Kuumba is a principle of Kwanzaa that means creativity. I remember back in December of 2001, I was in the shower getting ready to step out for a New Years Eve party. I was meeting up with some friends and I was running extremely late. I remember running through my small apartment right off of the campus of the University of Oklahoma thinking that my homies were about to be pissed that I was late. They ended up being just as late as I was so it ended up being all good.
My most intimate thoughts come when I’m in the shower. It is there where I’m alone and my mind begins to wonder. I think of future plans and the shower head serves as the sprinkler system that waters my dreams. The shower is where I find peace. It was in the shower that evening that a ton of thoughts bum-rushed me from out of nowhere. Anyone that writes understands that random thoughts are usually pulled out of the air like blue tooth technology. I never understood why a lot of writers carried digital recorders until then. The worst experience as a writer is to think/create something very clever only to forget it later and have it lost in the outer space/black hole of brilliance. I wasn’t about to let that happen that New Years Eve…
As the soapy water ran down the length of my body, I began to think of ways I could snatch these words, thoughts, and emotions out of the air. In 2001, blue tooth technology had not existed so I had to find a way not to forget these thoughts while I was in an awkward moment. I jumped out the shower and grabbed a sharpie from my room then did the unthinkable… You guessed it, I jumped my a** back in the shower! I began processing all of my words, thoughts, emotions, and started transferring them to my shower wall. Line after line was tagged on my wall as if I was channeling my inner Beat Street. Line after line I tatted on the shower wall like I worked for Miami Ink. The mixture of my black ink and the cream tile created beauty. My handwriting was deplorable but that is ok because I was in a hurry… Remember? After scribbling on my wall for what seemed like an eternity, I jumped out the shower and got dressed. I met my friends and we had a great time bringing in 2002.
When I arrived home a few hours later, I was shocked when I entered my bathroom. I had completely forgotten that I had wrote on my walls. For a split second, I thought “Spit” from Beat Street had tagged up crib. After reading the first few lines, it all came back to me. I walked into my room, grabbed my notebook and pen, and walked back into the bathroom. It was there that I sat on the toilet, looked up at the shower, and transferred every word, metaphor, simile, hyperbole, personification, and dangling participle. It was there that I began thinking, “What the hell was I thinking” but blessed that I actually did think to do that. Does that make sense? Basically, I was happy that I wrote it on the wall but pissed at the future purchase of 409 spray to clean that crap up. After transferring everything to my note pad, I decided to name the piece Kuumba (Creativity) since it was written on the 6th day of Kwanzaa and I felt it was creative how I wrote it in the “get clean cube.”
I have no idea why this blog woke me up but I guess it was "Nia" which is a principle of Kwanzaa meaning "Purpose". Perhaps there is someone out there that REALLY needed to read this. I don't know. Hopefully these words will influence you to write whatever it is that is on your mind. Writing is extremely therapeutic. Words are such a beautiful thing when they aren't used to hurt, kill, and destroy. So how much is a word worth? That will be a life long debate amongst those who don't believe that words are priceless. It is time for me to get some rest. Enjoy your day and "Habari Gani".
The principle of Kuumba (Creativity) teaches us the moral obligation “to do al- waysasmuchaswecaninthewaywecan in order to leave our community more beau- tiful and beneficial than we inherited it.” Thus, we must practice serudj ta, constantly repair and remake the world, a Maatian con- cept with ethical and aesthetic, as well as natural and social implications, and which expansively means: to repair the damaged, raise up the ruined, replenish the depleted, rejoin the severed; strengthen the weakened; set right the wrong; and make flourish the fragile and undeveloped. - Maulana Karenga (Founder of Kwanzaa)
I think it is very important to share with you the songs I was listening to while creating this. I have done this with the last few post I have created. With that being said, here is the list...
"Hot Thing" - Talib Kweli
"I want you" - Common
"For The Night" - Musiq Soulchild
"Golden" - Jill Scott
7 comments:
"write the vision to make it plain..." one of my old homies from college days wrote his on the window of his apartment in Chicago. My husband and I have his and hers white boards in our living room. We write on our own and add things to each others. All the time. This moved me so because of a conversation Imani & I had once, about the compulsion we shared regarding the bathroom. We both discussed how whether it was to cry, to create, to think, the escape, or it traditional purposes we wondered what was up with our need to be in the bathroom. Something about the ability to purge and clean, water and refresh...
Thanks for sharing sir!
"The worst experience as a writer is to think/create something very clever only to forget it later and have it lost in the outer space/black hole of brilliance."
This is so true!
Good post. Writing things down by physically putting pen to paper is so powerful because in doing so, we materialize our thoughts, goals and desires. Plus, if we write something down, we're more likely to hold ourselves accountable.
There's an AWESOME book about this called Write it Down, Make it Happen by Henriette Klauser. And, she also talks about water being a source for inspiration for people.
"The worst experience as a writer is to think/create something very clever only to forget it later and have it lost in the outer space/black hole of brilliance."
This is so true!
Good post. Writing things down by physically putting pen to paper is so powerful because in doing so, we materialize our thoughts, goals and desires. Plus, if we write something down, we're more likely to hold ourselves accountable.
There's an AWESOME book about this called Write it Down, Make it Happen by Henriette Klauser. And, she also talks about water being a source for inspiration for people.
Enjoyed the post , J...
This is a great post! Your ability to string together the right words to pull us into this experience, your experience and connect it to our own is amazing. The talent you possess requires you to share it. Thank you for doing so...
You are an amazing writer. The world needs your gift. Continue to share it.
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