If I ever wrote a self-help book...

It would contain many expletives. I keeps it real. Here is the potential cover and title as well as a breakdown of chapters:

Please note: F=Fuck

(Sorry)

 

Chapter 1: F everyone.

This chapter is about designing ones psyche to be able to easily tell people to F off. F people and do whatever the F you want to do with your life and time because that shit is damn precious and can't afford to be wasted. Be free, happy and filled with joy and do whatever the F you need to do to feel that way. F a hater. Haters gonna hate. Don't let people's own personal limitations about life become your beliefs about your life. Do whatever you want to do to be happy. (Don’t kill anyone though. And try not to hurt people either.)

Chapter 2: Drop bullshit like it’s hot

Here, we delve into the mind in order to understand how not to stand for bullshit. Don’t stand for muthaf-in bullshit ever. If something does not sit right with you, if something is causing you unhappiness and you can’t find a resolution (like when someone irritates or annoys you badly, or if someone is constantly judgemental and small minded in their attitude), drop that muthaf-in shit like it’s hot. This is how you actively endeavour to not stand for bullshit. You can only ever control your own self - and trying to control people or impose your will on them is just a pointless and wasteful effort. Get away from people and situatations that perpetuate what you consider to be bullshit and do something else with your time. Like spending time with people or in situations who that the opposite of bullshit and that inspire and uplift. Your peace and state of mind is more important than any bullshit person or situation. Just saying.

Chapter 3: Be one selective ass bitch!

In this chapter, we shall seek to let the light into our lives by learning to be selective as shit. This means always choose the F-ing utmost best for yourself in all circumstances, especially in terms of who you hang out with and who you share your time with. Be in full and conscious control of YOUR life and your actions, and where you go and where you don’t go. Make the best decisions for yourself depending on your needs and also depending on the kind of person you dream about becoming (I’m hoping you want to be a good and extraordinary person. If not, its cool too). Sometimes you gotta be like “Yo, F other people, I need to put myself first.” This is not necessarily a selfish thing to do but rather it is an act of self-love and self-respect - if you do it right. You don’t have to be miserable or forced to do/be what you don’t want. Roll alone rather than roll with a-holes or energy suckers or self-obsessed people or anyone negative.

Chapter 4: Inspiration is the shit dreams are made of

This chapter will teach you to guide yourself not to do things unless they excite you thoroughly and fill you with joy. Basically, don’t waste your time. Don’t move unless you are inspired to. Inspiration is something godsend and is my favourite feeling in the word. It’s a powerful force that fills you with joy, empowerment, bliss and hope. You have to act on what inspires you, what touches you, what moves you. You have to take it as a message from above that you are on the right path. Being inspired by something is a gift and it feels sublime as F and because of this, it is so important to respect it. So be inspired, be free to love what also wants you to love it. Make plans if you are inspired enough and believe that that shit will come true. Because it just F-ing might. If one dope thing is possible, then every dope thing is possible. Be open to inspiration and believe in your damn self. Hard.

Chapter 5: Shine bright, bitch

This means do you. That means be yourself. In exploring this concept deeper, it actually means F your mediocre ass, scared self, and rather be the best best best version of yourself (This may be an Oprah phrase, although sincerely coming from me). Shining bright should be your norm. Thus, you need to strongly commit (despite fear) to doing things that are a little crazy and that you only dream of when you are alone and safe in your bedroom. Things that will help you grow into who you ideally want to be and things that will challenge you to be more than who you are. You really really really need to work on your hustle to become who you need to be in order to live your dreams. And you best believe that fulfilled dreams and amazing things don’t come to scared, mediocre, doubtful people who hide in the shadows of what they desire. Prioritise being wise, free, whole, enough, harmonious, strong, positive and believing (and the like) over all else. Shine bright, bitch. You can.

(Beyonce's poem to Frank Ocean on his bi-sexuality)

Chapter 6: Give thanks F-ed up.

