The One Where You Stay Anyway

Through Jescil's Eyes

My favorite thing about life is how DIFFERENT humans are.

I have lots of experiences and gain lots of lessons from them which is sometimes fun, and sometimes not,

But it can get boring and monotonous if that's all my life is made up of, so I enjoy experiencing other people's stories and their perspectives on those stories.

Whether its fiction or real, it ENRICHES the soul.

So today, I'd like to participate in enriching YOUR soul by sharing a piece from one of my faves, Jescil Richard,

Yup today's post is by an esteemed guest,

Enjoy! And let me know what you think of her thoughts and if they helped.

And please I beg you, let me know if you'd like more like here.

Much Love,

Kuku ❤️

Here's Jescil now👇

---

The sky is a mix of deep blue and grey.

I feel there should be a name for this.

You know the colour of the sky as it smoothly moves from dull dusk blue to full evening grey? Evening blue?

Anyway

My left and right eardrums are vibrating to "Holy Hands" by Paul McClure, Hannah McClure, Bethel Music. Oh how I love finding new good music.

I didn't even know this gem was hidden somewhere in my playlist. This is your reminder to recheck your playlists, keeds. See how I would have missed this? Chiwetelemari.

Onto other matters of today

Wait, I need to furiously tap my feet to the rhythm of this song while bopping my head to it.

Alright, alright. Shall we be serious? Where were we?

I keep thinking about doors.

Sit with me. I know where I'm going with the sudden mention of doors, I shan't lead you astray.

Not the physical kind of door, but instead, the invisible kind. The ones you didn't know existed until you were already standing in front of them, key in hand, wondering how on earth you ended up here.

A bit of an explanation ft backstory.

So a while ago, I learned about PR and took a role where I had to shape perception. Perception. How people see things, how narratives are built, how a story lands differently depending on who's telling it and how and why.

At the time, I didn't see the point.

But as someone who tends to find a point of convergence later on, I saw no reason why I shouldn't immerse myself into the role. So I did. Besides, I knew I wanted to soak myself in storytelling and shaping perception is a deeper form of controlled storytelling.

You know how little kids jump into mud, wiggle themselves into it, allow it taint cracks and creases? Allow it hide behind a certain kind of fluffy cheeks? To the point you have to use a tank of water to wash the dirt off them? That is my plan with storytelling.

So I immersed myself in shaping perception.

Fast forward to months down the line.

Guess what?

Stop guessing.

Now, I'm in a completely different phase where I work and relate with people where that knowledge is everything.

Salem King. Pelumi Nubi. Global names in communications. In marketing. In Global Climate. People whose entire world runs on perception and how carefully it is maintained.

And I show up, not scrambling or starting from zero, but with something already in my hands.

A key.

To a door I didn't know I was walking toward.

Seee? I told you I wasn't going to lead you astray with the door analogy.

A bit of important digression.

In the forward-looking moment, learning about PR and everything I did in that phase of my life looked like nothing. It looked like a detour. It looked like, "why am I learning this, for what, for who?"

Now

This is not to say, "oohhh, everything you learn will lead somewhere in the future even if you cannot map it out."

Not that 100% of what you're doing now will matter later.

Some of it genuinely won't.

Some will contribute immensely to your path leading to your future.

Some will waste your time and lead you astray. 💀

But a good chunk of it will lead you to a future past version of you would be grateful for, in ways you cannot calculate from where you're standing.

And yet

I think you stay anyway. Not blindly or in a rigid format, but you stay curious. You let things teach you even when you can't see the syllabus and you collect the knowledge like you're packing for a trip without knowing the destination.

Because some things have a way of being useful almost everywhere you land.

Trust that learning broadly, even without immediate ROI, is rarely wasted. The version of you three phases from now will look back at something you're halfheartedly doing today and feel genuinely grateful you didn't quit.

So maybe you're acquiring a skill that feels mismatched with where you want to go, maybe you're staying with something out of discipline alone, the excitement having checked out months ago.

Just maybe.

Just maybe.

It is building a door.

And when you get there, you'll have the key.

Believe ye me, you do not want to be found unprepared without a key when the door appears before you.

I hope your season is generous with you.

I leave you in the warm hands of "Oceans (Where Feet May Fail - Live from Madison Square Garden)" by Hillsong UNITED, Taya.

Yours in Magic,

Jescil “doors" Richard.

---

If this found you, I write more of this (the wandering thoughts, the magic in the mundane, notes from Notes from a fellow 20-something building life in real time) — over at JescilVsAdulthood. Come find me there.

---