011. Answer The Call.

Go to the edge and claim it as your center.

11/100: How does one live genuinely and authentically in a world that thrives on the opposite?

I stood at the border, stood at the edge, and claimed it as central. Claimed it. And let the rest of the world move over to where I was. — Toni Morrison

Everyone has their ministry.

Maybe yours isn’t a ‘get ready with me.’
Maybe yours doesn’t involve viral hooks or trending sounds.
Maybe you’re being called to share something else, something differently.

Please.
For yourself.
For all of us.

Answer the call.

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It’s tempting to architect the perfect avatar. To hunt for numerical proof of what to make, how to look, and what to think. To strip the self of all salt and substance and wear a skin so palatable it bears no taste or texture. But your scraps won’t keep them fed, and their praise won’t keep you full. You’ll have to keep setting yourself on fire to feel something.

It’s also tempting to hide. To anonymously watch in annoyance as the vapid and viral get rewarded digitally, socially, financially. To use that as an excuse to be a bystander, a critic. But to try and be seen trying, regardless of vanity metrics, is the unavoidable antidote.

Octavia Butler urged us to make our own worlds, to write ourselves in. Whether we’re a part of greater society or not. Toni Morrison urged us to go to the edge, claim it as our center, and let the rest of the world catch up.

I don’t know your edge, or your world, or what you’d be doing if no one was watching, but I know that action on your own behalf, art on your own behalf, is how you reclaim the arena of your own life. I know that you have to make peace with authenticity and visibility not being synonymous, and keep going anyway. I know that you must plant your seeds and plant your feet and let both boos and applause become noise.

And please remember how many times the world’s been so painfully wrong.

Go claim your center, and answer the call.

Love,
Nneka

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11/100: How does one live genuinely and authentically in a world that thrives on the opposite?

Happy New Year, Friends!

What call are you currently answering? How are you living your truth in a world that oftentimes encourages and rewards the opposite?

I hope you’re stepping slow and steady into 2026. I can’t bother to be rushed. Thank you for watching, reading, listening. As always, I’m looking forward to reading your answers.