The deadline was the 22nd. I did the same thing, put both of them on that page. Then I created calendar reminders. Then I started waiting. Waiting for the answers to the application question to hit me.
Two days ago, I submitted my application to the Editor workshop but as I filled it out, I felt disgusted. My application was so bad. I would definitely not make it. There are undoubtedly many more people with better things to say than me. But I submitted that application.
For the application due today, I opened the link last night, but I worked on my podcast till I slept around 2 am. This morning, I said I would work on it, then I didn’t do anything till 11:30 am when I fell asleep for one hour. After 1 hour, I got up and went to my friend’s house in Ebutte Meta to pick up something. On my way back, I walked through your street. I even came up your stairs, stood at the door and almost knocked. Then I turned back and just went home.
When I got home, I started staring at the screen trying to think of a podcast idea for the competition. I kept waiting like I had been waiting for weeks. Eventually, I figured out what I might try. I refreshed the page to make sure it was still working, then I filled out the application. Answered their questions. Made the two-minute voice note they asked for, uploaded it, clicked submit. Saw the progress bar climb up to 99% then got a message saying failed.
Confused, I reloaded the page and saw this
This is now closed
This closed on 22nd January 2021.
I had missed it, undoubtedly by a few minutes. I had missed it because I waited too long. I don’t even know how to feel right now. I had finally gotten an idea I thought would work for the competition. I even sent you a message on IG to check if I could get your opinion on the idea. I feel like I stood a better chance with this than the horrible application I submitted two days ago.
It’s times like this where I want to believe in fucking destiny. But, it still hurts.
Here are the answers I had for the application. At least let one pair of eyes read them and one pair of ears listen to the audio.
Describe your podcast idea in 50 words. Give your listeners a reason to want to listen
Kole Kole is a podcast about the dirty jobs people do to keep the environment clean. We take an unorthodox approach to investigating climate change and environmental sustainability by giving voice to the overlooked efforts of unlikely environmentalists. Where exactly does Nigeria stand in the climate change fight? Listen now!
Now pitch us your idea. Tell us what it will take. What is the format? Who will we hear? 500 words
There is a global conversation happening right now on the need to take active steps to manage the effects of global warming and climate change. We have countries in Europe taking drastic steps like the green new deal but the question now is where is Africa’s position in all this? How do we contribute to preventing a global crisis? How does it even affect us? What is happening now and what can happen in the future? ‘Kole Kole’ takes an unorthodox approach to investigate climate change and environmental sustainability in Nigeria; what it means to Nigerians and what they are doing about it.
At its core, ‘Kole Kole’ is a narrative podcast about the environment. Each episode approaches a different piece of the sustainability puzzle and it does so in language that affects the average Nigerian. It’s not a science podcast, it’s a people podcast following the jobs of the women that reuse PET plastic bottles, the scrap yards scavengers, the companies buying waste trash from people and all the under-recognised efforts of people actually fighting for the environment. Each episode will cover a specific problem and how it affects Nigerians directly, it will talk to experts about the mechanics of the problem, talk to the people already working on the problem and it will propose a practical way for listeners to help. Episodes will run for about 40 minutes.
Kole Kole is character-centric and for each episode, we will tell stories that connect directly to the characters most affected by a piece of the sustainability issue. Creatively, the project will take investigative journalism and creative storytelling to pull together all the moving pieces.
The delivery of the podcast is to tell relatable stories. Give Nigerians a podcast with characters they see themselves in, but at the same time use it as an opportunity to draw their attention to overlooked issues, underappreciated efforts and easy ways they too can help out.
Upload a 2-minute recording talking about your idea. We want to hear how passionate you are about the idea.
Well then. I hope you are having a TGI Friday! Happy weekend!. Hope to hear from you soon.
Delivered January 22nd 2021
Letter 1: You have to believe in destiny (you are here)
Letter 2: Like a woman
Letter 3: I am not taking the shortcut
