The most exciting journey that I’ve experienced in my life thus far was writing and publishing Pieces of Expressions, my debut published anthology. I have written an anthology before but did not publish it.

Pieces of Expressions is a conversion with the universe, I wish the world can get its hands on this book. It’s 7 years of writing – you can imagine the journey – and it’s 27 pieces in the book. For a very long time, this book was the only thin strand holding me to dear life. There was a time when I was done with this life and I was ready to leave. You know when one reaches that point in life, nothing seems to matter anymore, loved ones are forgotten, healthy bank accounts are forgotten, and sense of self has faded. However, my soul and spirit were not ready to leave as yet. I couldn’t leave here without leaving something behind – a legacy. I want to leave a self-sustainable entity that can fully function and generate wealth for generations to come. So my dream started with planting a seed of words. A battle between publish or perish, and so we wrote until publishing prevailed!

When I was writing Pieces of Expressions, I was still planning my exit strategy. But here I am, still alive and happy to be alive. I cherish my life now and wish to help more people realize their lives’ worth. Over the past few years, Pieces of Expressions has shown me wonders and the power of spirit. I published the book in 2019 when we didn’t even know that a pandemic was coming our way and that being alive could be so unpredictable. The 26th of March 2020 I was supposed to be launching Pieces of Expressions with Ethekwini Libraries; that day marked the first day of quarantine – our country, South Africa went on lockdown. There was a German bookstore that ordered my books and shipped them by boat. This is all happening at a time when the sky has become quiet, no airplanes in the sky, no crossing out of your zone, no leaving your house, yet here we were in moving waters.

In 2021 when there was looting in South Africa and a complete lockdown once again. My work was exhibited at Manchester International Festival and that exhibition went on tour in Denmark. In essence, what was going to be my exit point became my birth certificate and I am forever grateful for Pieces of Expressions and SE7EN27 my collaborative project which I still want to soar to greater heights.