the Musings of Moko Bi

“So, once again the World Cup is here! And probably, as usual, there are so many emotions flaring around. Good, Bad and Ugly. BUT the one constant is, football will be played, goals will be scored and a winner will be crowned. I love seeing supporters clad with national colours, while dripping with pride and chanting what only they can truly interpret. Oh by the way, It fascinates me, when I see a football player commit an obvious foul, and the referee whistles for the foul, then the offender turns around in shock - WHAT? ME? WHEN? HOW? - I love the theater in football. I guess the World Cup presents the biggest stage.Yes, I am in my armchair, and no, I am not a reporter. BUT I will watch, shout, cheer, do ‘against’ - have highs and lows and ride the Supporter’s emotional roller-coaster all the way to conclusion. In the end, my team will probably not win the World Cup this year, but that’s what the next World Cup is for…! Which reminds me, the 2010 World Cup was pure heart break for me - but that’s a whole other Muse!” - Moko Bi

Food, Shelter, Security and being Social. What have I missed? Clearly, -Sapiens Sapiens need to eat, need protection from nature / and sometimes from other double-sapiens. There are probably arguments to be made for and against the need to being social. So beyond these essentials… how did LIFE get so complicated ? - Moko Bi_Life, as most people knew it, changed for many #Everywhere in 2020. Journey with Moko Bi - sorting through an emotional rubble of a world torn apart, seeking answers in the struggles for personal, mental and social sanity._ ...at the intersection of playing house, solopreneurship and culture. We won't argue thought leadership, we will settle for random musings - #GH and #Everywhere. It’s #DisAndDat @theEVENTtown -

The human timescale is infinitesimal in comparison to continental and planetary timelines. They say Africa is moving towards Europe, at a rate - which is imperceptible to human senses - of 2cm a year. Simultaneously towards the east, Africa is also splitting up at the great Rift Valley. Non of these geological activities will conclude for millions of years... with no witnesses from today’s human inhabitants of the planet. In the grand time and activity scales of this rock we call earth, millions of years is nothing but a blip.ANDIt sure does make me feel insignificant and never mind my irrational feeling of FOMO - fear of missing out.

I have done it! One thought at a time, one breath after the next, one foot in front of the other, and by my hands, I took out one, then another… and the dog house is no more. A huge physical and mental victory for me and a nice spot of space to setup a composting station. So basically, feel the fear and do it anyway, while trusting the science - as much as possible.

So how do I end up overcoming ‘laziness’? Well, I simply walk out of it. Well, first I have to decide if the task at hand is worth all the anguish that I feel - which is at best, a subjective decision making process - if the juice is not worth the squeeze - I simply stew in my laziness and run out the clock with inaction. On the flip, if it’s something that must be done, then I have to figure out how to grin and bear - I usually break up the task into very little bits, essentially making each task menial. This helps to block out the big picture which typically has the complexity and murkiness that triggers the anguish that I feel.

The truth is I am also fatigued by the immediacy of being hurried to feel better. It’s not like I have an on/off switch I have decided not to use. I feel an alone-ness that is so hollow and so quiet that it rings loud to a deafening.

