With power comes great responsibility. Of the over 15 billion people on this planet only a handful become popular and are celebrated for wonderful feats of accomplishment. These gifted individuals walk at the perilous cliff edge of this fame. One side bearing utter bliss while the other is a sharp dive to the end of it all. Creatives, who form a huge chunk of these selected individuals, who swim in oceans of praises from their fans and industry experts suffer the risk of drowning in the very same waters that seem to carry them. It is only, again a few, from this list of individuals who after striking a balance between persona and personality can stand the test of time and prevail.
There are far too many examples for me to start boring you with the details of the shining stars within our communities who have fallen onto the wayside because this balance failed. The mental ability to separate the work and the worker is of paramount importance.
It is visible now more than ever, that the lives of artists/creatives (musicians, painters, singers, etc) are finding it hard to cope with the ever rise in criticism, be it positive or negative, placed on their works of art and to have this balanced with the life they live.
Enzo Ishall's announcement on retiring from music is one that should be treated with the utmost urgency it deserves, not only from his family but from health experts to government ministries to look at. Not only to convince him to stay (which is really up to him) but to also understand why this happens to our most brightest and talented.
"A lot has been happening for quite a while, it needs me to be focused on these issue so that I can focus on them" he confessed on the KVG show on Star FM radio.
I spoke to Ammara Brown on episode 27 of The Joe Mars Podcast and she shared with me her life story in detail. From the young girl who appeared on that TV commercial with superstar Oliver Mtukudzi to the young girl raised by Andy Brown now breaking into the music industry with hit songs that relate to issues in our society. With over two decades in the arts, Ammara has met with many successes and failures but has remained true to her calling and what she calls, God's decision.
Ammara shared with me how she made the conscious decision to "choose the things that matter to her" when faced with adversities in her career. She spoke about the mental abuse that is present in our society today and how people need to go through therapy in situations.
Love is the number one topic she preaches and because "the world was not designed in a way that is good for the soul" as she said, it becomes a responsibility for us all to teach each other and spread the love.
As soon as Ammara found the balance and set boundaries in her life, it seems she has never been clear about what she needs to do with everything that she has around her. From her talent as a performer, to being a mother, sister, friend and partner, she carefully scrutinises her actions and especially on social media which she believes is the greatest danger for anybody out there.
Listen to the video podcast here.
If you listen closely to the Enzo radio conversation, which one can call a publicity stunt as he failed to really speak out his "personal issues" and him admitting that "he will try to come back as often as he can" to do music, I think there has never been a time during our generation where artists need to strike a balance with their lives. Concentrating too much on any part (in this case the music) leaves the door ajar for other problems and cracks to show up in other parts of life.
The other big part of the lives of our creatives is about the audience that turns up to listen, dance and comment on the art. These are the the same individuals that spur you on and are trigger happy to trash you when they are going through something. The general issues are surrounding love, Ammara says. And if the "Hurt people, hurt people" saying is true, Zimbabwe has a lot of fans that need to learn to treat artists as people with feelings and responsibilities other than just entertaining the masses.