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W Ebid farwell to the month of May with a blockbuster weekend on the arts and tourism scene with spinoffs that will leave indelible marks on our creative economy sectors for long periods ahead.
The creative economy is currently one of the world’s fastest-growing sectors, impacting many economies.
The creative industries – which include advertising, architecture, arts and crafts, design, fashion, film, video, photography, music, performing arts, publishing, research and development, software, computer games, electronic publishing, and TV/radio – are the lifeblood of the creative economy.
Most of those categories are on show at the annual spectacle the MTN Bushfire festival.
Today it is not strange to hear of a child informing their parents that instead of wanting to go into the more common dream professions like medicine, finance or law, they say they want to be entertainers.
This has surprised many homes, but we must embrace that these are professions just like the traditional ones we have heralded for decades.
After all, even the doctors pay for entertainment, and that entertainment has to be provided by professionals who make a living from it. It is a whole value chain.
Creative industries consistently create employment and income, promote innovation, and improve societies’ well-being. They are not hobbies; they are professions that people earn
DDREAM
in her blog entitled unspoken: Writes to women a very interesting piece on unlearning inappropriate relationship behaviours.
I really learnt from it but most importantly I could relate to her inner most belief system and struggles, to a point that I decided to share her thoughts.
For years, she wrote: “My feelings of rejection and abandonment surfaced through temper tantrums, self-harming, compulsive behaviour, and endless attempts to convince someone I was worthy of love.
ESIRE, EMOTIONAL
I had a conditioned belief that if you love someone, then you take on the job of their mental and emotional support.
This is not true, and it’s unfair to dump your emotional baggage on someone who does not qualify for the job. I didn’t allow others to love me, because I was too busy trying to make them love a living from, significantly impacting society and any economy. Researchers found that creative industries are open to people of all ages and backgrounds and significantly contribute to youth employment and careers.
Just a few days after Africa Day this past Thursday, Eswatini welcomes the world to one of the most influential arts showcases on the planet—the MTN Bushfire Festival.
This is not just a festival but a huge creative economy and annual tourism boost for the country.
A few years ago, the Director of the Festival, Jiggs Thorne, put in context the value chain that the festival brings to thecountry and how much it garners for the creative economy. For the first time, we got to fully appreciate that the arts are not just about making people have fun, but they have serious impacts on the economy.
From catering to accommodation to transport and marketing, me where I felt a void.
I spent a lot of time feeling offended when a man didn’t hold and comfort me through my pain. These behaviours were my attempts to fight for love. See me. Hear me. Empathise with me. Love me like this.
I wanted to control how people showed up for me and I was met with a deep sense of rejection when they wouldn’t. I loved from a place of fear instead of faith and renewing these thought patterns has not been easy.
COURAGE
It takes courage to change toxic behaviours. It takes focus, intentionality, and a desire for discipline within yourself. To have courage is to allow the discomfort felt on the outside while your spirit shifts on the inside, ultimately taking shape in the form of rebirth.
It takes looking at the act of love as a liberating experience. It’s about clinging tight to God in perfect order rather than the absence or presence of a man.
The situations that come to help us face our flaws are never pretty. Not only am I learning how to love myself, but I’m also learning how to forgive myself, my parents, and intimate partners.
Every day, I have to be intentional many sectors are positively impacted by a vibrating creative economy, and in retrospect, the broader economy comes alive.
Today, some tourists here for the MTN BUSHFIRE Festival are reading this piece from their hotel rooms or scenic tourism sites. We welcome you to the lovely Kingdom of Eswatini and assure you of hospitality par excellence.
This annual festival sees some of the best artists performing in an intimate and 100 personal, socially responsible festival.
CELEBRATES
Lauded by CNN as one of the ‘7 African music festivals you really have to see’ and recently named BBC’s Top African Festival, MTN BUSHFIRE is Eswatini’s internationally acclaimed music and arts festival that celebrates creative expression while promoting social responsibility, stimulating the economy and drawing talent and tourists from across Africa and around the world.
According to the about withdrawing from destructive and counterproductive behaviours and some days are better than others.
To everyone on their journey of unlearning toxic behavioural patterns in relationships, you are not alone. You can trust you are okay.
