Dreams Come True
I don’t think the younger me ever thought this day would come, but I dreamed it.
I don’t need anyone telling me last week was fun and eventful for bookstagramers. I witnessed it myself on Instagram. Readers and bibliophiles on the popular social media platform had stacks of books in different formations and combinations of themes, genres, sizes, cover art, country of author and publication, writing style, and so much more.
If you jumped in on any of the several-days-long trending bookish challenges, I salute you for promoting and supporting writers and a vibrant reading culture in your community.
It was a week for showing off. A time for separating the borrowers from the collectors.
Stealing an expression from fashion and lifestyle YouTuber, Fumi Desalu-Vold, I was here for it!
To be honest, I was impressed by the array of books Nigerian readers from all over the world put out on display in perfectly staged photographs showing their collection. There were also chic pictures of readers in nice outfits holding up matching book covers that I couldn’t get enough of.
Seeing that much ‘bookstravaganza’ got me thinking. Perhaps contrary to popular opinion, not only do Nigerians read, they buy books. They have books. A treasure trove of books!
Shoutout to our new and old collectors and the display they put out.
Buchi Emecheta fueled my interest in reading and having a collection of my own. To sustain that interest, I begged, borrowed and accepted gifts. Thank God I don’t have to beg or borrow anymore, but I still get books by other writers as books and believe it or not, I have also been gifted my own books! That, however, is a story for another time.
So, I bought, read, collected and built a modest collection of books myself over time.
Eventually, I graduated from just reading to writing.
When that time came and I became a writer, Buchi Emecheta was a great influence. I would look to her works for what started and evolved into my own creative writing style.
Having looked up to her and seen the many ways I was inspired to become a writer because of her and her collection of novels, it was humbling seeing one of my own titles in a stack put together by Roving Heights bookstore. I think they called it an epic stack of vibrant African voices, and guess what? Included in that stack was a book written by Buchi Emecheta, my childhood idol.
I don’t think the younger me ever thought this day would come, but I dreamed it. I dreamed that one day I would write books people would read and create characters that readers would fall in love with. I dreamed that one day my books would be placed alongside books by Buchi Emecheta.
That picture put a smile on my face because it reminded me of my dream, the work that went into it and the time and places providence embraced me.
I don’t think there’s anyone out there who hasn’t dreamed of doing something or becoming someone. We all have dreams but because we fear disappointment and failure, and sometimes life itself happening to us, we suppress those dreams and call them wishful thinking.
It took an image last week to remind me of those boyhood dreams I was too shy and afraid to share with anyone else. And today, as I scroll through social media, going from stack to stack, I am dreaming again because I know for sure that dreams come true.