Probably the most important chapter – training yourself to always give thanks. You just have to be grateful if you want to be baller in life. You have to be grateful especially because sometimes you are lacking in the things you want, but if you look closer and from another perspective, there are probably countless times when you actually have the things you want, but you’re too busy being ungrateful to notice. Being a spoilt brat....never that. You are looked after a power bigger than you, who loves you, who wants the best for you, who knows you and who hears you. Gratitude is the shit because it brings you more. Appreciate all the good and bad that’s in your life because it is put their on purpose by the hand of ultimate divine power. Which means it’s pretty much perfect as it is. Don’t get sucked in by a bad situation and have that ruin all the amazing things you have in your life. You are an abundant mutha-f-er and this is undeniable. So stop complaining and rather stop and realise what you have to be grateful for. Everyone definitely has something.  

Looking for a publisher. HOLLERRRRRR! :)

Nx

Post '94 - Racism

Just got home from a speech contest at St John's, a predominantly white, private school and it left me thinking about race.

I attended the school and, in retrospect, I believe that my experiences were similar to what I experienced tonight although I couldn't recognise it back then.

There is still a racism.

It is not blatant and a part of me thinks (and hopes) that it is not intentional. It got me thinking about my own behaviours around race too.

St John's is a liberal school with teachers and students all moving forward with the idea of equality for all, as they should. The school's policies and rhetoric are transformational - in that the white elite is slowly being replaced by a black elite - but that's a separate issue. There are more and more non-white students in the school every year, more and more non-white parents on various boards and committees and from the outside you'd say that the pace may be slow but things are on track.

However, I believe that there's a deeply disturbing racism and it has affected me directly. It might be affecting younger generations who are unaware of it and I'm hoping that this could start a conversation to better understand the issue and start a process of change. My younger brother being part of this younger generation was the reason I was at the speech contest and also the reason I am motivated to re-examine my experiences at the school.

My understanding/perception/experience:

The racism at St John's stems not from the conscious thinking that the non-white student is of less value due to his skin colour. Instead teachers interact in a subtly different way with students because the different skin colour represents that the student comes from (and belongs to) a different world, a world that the teacher does not understand, but more potently, a world that is not relevant to him.

The comments from the adjudicator on the speeches of the white students were to do with their progress as speakers over time. Their development as people and leaders mattered to the adjudicator because they are people in, and future leaders of, his world. The students who don't fit into his world are entitled to his feedback, but only in an immediate sense, in the short-term, after which they will be irrelevant to him and likely to never feature again.

A part of me understands this separateness of worlds. The white kids are the kids of the adjudicator's classmates, his in-laws, work colleagues, they may end up marrying his daughter. This or some or other connection that makes them relate-able, makes them relevant. Whereas the non-whites are irrelevant beyond the speech contest. Their long-term futures aren't going to impact his life.

The reality is that, post-Apartheid, worlds are colliding and becoming ever more integrated and the perception that there is still a separateness (mis-)guides thinking. The psychological legacy of Apartheid and of colonialism is that we allow ourselves to think that our world can be separate from the world of someone else.

When I was at St John's I was asked about my plans after school by only one teacher, and that was done as a matter of curiousity rather than concern. I now despise the very notion that their are people in our lives who feel no need to invest in ours. How different would my world have been if  my teachers believed that my future would impact their future? How can the white man learn Ubuntu? And, perhaps more importantly, how can we keep ourselves in check to make sure that we are not falling victim to the same trap?

I suspect that a similar thing is happening between Indian Muslim teachers and black Muslim students in Muslim schools. I think that I am guilty of not attempting to relate to the poorer members of society I encounter, to the foreigners whose futures are not directly tied to my own and even to my white co-workers. Can I teach myself Ubuntu?

Things that can be drawn from this: 

• You can send your kids to fancy provate schools, they will receive an excellent intellectual education but not build a network of people who are concerned about their long-term well-being.

• Evaluate your own life. Are there people that you encounter and treat differently because they are not a part of your perceived world? 

So...this MSA thing

The MSA is not going to change the world.

The MSA is not going to eliminate poverty, illiteracy, hedonism, hunger or youth apathy.

The MSA is not going to make you a perfect Muslim.

The MSA does not make the use of a Miswaak compulsory.

The MSA is not going to give you ultimate truth.

The MSA does not give free Zam-Zam shots at parties.

The MSA is not perfectly guided from on high.

The MSA is not where you'll meet your future spouse.

The MSA is not the only worthwhile organisation.

The MSA is a good place to meet good people and do good things. It's also a good way to feel good about yourself because you'll be one of the people making a difference in the world instead of standing on the sidelines moaning like a yak. 

Wanna see what it's really about? Come to the camp.