By Morakinyo Babajide-Alabi
I need to apologise to the readers of this blog for my unannounced and long break from my usually twice a week updates and reviews. While this unplanned break went on for what seemed forever, I hasten to add that my mind was always with my readers. This is to show how much I hold all of you in high esteem.
To be honest, the break was meant to be for two weeks while I reorganise and refocus the blog to be more responsive, while treating subjects that I am passionate about in a more fluid manner. Unfortunately while at this, I also got myself immersed in the planning of a project that is due for launch in Spring 2017. And to compound it all, without much awareness, preparations and activities for Christmas sneaked in on me and the days of inactivity on the blog turned into weeks, and invariably into months.
While these days were turning and news events were breaking all over the world my reaction was usually to pick up my pen and write one or two lines about them. I was always eager to let my readers into my thoughts on these events.
However, no matter how many times I picked up my pen to write a few lines about the breaking events, I found myself struggling to put the thoughts running around in my head on paper. While I understood what was going in on around me all over the world, I struggle to understand what was happening to me.
Many times I shut myself in to try and write masterpieces on events breaking around the world. But unfortunately on these occasions I couldn’t move beyond a few scribbled lines, crossed them over and eventually in frustration and anger for not making any sense, squeezed life out of the papers and threw my pen away.
At a stage I started getting “mad” at myself because I have all the words in my head and mind, but I was finding it extremely difficult to put them on paper (or on notes on my iPad). I sat back and watched world events rolled by, and most times during this period, I felt guilty that I was not putting my opinions on these issues across to people that matter.
I was in this state during the November US Presidential election. To many, Donald Trump’s victory at the election was a shock. I had this beautiful review of the electrons and the reasons why Madam Hilary Clinton lost in my head, but I could not get them on paper. So they stayed in my head.
While at it, the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) lost its eighteen day old leader, while Nigel Farage also became the golden boy of the Trump camp, especially being the first British to be with the president-elect. I saw this and immediately the thoughts of a masterpiece on the rising profile of Farage formed in my head, but I could not get it out.
The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was reelected on a “stronger” majority to the shame and disappointment of his rebel colleagues. Many wondered what happened, but I had the ideas of how Corbyn turned the table. The problem was I could not get them out to the public.
And all through this period, Theresa May, the U.K. Prime Minister was playing “poker” with the BREXIT. The “Brexit means Brexit” statement was taking a different turn. I “wrote” a beautiful piece on the dangers of a delayed Brexit negotiations, but I could not get the piece down from my head.
My thoughts on the civil war in Syria, especially in the city of Aleppo was crystal clear but I was the only one reading this piece in my mind. What about the elections in Ghana and The Gambia? I followed the processes, the campaigns and the eventual declarations. I have thoughts and opinions on the stages of the elections, but I struggled putting them on papers to let others read.
My thoughts on the u-turn by the outgoing Gambian president Yahya Jammeh who withdrew his election results acceptance at the last minute, were crystal clear. I knew this guy was not a fool to have eaten his words, he was pushed to do this. I could see the stupidity of the opposition alliance, supported by the president-elect Adama Barrow. But I just could not put my thoughts on paper and send out to my readers.
I could not understand what was happening to me. While I was reading other writers’ articles and books in “tonnes”, I found it really had putting words on paper. At this point, I could not even manage a “plot” of a simple article.
Many people reading this would have understood by now that I was afflicted by the “writer’s block” disease. The very dangerous disease that can be very debilitating to a writer’s career. It is a frustrating experience for any writer to undergo this very unusual “illness”.
Unfortunately for me, my “writer’s block” played on the fact that I stayed off writing for a while and sent me to a state of coma, of which I am just recovering from.
If this piece look disjointed to you, my readers, please understand that I just survived the “writer’s block”. So rejoice with me and pray I shall not recede into it any more.
To my readers I promise you there won’t be any break in transmission again.