Hi. You may call me Moko Bi. These are my musings.Why oh why, would anyone give up a steady paycheck in the name of entrepreneurship and the pursuit of happiness!?And if you are Moko Bi, which I am, you probably throw about things like…“I love the whole self determination and the consequences that come about from relative independence… and being a maker through my own head, heart and hands….bla bla bla“Starts, stops, backtracks, a step forward, two steps back - then maybe, maybe… if you are fortunate, you can put it altogether and build something functional that is self sustaining, and maybe even support livelihoods. The journey of the Entrepreneur is full of false starts, heartache, disappointments, loneliness and many hurry ups and waits. It’s no secret many very good ideas never even make it to a startup phase… [ oh if I ever had a dis for my many dats…. I would definitely have a lot of dis and dats 🤨] …and even more discouraging is the rate at which young businesses fail, far more than succeed. So why would I still seek a journey in entrepreneurship? The truth is, I like doing things at my own pace. I like making up the tune to the soundtrack of my life. Even more deeply impactful is using my own head, heart and hands to create and make. Not saying I am good at any of these things - BUT - I enjoy doing them. I particularly like the idea of a Solopreneur. I especially sympathize with the stories and journeys of the micro business person. I love hearing the marketing jingles of - Ada ηoo - (salt from Ada). I am enamored by persistence of - eyε original plastic chairs fufro aba - eyε nkonya ooo eyε nkyonya ( call out for new chairs) - or - wu nasi, wu ba nu nasi (call outs for footwear for child and parent )I don’t know much about how we got here as -sapiens sapiens, but what is obvious to me now… to be able to participate and have - Food, Shelter, Security and be part of a Social society, the average person has to earn a wage, or generate an income, in order to afford a sustained livelihood. Now the viability, sustainability and the humane-ness of such community models is subject to great socio economic and philosophical debates. The conversations around how - sapiens sapiens have chosen to organize their societies over different time periods, and community persuasions is probably as old as the first human. As one of the oldest known ancestor, I wonder what 'Lucy’ thought. In general, the broad means of making a wage will either be personally meaningful or very much a means to an end. I suppose one extreme is - earning a living for something you would do regardless - such as - even if everyone made the impending Mars trip and you were the only one left behind on this Rock - you would still do whatever that thing is. On the other hand, having no options and resorting to doing dead end tasks so you can eat may be a daily grind that is a reality for many. Indulge me on this tangent. Now, I am not expert on the matter, but I think Archaeologists like to dig. They often dig looking for clues to tell more of the story about the past. They often find remains that can be dated very far back to different eras. Sometimes these skeletons are all that remains of a life once lived. No known witnesses to share their stories of who they once were, what they did, what they liked, or who they once helped. I suppose today, it may be easier for a future skeleton not to be solitary - the Information age transcending our lifetime will make it easier for future skeletons not to be strangers - especially when you throw DNA tech and Social media into the mix. SO what!?“SO, maybe we should just live, and let live - We just live our today, and let the future live tomorrow.”So, my point here is… who you are and what you do today, may very well get lost in the arc of human history. The future may never know you even existed, or even worse, the future may know and yet not care. Not from malice, but simply because the future will be preoccupied with the today of then. You may not be completely irrelevant - but probably not top of mind. Like plenty who have come before you, their future, that is your today, is worried about its own future and how to survive its today, hence has little time left to be overly concerned about a past that no longer lives.I feel there is so much I can and want to do. I am not always sure I will get a chance to do them. Guess there is some truth to the cliche - life being wasted on the youth.In times like these - the downs - I cannot overstate how I feel - there seem to be such waste in the prudence of living for tomorrow, preparing for a rainy day - etc. A culture steeped in preparing you for the future has a potential to rob you from your today.SO, maybe we should just live, and let live - We just live our today, and let the future live tomorrow.BUT…Well, if you really don’t want to disappear in the future, then I suppose there are a couple ways to project your legacy into the future - short of living eternally. Though there are a myriad of reasons in the immediacy of now for persons to have offsprings, it ultimately serves as an extension of their legacy into the future of human time scales. Most people will be considered on the basis of where they fit in a family tree or genealogy network. Although one has to wonder how many families have an active family tree documented (narratives and visuals) and readily available for a present generation to periodically review and have a peek at the past. I venture to guess, that the average person at best knows about their grandparents, and very few know about the great grandparent generation prior. Again… SO?I like the idea of Solopreneurship - particularly today - because I can work towards earning a wage, while enjoying my solitude, all the while preparing notes for the breast pocket plate of my future skeleton that says - ‘Hi. You may call me Moko Bi. These are my musings.’

