Top 10 of 2014: 3-4-10 e18hteam style (Woolgather Wednesday)

Photo taken by George Mutale
Chitenge Jumpsuit designed by Kamanga Wear

So another calendar year has bitten the dust...and once again it is time to take the customary look back at what I have blogged about in 2014. In keeping with tradition, I am curating my favourite posts in order of favouriteness, but unlike last year I actually have enough to choose from to make my quota yay!

To keep things fresh, I am going to use the my 3-4-10 format, which for a limited period has been usurped: it will now have an extra bonus inspired by the number 18 that has come to dominate my life due to the documentary I released last year about the Zambian National Football Team: e18hteam. Right now the film is the driving force in my life journey and the momentum from last year looks like I am to be propelled in directions I cannot even fathom. There is a whole world I am about to perceive and experience for the very first time and I am ready for it ;}.

So in honour of the exciting times ahead of me, I thought it fitting to reflect on last year.  Not just through the usual list of 10 posts that most resonated with my annum To better encapsulate the last 12 months, I am also sharing personal and professional lessons that have hopefully informed how I am setting up to grab 2015 by the ahems he he and continue to reach for my dreams as well as growing as a human being that has a positive effect on their community. So without further ado....

3 major lessons learned

1. Keep at it: tenacity + passion = success and with that the freedom to grow and be satisfied personally and professionally will follow.

2. It is more likely that the people you meet now may never truly know you as well as the people you have history with.  That means you need to be patient with them, they may not get you or what you do immediately and you will have to put in the effort to get them to see you and/ or to understand what you/ your work are about.

3. Don't let the bad eggs take you down with them. Find a way to maintain your principles, integrity, optimism and drive for life, change and the future.

4 mantras for 2015

1. Be healthier!

2. Stay positive - don't let the negative thrown at you sap your energy, dampen your spirit and put your soul in umbra.

3. Holiday! Celebrate! Take the time to go to la isla bonita: it can be a simple as a treat like a massage, 10 minute meditation every day, or as indulgent as a flight to the beach or an expensive bottle of wine.  It is important to take time out, take stock and find one's centre. And if you didn't get all the Madonna 80s references, I can't help you.

4. Be you. It's enough. You have a place in the world and that is why you are here.

Top 10 posts of 2014

1. Kindness Ate the Quail

2. Happy Golden Jubilee Independence Zambia!

3. Ghanaian Food and Drink Photo Journal

4. e18hteam: Using the Power of Film to Speak

5. Africa is THE Continent Part II

6. Are You the Last One Standing?

7. The Illusion of Space for Multiple Stories and Identities

8. Hair Ninjas and Afrolicious Samurais

9. Innovation, Passion and Zambia

10. #BringBackOurGirls

And as promised the bonus:

This was THE song for me last year as I finished and premiered e18hteam. I found the strength within to push through the set backs and I will keep going, don't care if I am wrong coz I know I am right to see what others don't. That's where progress loves to hang out and you know I love evolution. Here's to another year of the spectacular, the gift of being alive, free to explore the expanse of our imaginations and finding ways to manifest our ideas and dreams to share with the world we live in xo.

FYI this video was filmed in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia :)))))))))))!