It was more than JUST poetry and spoken words...

It was more than JUST Poetry and Spoken Words...


Last Tuesday, I had the opportunity to be the featured poet at one of the local open mics. When my boy Jeff asked me to do it a month ago, I immediately began thinking of excuses in my head about WHY I couldn't do it. Before I could provide him with an excuse, he sold me his vision... I purchased it... I provided me with a reciept... When that night came around, people thought I was on the mic to share with them my lifes experiences... Sure that was part of it BUT It was more than JUST Poetry and Spoken Words... It was my chance to face my fears.

Lets rewind to about a year and a half ago to a conversation that I had with my girlfriend at the time. She said, "Jay, when are you going to quit ME?" Of course I looked at her like she farted because I had no idea what she was talking about. She went on to elaborate. She stated that I have always started new hobbies/activities and became really good at them and quit. I began to think about my life and the activities I as involved in and realized that she had a point.

Lets rewind to many many moons before that. When I was younger, the first sport that I played was baseball. I loved it all the way until I tried out for the major leagues at the age of 12 and failed. I was good at baseball but just not good enough at that time to make it to the next level. I quit... When I was in 5th grade, I wanted to play a musical instrument. I started playing the trumpet and instantly fell in love. I made "first chair" in no time. I earned numerous honors and awards all the way until I quit at the end of 8th grade. I didn't think it would be cool anymore to be in the band in highschool. During that same time I was taking Tae Kwon Do lessons. I was extremely successful and only lost one tournament in sparring. I earned my red belt and was on the course to test for my Black belt. Four months before my test in the middle of my freshmen year in highschool, I quit... During my sophomore year, I decided that I wanted to run track. It was my way to stay off the streets and not get shot at like I was the previous semester. (True story... ask me about it) I started running track my sophomore year and by the time I was a junior, I had one a state championship. (Real athletes take life 800m at a time.. CHEA!) I was offered a track scholarship to run at UCO but guess what? I didn't want to do track in college... I quit. I turned down my track scholarship for a ROTC scholarship at the same school and began doing the military thing. The day before "contract" day, I quit. I decided that going to Iraq wasn't in my best interest. I left UCO and transferred to OU. When I got to OU, I found the gift of poetry. From 2001 till 2004, there wasn't an open mic that I didn't devour... I was a monster on the mic and loved the way that I could put words together and the way I could record my thoughts... After having issues with promotors and poetry critics, I quit yet again...

In 2004 I had a dream that I had a company that specialized in graphic design and video. I started doing that and eventually incorporated photography into the plan. If I told you that I bought a camera ONLY BECAUSE it was on sale you would think I was a liar... If I told you that I taught myself how to shoot two days later at BootNasty XIII (The first gallery on ConceptsProductions.com) you would think I was lying.

Fast Forward to the day where my then girlfriend asked me if I would quit her... I thought about that for YEARS after that. It seemed like my whole life all I did was quit and then it hit me. I realized that I have NEVER been afraid to be good at anything. In fact, I became good at EVERYTHING I ever did. My fear was the fact that I was afraid to be GREAT. It seemed like no matter what I was involved in, I was afraid to be GREAT or be THE BEST... cause we all know that being the GREATEST and the BEST has standards and I didn't want to uphold them. I just wanted to do me...

Fast Forward to October 30th, 2007. I decided that I didn't want to be afraid to be great anymore... I wanted to revisit on of the things that I was REALLY good at and share my God given talent to the audience. You see, It was more than JUST Poetry and Spoken Words... It was my time to shine and face my fears... it was my chance to say, "I don't give a damn what you think! I'm going to show you my talent".... it was my time to say sorry to all of the people who asked me to get on the mic and spit only for me to say no.... it was my time to just be myself... That night was more than JUST Poetry and Spoken Words...

I currently own and operate Concepts Productions which is arguably one of the hottest event photography sites in the state. When I capture images, it is more than JUST taking pics... It is me being good at what I do and being on the path to GREATNESS. So when you see me taking pics at an event and I give you my infamous "1,2,3" hand gesture, know that I'm saying to myself, "1,2,3, GREATNESS..." Know that I have my ex girlfriends voice in my head saying, "So when are you going to quit me?".... Know that I have all of the kind words that people in the club scene have given me about my photography... Know that I have OKLAHOMA on my back everywhere I go... I am NO LONGER afraid to be Great... I will be GREAT. I guarantee that...

But last Tuesday?.... It was more than JUST Poetry and Spoken Words... It was J. Wiggins facing his fears and the world.