I just had an out-of-body experience driving to work this morning. I live in a city I have nothing in common with, how did I get here? The only way I have survived here thus far is by frequently going on vacation to nearby cities.
Lagos, Nigeria according to a friend that dared to visit 'has no charm whatsoever,' sometimes I believe this statement and I guess today was one of those times. A city with so much potential and every day I see it being ploughed down like the old colonial houses that have to make room for the new high rises 'cause for some reason people keep migrating here.
My frustration lies in the fact that Lagos, a huge metropolis which originated from Islands separated by creeks, is empty. It exists purely on hype. The boredom that overcomes me sometimes is scary, I mean work has become my social life. What happened to the excitement you feel when you've discovered something for the first time, these days I get that when a new lounge or restaurant opens up and I wouldn't call it excitement, more like an 'ah' feeling that lasts exactly 5 seconds. The sad thing is, according to gist, Lagos is considered the most exciting city in Nigeria, wtf?
I love what Governor Fashola is doing, I mean it looks really pretty, but how about the Mallams on the street corners, our own kind of Bodega, or the women that sell roasted corn and Boli on the roadside, that was actually a remnant of the cool that once was, when one could walk down the street and be shaded by the trees and actually get there without being run over by either a bus or an Okada, the simpler times. Could it be that exposure has me craving more than what was satisfactory in the past or am I just old and going through the motions?
One thing I realise is that I probably have to make something happen or else this is it, so this is my new mission, God help me!
4 comments:
I think the discontent thing is something that comes with age.
We're reaching a place where we have to try and reconcile what we hoped our lives would be with our actual realities. We reach this stage because we're worn out from trying to turn one thing into the other.
Now we have to ask ourselves what is worth fighting for? What ought we really give up? The answers unfortunately are not easy and are as various as we are all different.
All one can do is keep in mind the trite but true euphemisms meant to guide us to ours: Keep an open mind, be true to yourself and don't sweat the small stuff.
Capiche?
I never saw it that way, just felt I was being whiney! capiche!
Hi Clari!
Sounds like you're in your quarter life crisis (been in mine for about 4 years now so feel your pain).
Bee's right, it's basically the point where you realise the stuff you really want to do simply won't get you the stuff you really want and you have to choose between the two.
So what do you do? Choose stuff you really want to do; there's a 50/50 chance that it'll all work out and you'll live happily ever after, or it won't and you'll wind up frustrated and with nothing? Or compromise and just get a soul less 9 to 5, get married to whoever, have some kids and convince yourself being kinda happy is enough? Decisions are never ending.
By the way, those mofos are really knocking down the colonial buildings? How could they?
Hey Andrea,
Thanks for the breakdown. It's definitely a quarter life crisis! and i shall try and use art to overcome it! I love collecting and I have come to find the Lagos art scene to be something new and exciting, so I'm sure you'll be hearing more about that!
Yah man, they are destroying all the history we have, I wish I could buy them all up to preserve them!
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