An optimist at heart
“Wherever my story takes me, however dark and difficult the theme, there is always some hope and redemption, not because readers like happy endings, but because I am an optimist at heart. I know the sun will rise in the morning, that there is a light at the end of every tunnel.” _Michael Morpurgo
Design, Art direction, Post By Philip Abang
Look on the bright side.
I came across this great quote from a friend. I am delighted to be sharing this powerful quote on this occasion as this marks my one hundredth post since starting on this platform. I hope the image I created above serves as a visual metaphor to denote the great quote.
It’s been an honour to have met so many incredible individuals on this platform, sharing powerful and insightful contents. I hope to continue on this journey of growth, learning and discovery from this great platform.
This is to you that is optimistic, ambitious, passionate, a believer, an achiever, a goal-setter, a dreamer, a go-getter, a pacesetter, …I salute!
Keep looking on the bright side regardless of what obstacles you come across in your pursuit to excellence.
It has been a privilege sharing my works here.
Thank you once again for stopping by.
Design, Art direction, Post By Philip Abang
Spend your energy moving forward
“Don’t dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energy moving forward together towards an answer.”_Denis Waitley
Design, Art direction, Post By Philip Abang
Verse 9. Failure
There is often a sense of resignation when failure knocks us off our stride in a process of effectuating an action, a goal or a target. There have been countless incidence of businesses, individuals, or designs that have failed. Be that as it may, countless have also succeeded.
Case study revealing how businesses, designs, ‘great minds’, or entrepreneurs succeeding despite draining the wells of failure are too numerous to mention. Ironically, many whom have been through this path will suggest there is no such thing as failure. Every act of failing is only an indicator, a lesson, an insight, a benchmark to new ideas, a different and better approach to reaching an intended goal, target, resolution, and solution to problems.
My attempt to demonstrate the grits and determination of names we may or may not know that have scaled the fences of failure will be bitty, and no where near the never-ending tales of failure to success.
Nonetheless, Thomas Edison is a common case study of how he failed 10,000 in his attempt to develop a practical incandescent lamp. His quotes below sums up his thoughts on failure;
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”.
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up”
“There’s a way to do it better – find it”
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time”.
Oprah Winfrey’s thought corroborates Thomas Edison’s, William Whewell’s, and many others. Some names worth mentioning includes Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, and James Dyson.
Failure and success seem to be at two opposites ends of the scale, but relatively speaking, both are closer than we can imagine. I see both as a reflection in a mirror. Looking in the mirror is a figure of oneself staring back, beyond the figure, is a depth of potential, greatness, talent, possibility, knowledge, and more. Tapping into this depth determines how far we climb or how low we descend. Learning from every failure is the start to tapping into the potential of success.
This amazing quote from Samuel Beckett is a start;
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Design, Creative direction, Post By Philip Abang
Dear ZedTears, I Am NwB
Having read my posts ‘I AM’ and ‘POTENTIAL’ which featured Tambu Geeray in my ‘Hello Quotes’ category, NwB was kind to feature in my ‘Dear ZedTears’ category. Dear ZedTears is centered around being our own super hero; a reflection of ourselves looking in the mirror, learning from our mistakes, our struggles and overcoming limiting beliefs. This is the first in this category and hopefully many will follow.
NwB is an up-and-coming music producer in the UK. He shares an insight into his musical influences and his journey to music production. His beats in all the years have featured the likes of Youngs Teflon, IYKZ, TopLinerz, Moelogo, Young Marv, DLORD, Fix Dot’M, DQ, Jaja Soze, Toni Tetuila, Fem Fel, Young Mad B, Simon Pann, G-Styl, PDK, Ghetts, Buck, Infa-Red, Diamond, A.D.E, Smiler, Rugged Man, Jesz Unsigned, Karma, MP (419 Squad).
NwB in his words:
Well, as a child I always wanted to be superman, but when growing up I somehow tumbled into music and I haven’t looked back since. I haven’t any regrets about reneging on my superman ambitions, for it is unbecoming for a sexy young man of my stature to don those tight blue, red & yellow suits.
Fortunately for me; and thanks to my family we had different genres of music thumping through our speakers, to my rocker neighbour’s disgust, of course. For better or worse, I had the opportunity to subject my eardrums to the rebellion fervor of Fela Kuti and Madonna, the drum ridden sounds of Sunny Ade, the cheerful ditties of Cyndi Lauper and the heart-warming Motown collection.
Music is still very much a hobby I enjoy immensely, all else is merely incidental. After a few false starts here and there I finally buckled down and focused on production, and it’s paying dividends.
As a producer nothing beats the feeling of pure magic when hi-hats, bass, snares and drums unite in a harmonious marriage. Some of the words used to describe my style of production are, “epic”, “harmonious” “emotional”. I have worked with several artists, some of whom you may already know, some you will eventually get to know and admittedly those you will never get to know.
Some people are born stars, some have stardom thrust upon them and some work their polyester socks off to become stars. WHO BE YOU?
I’m not pompous enough yet, to refer to myself in third person. Give me some time. *wink wink*
Below is a simple breakdown of my musical influences;
1. Air – Drums: The beating of the drums resonates through the air, which gives it the sound you hear.
2. Water – Dancing: The body and the earth are made up of mostly water (approx. 70%) Just as wind makes water move, so also does music make the body to dance.
3. Fire – Rappin’, singin’ or poetry: We as Humans have a burning in our lungs, which is made from the combustion of Oxygen. This releases CO2. Anything that is hot has fire in it. So when a person sings or rap, he/ she exhales heated air i.e literally they breathe fire!
4. Earth – Grafitti glyphs: In ancient Egypt, we wrote & painted on the walls of the temples, just like we do today on the streets. It is written in stone, people!
5. Ether – Knowledge: We as a people have forgotten who we are. This, knowledge, is the essential element (5th) needed to unite the above four. Without knowledge, they are meaningless.
You can find NwB on:
Instagram: @iamNwB
Twitter: @iamNwB
Email: nwb2012@gmail.com
Say yo story!
Design, Creative direction, post By Philip Abang Insight credit: NwB _TheBeatPoet
Philip Abang