Things you sense when you start | Juwon Ogungbe

A start in life that gives access to a wide range of colours, textures, timbres, tastes and smells is precious.

Sitting in a diner with a friend whose childhood experiences were different to mine, we heard one of my favourite pop songs from my early days. I was excited and told him how I felt.

The recording sounded outlandish and complex to my friend. It seemed strange to him that the song was part of my vocabulary from such a young age.

Sometimes people wonder aloud about the apparent limited imaginations of ruling elites in cultures that they know little about. Is it possible that there is more scope and range within those ways of life than the indigenes are well practised at exploring and expressing?

Even within cultures that attach value to imaginative flair, the demands of specialisation in the process of maturation tend to diminish the capacity for perceiving the world in Technicolor.

Originally published at https://juwonogungbe.com on October 3, 2020.