Something happened, but I'm back

Lol. Hey Praise,

Yeah, I didn't think I was going to write a letter today. It's been three months. It feels like those love movies where the relationship had hit a rock and the guy needed sometime to himself — "to find himself", they'll say.

How have you been?

I've been good. You see, this year is one of my favourite years, up there with 2020 and 2015. If you're wondering, 2020 is where I grew all the relationships that I value today, and 2015 is when I knowingly started my journey as a designer.

This October, it'd be 7 years as a professional designer. That's mental. When I made that joke of a design 14 years ago, I still hoped to be a space engineer. But hey! I'm a designer today, and I'm grateful.

I love to work, and I am grateful that I get to work.

I didn't realise this until I was involuntarily sent on a holiday but the dear Samaritans who thought I didn't need my devices anymore (they stole them). Those 7 days, without access to the internet and means to express myself with words or work, were some of the worst days this year.

It became pretty clear to me that I liked to work. I liked to feel like I'm contributing my quota to the good of humanity. I hated that feeling of being handicapped.

I am grateful that work is fun for me. Don't get me wrong; all the emotions that come with work are still valid, but I'm grateful that I'm able to feel all of that.

Being in the ring — that means a lot for me.

Ideas are cruel. Did you know that?

Have you had really crazy ideas despite knowing you have no capacity to execute them? And if you did, the idea was a few months too early?

Kind of reminded me of the 11th episode of The Sandman on Netflix (really great movie). Morpheus was being a real son of a b*tch with Richard Madock flooding his head with all of those ideas until he almost ran mad. Then when Calliope asked him to free Ric, he went overboard and took everything.

So, too much was bad; too little, still bad.

But here's a little different perspective. Ideas have no value if you can't execute them. You can dream all you want, and have the biggest vision. But without being able to make it tangible, it lacks value (except to those who live in their heads).

I started thinking very recently about legacy and respect.

It may or may not be too early to be thinking of having a legacy. But that's not what bothers me. You see, the pressing thought is "what does a designer's legacy look like?" "And more importantly, what does respect smell like?"

This is a particularly hard thought to form. Mostly because I find it hard to dream more than six months ahead. It's almost like my short-sightedness is as much physical as it is visceral. Beyond six months and all I see is blurry — hard to make anything of value out of it.

So when I see the designers I respect talk about other designers that they respect, I ask "what does that look like?" "What have they done to earn that respect?"

The one that bothers me the most is actually legacy. "What does it look like to do work that transcends the bubble of your peers?" I'm probably going to think about this for years, and maybe I'd find the answer in a random conversation with one of my friends (they're oddly smarter these days).

Finally, I'd love to cut down this list into a smaller circle and exclude everyone else.

Moving forward, I'd like to write about design, data, brand, strategy, storytelling and the little bit of marketing that I've learnt over the years. On the odd days, like today, I'd still write about myself.

So if you open this email, read it and didn't click the unsubscribe button, congratulations, you made it. I'll see you in the next letter.

I understand that some of us may read this very late. If this is you and you didn't get any email from me after September 1st, please send me an email and I'll add you to the list.

See you in the next letter, Praise.

PS: If you want personal experience newsletters, Opeyemi Olugbemiro does a great job writing everyday. Tag him on Twitter to get signed up.

My friends, Victor Fatanmi and Toluwase Olugbemiro, also have amazing daily editions that they write.

And one of my favourite newsletters, and perhaps the inspiration for this pivot, is Avinash Kaushik. Very brilliant guy. Please do check him out if you are a data and marketing fan.

Ciao, Praise.

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