Hi. You may call me Moko Bi. These are my musings.Like a lot of others on this only known Rock with viable life, I have been affected and afflicted by this Covid-19 pandemic. BUT, did the pandemic turn me into a semi domesticated -Sapiens Sapiens, doing it myself - exploring a DIY lifestyle with grand illusions of minimalism? Or was this a path I was already heading (pre-pandemic)? Is my journey towards a full embrace of a DIY attitude fueled by my nature... or by the nurturing resulting from interacting with others?🤨Having to rely or depend on others may be a necessary - and sometimes evil - part of life. There are the obvious benefits of teaming with other people and getting the advantages and efficiencies that come with team work. BUT, like two sides of a coin, on a flip, it can be completely frustrating at times. A middle - go between - person can unlock opportunities or block them entirely at a whim.I do wonder if my desire to use my own head, heart and hands to pursue a quasi subsistence living is rooted in my frustrations that stem from the inefficiencies that sometimes result from having to rely on services from third parties. I am not suggesting being an island onto oneself is a good way to go - No one person obviously possesses every skill to go it alone, nor do I think it’s a healthy social approach. But that doesn’t stop anyone from trying. 😆 After all, mother Necessity is very supportive and sometimes even rewards her children Perseverance and Creativity. 🤨“So, with the ‘dust’ kinda settling on this new world of pandemic living. I have had to face a choice - keep on living a locked down lifestyle, which serendipitously feeds my closet introverted and germaphobic self or return to a pre pandemic life while adopting an ignorance is bliss perspective. 🤨”The middle is probably the pragmatic choice. The truth is, the pandemic has been a period of tragic pain and loss, BUT, the pandemic has also aggressively forced an evaluation of lifestyles choices for many around this Rock. Health, economic and social decisions have had to be contemplated with more thought than ever before. Questions like “is this my best self, living my best life?” have come into sharp focus.For me, during this pandemic period, I have developed a keen interest in a lot of stuff DIY(Do It Yourself) - it was already a pre- pandemic interest, but the need for an isolation lifestyle for pandemic survival further drove my desire for getting skilled and fluent in DIY - Even beyond DIY, I have acquired a desire for a simple domesticated everyday, based on a subsistence lifestyle. Needless to say, I am not very good at it yet - 😆, at least not with the stuff I need to be able to do - to build this subsistence life I crave.My wood working skills are very much below average, my masonry skills are non existent, my plumbing abilities have progressed the most. If I am being honest with myself, the last couple years, I have been frozen in place - My mental health hasn’t been great, my OCD has been in high gear within the context of a pandemic world, BUT, I am taking extremely small steps towards thawing my way forward. Being a closet introvert and a germaphobe means it has been a confusing period, and moving forward will be rocky. BUT, I am dragging myself forward and my first step is exploring a DIY lifestyle, with grand illusions of minimalism.So, why a DIY lifestyle? - Well, I left a lot of things undone, and I need to get stuff moving, but I am not well enough to work directly with or through others. Doing It Myself (D.I.M) allows me to harness my head, heart and hands in getting some measure of control in my everyday - that is sometimes filled with uncertainty and mental exhaustion. BUT, beyond all these words, I enjoy making stuff to meet a need. So, I guess in short, my choice of D.I.M-ing (Do.It.Myself-ing) is part getting things done and part therapy. So! I have taken on a challenge to find, tame and manage, a patch of earth. Hopefully in a self sustaining and mutually beneficial way - Not sure what that means, but it sounds good, so going with it, 🙂. BUT, before all that I need to get my today in order. After all, like they say, charity begins where you are, 🤨.So…, I looked into my tools collection AND…. Well that’s a whole other muse! 😝

Hi. You may call me Moko Bi. These are my musings.Food, Shelter, Security and being Social. What have I missed? Clearly, -Sapiens Sapiens need to eat, need protection from nature, and sometimes from other double sapiens. There are probably arguments to be made for and against the need to being social. So beyond these essentials… how did LIFE get so complicated ?When I take stock of my last 10 years - I do have some regrets. There are many things I haven’t figured out in my life. I don’t have the formula to engage in a mutually meaning-ful and a content-ful way beyond a few folks at a time. I tend to keep to myself these days.I don’t have the formula to live in the moment and enjoy the present for what it is… simply, the present. There is a lot of life happening between blinks - Yes life really does happen in a blink - and you can easily get left behind or lost in it.“Picture having a to-do list… and always anticipating fulfillment with the next tick of a checkbox, but you simply keep moving on to anticipating the next tick on the next checkbox, all the while still void of that elusive fulfillment with each check of a box. It’s like you are chasing life, but life doesn’t stand still to be caught - Yes, very much like chasing the wind. 🤨”Perhaps its an artificial insecurity - always trying to prepare for tomorrow, while missing out on today. But how do you de-program from preparing for tomorrow, when its a huge part of cultural programing ? - You spend a nice chunk of a lifetime on either ‘bettering your standing in life’ - through some form of education/skills acquisition (formal or otherwise) so you can gain more influence and command more resources - and as you improve your lot, you are actively engaged in ‘saving for a raining day’ - So your whole mindset is always living for a tomorrow that is not here today - that may never come - that you may never live.So… as I understand it - and I don’t claim any expert knowledge or make any pronouncements - So, after the last ice age, about… maybe… 12,000 years ago - why did we choose this model of life ? - the rat race model - Did we gradually arrive at today? - Was the transition of double sapiens being nomadic to stationary inevitable? - Did we make a deliberate choice to mold our everyday to look like what we presently have? - Is the so called rat race by design or by accident? - Does it still make sense? - Does it hold us hostage? - Could we change if we wanted to? For years, like many people around the globe, I have found myself doing early morning commutes to and fro dense urban hubs, not to mention the thick traffic travels. Food, Shelter, Security and being Social. What have I missed? Clearly, -Sapiens Sapiens need to eat, need protection from nature, and sometimes from other double sapiens. There are probably arguments to be made for and against the need to being social. So beyond these essentials… how did LIFE get so complicated ?So for the present day me…I find myself clamoring for a simple life. If you ask me what a simple life means - I would say, these days I fancy myself a pretend minimalist, desirous of cultivating a patch of land for a subsistence livelihood. A throw back of sorts - I guess like another cliche, the more things change the more they stay the same.Now I don’t pretend to be a hardcore minimalist, I enjoy many of present day conveniences which inevitably come with some clutter, nevertheless I find myself gravitating towards a very domesticated life where I am using my head, heart and hands (yes cliches beget corny, but corny doesn’t equate untrue) to solve the problems that come with building a quasi subsistence living.So... who am I? Well, like I have said previously… some say I am an introvert, and others say I am a germaphobe. Dכfaa thinks I am a broke Howard Huges. So…, who am I? Well it turns out I am an optimist - a person in a misguided pursuit of ‘perfection’ - which usually doesn’t end well. As more cliche goes, in my seeking perfection I am invariably robbed of being good. So my pursuits usually end in disappointments of not meeting my expectations. I am seriously considering switching to team pessimism - on account of, if I temper my expectations, and not expecting much, then there can’t be any disappointments, but on the other hand I could be pleasantly surprised when things go unexpectedly positively. So does this ironically mean pessimism leads to happiness while optimism brings heart break?Well that’s a whole other muse! 🤓

