GET INSIDE!

Omo, get inside!

I grew up in a very conservative family, and my everyday routine was predictable. You wake up, clean the house, eat as fast as you can, and get your school books. Watching cartoons was allowed a few times because for my parents, playtime equated to study time. Out of the 24 hours in the day, 24 hours were spent inside, safe for when we needed to get some things in the market, and of course, we were timed for that. I remember how we were called 'Omo Get Inside' by our neighbors whenever we sat by the window in our sitting room, watching them play on the streets while unshelling our mother's melons or reading. How grand it would be to join those lovely kids to play or cheerlead.

What made it worse was the fact that my first contact with education was in a Cantonment - Command Children School. If you know anything about schools like this, you would know how regimented life is there. To make matters worse, I still went to a boarding school for my secondary education. Imagine how structured, systematized, and controlled my life was; I could literally foretell every action of my day. The interesting part of it all was I was an inquisitive child who wanted to understand everything , and to make it worse, boredom and I shared a room. As I grew older, I tried to ease into the routine, and some of my siblings were so helpful. They derived ways to outsmart my parents, but I was too timid to take risks. But then, I finally found my respite. I had watched my dad and eldest sister do something that kept them occupied over the years, but I never gave it a thought until one humid afternoon when boredom wanted to send me to the great beyond - I picked up a novella, and my journey began.

Oh boy, I read the first page, and I saw myself transition from my room to another world. For a second, I was the character in the book, and I was free as a bird. I left the bustle and chaotic buzz in Ketu, Lagos, and I was right in the middle of Manhattan, USA before taking my first flight to Sydney in Australia. Tell me why I transformed from a shy and impressionistic 10-year-old into a confident young girl with the world in her palm in hours. Is this what I have been missing? From that day on, I felt free and was not afraid to be labeled. Call me any name; I have traveled the world, and you are stuck in Ojota... Duh!

You would think I would stick to storybooks, right? Nah, I started reading everything and every book I saw. This ranged from my father's newspapers and biographies to my mother's books on psychology and then my sisters' novels. I started off reading one book per day and then graduated to reading 2 and then 3 until I was having headaches from lack of sleep. I would literally lock myself in my room after doing my chores, get my food, and read till I am called to answer for one of my siblings' crimes and then fall back into my quiet world. Gradually, I discovered that I could actually refine the stories that did not match up to my imagination. How did I do this? After reading a book, while sleeping, my brain will create scenarios that make the story better, and when I wake up, I tweak it and boom - a new story. It was at this point I knew I could write.

I was in secondary school when I started writing with intent. You see, I was in the boarding house and was always giving gists of the few movies or cartoons I had seen. It got to a point, my friends were not satisfied - they wanted more. So, I started forming stories on the spot to satisfy them. I would just pick a theme, and ideas will flow. I knew how to animate my voice, and I understood the importance of intonation in storytelling without being taught. I was also actively writing. Short stories, plays - anything.

This continued into my adult life, and sincerely, I have lost count of the number of stories or plays I have written and staged. You know, looking at it in retrospect, I now appreciate my parents because I understand why they never let us play outside the house. Although, I wish they were a bit more flexible to accommodate certain things I would prefer not to state here because the most vital thing is BALANCE. Did I utilize the important lessons? Yes! Did the parenting style favor me? I take full responsibility for my shortcomings as an adult, and I am learning to unlearn what needs to be discarded. My social life is lousy because I enjoy solitude not because of how I grew up. My brain gets overstimulated when social activities are not structured because I have programmed it to. I would choose alone time over social gatherings because it helps me pour myself into doing what I love. Nurture wants me like this and nature pushed it along. I will keep learning and growing, but I will not mind having you join me in this path.

Please, join me as I share everything I know about this particular field and how it has made me the hero in my books.

Sincerely,

Adeola Adefemi