The Genesis continued
It’s almost 2 am yet sleep avoids me like the world does COVID-19 (no pun intended). My eyes hurt from staring at my screen all evening yet my brain has refused to shut down and allow the rest of my faculties to take a breather. With a million thoughts and ideas running through my mind on what to write about in the next post, it dawned on me how close I came to charting a path different from the one I’m on now. Let me explain what I mean.
Dear Photography, though I established in my previous post that joining GIJ TV introduced me to you, I am just realizing that it wasn’t as simple as I made it seem in our first conversation. Truth is, when I joined GIJ TV, it wasn’t because I was interested in you. Honestly, I hated photography at the time. The thought of being called “photoo” inexplicably unsettled me. My main aim at GIJ TV was to be a news anchor, which at the time was a privilege reserved for a select few.
Once I completed my two weeks (I honestly don’t remember how long it was) of video camera training, I began pursuing the real reason I had joined the station; train to become a news anchor. Mind you, this target of mine wasn’t going to be a mean feat to pull off as there was a long list of people, both pros and amateurs, ahead of me and waiting for the same opportunity and the chance to be in front of the camera.
It looked as if the majority of people who came there had the same purpose in mind, even those who came after me. Nevertheless, I decided I wasn’t going to let that deter me as I had never been the type to give up on a dream. With this mindset, I decided to try a different approach and make myself indispensable while still eyeing the anchor seat.
With a lot of hopeful wannabe news anchors (myself included) eyeing and crowding the spot in front of the camera, I realized there was an adequate room available behind the camera so I decided to focus on being behind the scenes and learning all that I could behind the camera. Soon, the manager of the studio, Mr. Gerald Annan-Forson, started noticing me and began assigning me more responsibilities behind the camera. Before I knew what was happening, I was on the editing bench getting basic video editing lessons as well.
Interestingly, my constant growth behind the camera and on the editing bench created an avenue for me to move in front of the camera and eventually into the anchor chair. Though I had finally achieved the primary purpose for which I had joined GIJ TV, my interest in being behind the camera and influencing a day’s production seemed to have outgrown my initial ambition to be in front of the camera and I eventually gave up the pursuit of being a constant face on the screens of GIJ TV.
Dear photography, can you believe that this entire time you had still not come into the picture yet. Don’t get me wrong, the studio had a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera and I remember the print media team (The Communicator) used to come over and request it. Though I had signed it out to them on numerous occasions, still photography never interested me. I was then all about motion pictures.
Thinking about it now, I guess the broadcaster dream and all that happened at GIJ TV could be likened to the biblical scenario of John the Baptist preparing the way and announcing the coming of the lamb of God who took away the sins of the world. You definitely have not taken away my sins but I strongly believe all these had certainly prepared my mind for your eventual coming.
So I ask myself, had I become a broadcaster, would you have ever come into my life? Would I have become Kojography®? Would I have decided to start 3p studios and would I have been on this journey to build a global multi-media brand?
I doubt any of these would have cropped up if I had pursued the broadcaster dream, or would it have? I guess that is a question only the Omniscient God would have an answer to. Whichever way we choose to look at this, we are here at this very moment, having this one-way conversation because this is how it was meant to be.
I think I have succeeded in relieving my brain’s bowels as I can finally feel my eyelids getting heavy and my other members beginning to give way so let’s pick this up another time before I start writing gibberish. Good morning to you and keep inspiring me.