Be kind to yourself, be gentle with your inner child because she wants to be loved. You have to teach her what love really is. I am teaching my inner child she doesn’t have to be afraid while also meeting her with understanding as to why she may feel fear.
BEHAVIOURAL
Eswatini
The unlearning of toxic behavioural patterns starts with a choice to truly heal the way you think of yourself and your experiences.
For me, writing is a form of healing. It’s a way I can understand, balance, and release what I am feeling. I am learning, healing is within the act of challenging behaviour.
It’s not an end point. It’s a practice that has to be implemented every moment of each day. I’m realising my healing process is not only in the writing but in sharing what I come to know.
Now, I’m tapping into my courage
Tourism website, each year, a multi-generational global community of up to 20 000 ‘bring their fire’ to the scenic Malkerns Valley to experience an eclectic Pan-African and international line-up of live music, theatre, poetry, film, circus, dance and visual arts. In summary it is an unforgettable experience.
A vibrant handcraft market, family-friendly performances, KidZone, and the recently introduced interactive art and dialogue space, The Barn, combine to create a magically eclectic three-day entertainment experience.
Therefore today, it will literally be fun under the sun at the 16th edition. The event was formed in 2006 and aims to develop the arts while promoting social responsibility.
Through its thoroughly innovative and development-focused approach, the festival gives back to the people of Eswatini with 100 profits of profits donated to two Swazi charities; Young Heroes, a child sponsorship
to present myself as a vessel to pour what I’m learning into others in hopes we can grow and embrace vulnerability together.
What’s also important is to practice patience. Rather than jumping to conclusions about how much someone values you based on how quickly they respond, you should practice patience, and learn to give people their space, even close loved ones, patience, couple with forgiveness an humility, can help us moderate our reactions to ambiguous situations so we can avoid socially destructive acts.
RESPECT
Patience creates an atmosphere of mutual respect an understanding between partners that allows both parties to feel safe and secure in the relationship.
We also need to set clear expectations. If there are certain expectations or requests that must be fulfilled within a specific time frame, it’s important to make sure these expectations are communicate clearly from the start so there will be no confusion later on. Setting clear expectations lays a foundation of trust between partners by ensuring both sides understand each other’s upfront.
Another point is that it’s natural for couples who have been together for a long time to think they know what the other is thinking or feeling at any given programme assisting Swazi orphans, and Gone Rural, a charity that helps rural Swazi women and the communities with information and infrastructure development, addressing health, education and social concerns.
All these purposeful accolades show that the arts are not just about fun and entertainment but also mainly about community and social empowerment.
So while the country grapples with fighting the double-digit youth unemployment rate, it would also help to urn faces and efforts towards the creative industries. This means assisting young entrepreneurs in accessing professional training to chase their dreams.
This includes training them on not just sharpening their talents and skills but also management and marketing, equipping them with the skills and techniques needed to run successful creative enterprises.
CREATIVE
This calls on helping them to enhance artistic and creative skills that can foster more dynamic creative sectors; strengthening the development of professional associations, networks and alliances for young cultural and creative professionals; raising awareness among youth about the contribution culture makes to development. All these would also align with many international organisations’ efforts, including UNESCO, that support the upliftment of the creative industry.
So today or tomorrow, as you go out and enjoy one of the biggest festivals in the world, do know that each Lilangeni you spend, you are not just supporting that festival but a long value chain and, in turn, playing a pivotal role in reducing youth unemployment and also fuelling the creative economy. Such events are indeed reigniting the fire of the creative economy.
moment.
But when you make assumptions about what’s going on in another person’s head without actually asking them, you risk creating more misunderstandings than understanding.
This expectation places an undue burden on the person you are expecting something from and sets both of you up for failure.
This habit can lead to feelings of defensiveness, resentment and ultimately, bitterness. Rather than expecting others in your life to meet your needs without guidance, it is important that you learn how to express yourself clearly and concisely.
AUTOMATICALLY
We often assume that if two people are meant to be together, they should automatically understand each other on a deep level and should never disagree.
While it is true that compatibility is important in every relationship, it is also true that disagreements is an essential part of a healthy partnership
Unlearning is not easy but it is a journey that we all can take, make that decision to understand not only ourselves but also challenge our mindsets over things that look like a reality yet there are not. Please remember fear is paralysing, and it robs us of the sanity of loving unconditionally.