100th Post! Beautiful Detour.

My life has changed, 100 posts down the line.
Don’t get me wrong, my life as it is now would still be different from how it was before these one hundred blog posts, definitely, but it certainly would not have had this flavor! I have deliberately decided to fuss about this 100th post, and I have consciously whipped up myself to be excited. So trust me when I say I am excited, for real.
In this post, I have set out to do some kind of evaluation- of the motive underlying this blog; of the goals I had when I started; of the experiences I’ve had; and of the people I have encountered. Some of you reading this may see your names in the post, don’t be shy, just holla back. And to them whose identities are in incognito mode, chop this kiss 😘! Thanks to all who have ever visited this blog!! Thank you Rented.
This is going to be some kind of plain faced interview of Sika Bosuo Mokuor, conducted by Nana Yaa.

NY: On the 14th of August 2015, one of the best things to hit the world arrived, your blog. Why did you decide to start a blog? I mean, the internet was already inundated with millions of blogs and I believe there were other mediums to do what you wanted to do, so why a blog?
SBM: (Smiling) I find it interesting that you mentioned how the cyberspace is seemingly buried under an avalanche of blogs. You know, that was one of the very things that nearly prevented me from beginning this blog in the first place. I have a general dislike for popular things (in this age of phobias, I’m pretty sure there is a name for this). So when the thought to start a blog came to me, my very first response was, “Nah, everybody is blogging now.” I remember talking with my sister about this and she suggesting I find another means to put out my writing if I wasn’t exactly taken with the blog. Oh, and I thought, long and hard, and came back full circle to a blog. So I set out to start it. I guess the other question beneath what you asked is why I put out my writing, since blogging is essentially making public what would ordinarily have stayed in a note book somewhere by my bed.
It is this: Obadiah 1:21 and I like the RSV. It reads, “Saviours shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’s”. Amen!
I was at a Visionary Leadership Conference (VLC will be 10 yrs this July, yay! ) when this call came through the scripture above. It came at the time I was battling with sharing what I wrote publicly through any medium at all. It came to give me meaning and direction. It came to give me understanding, and to put this gift of storytelling (really, that is what I see it to be) in perspective for me. And Hallelujah! God is able to keep you on the path he sets you on! This understanding came along with a fresh understanding of the “Salt of the Earth” analogy, about which I have written in a post titled Diffusion . I think that I should save the talk since most of what I would say has already been said in the Diffusion post.
However, to put it shortly, I set out writing publicly because I began to see writing a as ministry, something Paul and the others did beautifully (this position has been enhanced by my experience with Francine Rivers’s works, especially her Mark of the Lion Trilogy).
NY: It is interesting, this seeing writing as a ministry. Anyway, we would talk more about that in another interview, if the opportunity comes.
SBM: (Chuckles) I believe there would be a chance to do that.
NY: Oh great. This is from your own mouth. It’s on record, so if you do long when I’m trying to schedule you aa, it won’t be a pretty thing.
SBM: (Laughs) Have no fears.
NY: Ok, let’s go on. Most times, we have certain expectations of how things must turn out or certain results that must be achieved when we begin something, or go someplace or even meet somebody. Did you have any such expectations? If you did, what were they?
SBM: (Licks her lips) Hmm. Expectations. Yes, I had expectations, of anything happening. (Grins widely) This reminds me of something I said during form room time in high school (shout out to all Gey Hey B1 girls!). I said and still believe that “Everything and everyone is a loose question mark hanging on a number line, infinite at both positive and negative ends. At any point in time, it/they can vacillate in either direction and could go unimaginably far in either direction.” Of course I said it in less beautiful language, but this is the point of growth. Much as I go about things and people carrying a hope of the best things happening, it is always against the staunch belief that the fickleness of time is constant, and so are things and people. This blog hasn’t been looked at in a different light. So yes, I had and still do have expectations of this blog, of the good, like growth (that’s one of my favorite words, along with serendipity and ataraxia) being more than the bad, but definitely of anything coming of it.
NY: Hmm, that’s something to chew on, this number line concept. Anyway, let me ask you this question. It may seem a bit intrusive, but I’m curious. I’m pretty sure your readers would thank me for asking this. Has there ever been a time when you have looked at your work and felt it was so good and thought, “oh this must fetch a lot of views, likes and comments” and gone off with a peacock’s gait and come to check it at 5 mins intervals to see nothing?
SBM: (Bursts out in laughter and throws her head back. Wipes a tear from her the corner of her left eye). Why do you think this is intrusive? I mean, everyone who has created any work, once she puts it out, would want an audience, a readership. There have been plenty of times that my blog stats have humbled me,  in fact, even discouraged me! Goodness, especially the poems. It is sometimes just disheartening. But the fine part I have come to realize is that in such instances I am reminded that I write not for fame or fortune , though those would be some welcome perks, especially the fortune part.
NY: Did you have any goals when you started? What are they? Have you been able to achieve any?
SBM: Oh yes, I had goals. One of them was to post consistently, precisely to post every Friday. But have I been able to do that? It’s a big no. There have been periods when I catch and ride the wave, but at other times, I suffer a drought. I was warned about this, this consistency bit when I was setting out. I conversed with my friend Sally-Ann about blogging, and she indicated (or rather confessed) to the potency of inconsistency in killing a blog. I had this bout that made me scared once, I think it was in the December of 2015. God, I thought something had happened to me, like some aliens had come to suck out words from the tips of my fingers ( I guess this is what some people call the writers’ block).
Another goal I had was to write evenly about the themes which informed that categories on the blog. But, poetry has tipped the scale. Poetry always wins, for me.
NY: So you consider yourself a poet than anything else?
SBM: Yes. I started writing with poetry. But now, I am learning to see myself as a storyteller, using various forms. And let me chip this one in, I like poems that have voice from the paper.
NY: Good to know. So does that mean that you do not perform poetry?
SBM: I do perform poetry, sometimes read them, if you like. But that is not my mainstay.
NY: Oh right. Ok now, are there some people you would have never met, some places you would have never been or some experiences you would have never had if you had not started this blog exactly 1yr 8 months ago?
SBM: (Brows raised, pupils dilated, head bobbing up and down) Yes! Yess!! Yesss!!! I mean, blogging has been a most enjoyable diversion in my planned path, a most beautiful detour because of the people I have encountered. Gosh! I couldn’t begin to mention them. For one, I can thump my chest and say that I would have never texted Kaks that text that started a great friendship had I not been blogging. I probably would not have seen and taken interest in other blogs that have encouraged and entertained me so much like Joshephina’s blog, @MsAnarfi ‘s and others, I would have never gotten the contributing shove from @Kuukuwa_ ,never have gotten constructive criticism, literally (it’s as if he comes with mortar and a spirit level) from @O’Zionn . And most of all, I would not be as deliberate and as dedicated about growing as a storyteller as I am now.
I couldn’t possibly finish, seeing as you’re looking at your watch.
NY: (Smiles) You weren’t supposed to notice that.
SBM: Well, your eyes catch everything when you begin to write decidedly.
NY: Right. I guess we would have to schedule another interview then.
SBM: I guess so. Hopefully soon. I have enjoyed this immensely, Nana Yaa.
NY: As have I, Sika. Can I have you new business card?
SBM: (Rising from her chair) Sure. Here you go.
NY: I see you’re taking this food thing as seriously as storytelling.
SBM: (Chuckles) Food is bae!