I Left The Family Whatsapp Group

I Left The Family Whatsapp Group

I left the family WhatsApp group a while back. Not with a big, dramatic exit or a long, scathing message. Just a quiet, almost imperceptible departure. One moment I was there, a passive observer in a sea of shared photos and sporadic “Good Morning” messages, and the next, I wasn’t. It was a decision I made. Love those guys to bits, but I had to bounnce.

For more than 20 years, my life revolved around a microphone, a mixer, and the energy of a radio station. I was a radio presenter. For two decades, I spoke each morning, sharing stories, playing music, and connecting with a community of listeners who chose me. It was a job I loved, a craft I poured my soul into. But initially, in the eyes of many; people who knew my potential, it never seemed like a “real” job.

The words were never said aloud, but the feeling was a constant presence, a subtle undercurrent in every conversation. “When are you going to get a proper job?”  – My undefined life was never going to be enough. It’s a feeling I’ve carried with me, being misunderstood and having my life’s work diminished to something frivolous, something temporary is something I learned to cope with. ‘You’re life has been fun’ – something I’ve been told a million times in a million different ways …

It’s true, my life has been a series of undefined paths. No structured career ladder, no clear-cut milestones. My days were not marked by promotions, quarterly reports, or the corner office. They were defined by the rhythm of the city I was broadcasting to, the connections I made with  strangers who called in to share stories, the art of playing a perfect song at the perfect moment. While most people I knew, their lives were built on solid foundations, on the kind of careers you could explain in a single sentence, on houses they owned and pensions they were building. My journey, personal and meandering, simply didn’t have the structure in most peoples lives or at least that’s how it’s always felt. Maybe, I was insecure.

We live in a world that praises the traditional. The doctor, the lawyer, the high-flying executive. We’re told these are the careers that matter, the lives worth living. But what about the poets who find beauty in words, the artists who paint the world as they see it, the dancers who tell stories with their bodies, the gardeners who coax life from the earth, or the radio presenters who connect a community through the airwaves?

We can’t all be rich, famous athletes, or corporate titans. We won’t all be great business people. The world would be a dull, predictable place if we were. The true richness of our existence lies in the myriad of passions and paths we can choose to follow. In the end, the only person you have to be true to is yourself. The only journey you have to validate is your own.

The people we love, the people we want to understand us the most, are not always equipped to do so. They see the world through a different lens, and that’s okay. Your authenticity is not contingent on their approval. So, take a deep breath. Stand tall in the life you’ve built, the life that defines you. Even if the world around you doesn’t understand, your life should feel like home. And that’s enough.

For anyone who has chosen a path less traveled and found it to be the most authentic, most fulfilling road they could have ever taken, this was for you.