Hi. You may call me Moko Bi. These are my musings.First off, HAPPY DECEMBER! - I start this muse on this first day of December, 2021.December is busy in many ways - the obvious being seasonal celebratory reasons - Many global media platforms already have their “Best of 2021” lists blasting everywhere. Of course retail spaces in GH have very much caught onto the frenzy of beginning seasonal December trappings as early as November. This seems like a new phenomena of recent times. December is at the junction of an immediate past and a beckoning future. A figurative milestone, marking the split between what has actually happened and the hopes of what can happen. December has this quality of being ephemeral - with a contradictory feeling that there is a lot to get done before the year concludes - yet this is in conflict with the malaise of nothing really gets done in December. Perhaps the holiday nature of the month creates an inertia against all the well laid intentions of finishing the year strong. In many ways, December is the Friday of the year. They both elicit transient emotions of what has been and what is to be. It’s now post Farmer’s day - a national holiday in #GH - it feels like the aforementioned frenzy-meets-malaise of December is upon us. Seasonal human and automobile traffic is beginning to build atop the everyday busyness. Institutions are racing to finish their year end processes - financial, inventory, reporting etc - individuals are executing their remaining goals for the year, and planning their season shopping.For a very fleeting moment, I caught a whiff of the Harmattan - a distinct characteristic of Decembers of a seemingly by gone period - yet still a very powerful trigger of familiarity and memories of youth. I am not sure why, but my imaginative representation of the calendar year is depicted by a standing ladder, with January on the highest rang. As the year progresses, I slowly descend through the months until I reach the bottom, which is December - as the last rang of my imaginative ca-ladder. So for me, every December feels like I have finished the journey to the bottom of a hill, and preparing to be flung right back to the January - of the coming year.So here we are, December 2021. A chance to take stock of what has happened in 2021, and perhaps yearn for the promise of 2022.The promise 2021 was very much one of TEPID HOPE. A reeling pandemic world that had now been offered a way out through multiple vaccine choices or none at all - The human struggles and hopes in the ongoing pandemic is complicated to say the least, and I leave that to better able people to tackle.I have never been really good with setting firm resolutions as seems to be the norm in transitioning from one year to another. 2021 was no different. I was entering 2021 from grieving in a pandemic year. I don’t know if my loss and the pandemic were trigger events for an existing OCD condition - Heck I don’t even know what OCD means beyond the words Obsessive Compulsive Disorders. What I do know is I am in a mental battle between intellectual and social pragmatism. I am not sure I even understand what I just wrote - 🤨There is a disconnect between what my mind knows I should be able to do, and what I am physically able to do. Without extreme close examination, I am sure I pass as the typical next person everywhere. I would argue that we are all OCD, functioning on different scales of pragmatism. So I describe myself as Functional OCD. Meaning I could get by in this existing human social construct if I need to. One might ask …. ”so what are your obsessives and compulsions?” - I really don’t know! Some would say I am pensive, others would say I am an introvert, and yet another would say I am a germaphobe AND… I would say… “Heeeey….what’s with the name calling? 🙂”“The point is… I don’t think it’s as simple as fitting a person in neatly defined boxes. I could be extroverted as I need to be, or function in ante-germaphobe situations if I had the need. Necessity after all, is the mother who invented many stuff. 🤓”What I do know is, 2021, like the prior 2020 has been a real struggle for me. I am mentally, physically and socially exhausted. These days, to do these things - be extroverted, not be germaphobic - is not without costs. I have effectively lost most sense of spontaneity. It’s now a battle between - a rapid just doing it vs. a long drawn doodle (in the name of pre-planning) before getting things done.That which broke in 2020 did not get fixed in 2021 - So then, what’s the promise of 2022? Well that’s a whole other muse! 🤓