An Unpolished Diamond
Soulfully written by GONG Jae Ok
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Today, I met someone *
* really special. He stood out
from the rest of the crowd being
* the only black guy. Me, with my *
Asian look, was a little other story.
There were quite a few people
* * with Asian looks. * *
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I came to sit by the *
* table across from him. *
His name was Daniel and he
seemed really young. He had
four braids in his hair. I asked
* his name and where he was *
* coming from. Gothenburg.
Then asked for his genre
in writing. And he told
me about his books.
* He has written three
books so far of which he has
edited the first one seven times. I *
asked him about his writing process
and he told me that all he has to do is
to sit down by the computer and every–
thing comes to him. He thought it was a
really interesting question and I could
see that he had to think about it for a
while. I asked him a lot of questions.
* I asked him about his characters *
* and how they come to mind. And *
he had to think about that question
* too. He said he just sits down and *
then it comes to him and he doesn’t
* even know himself where he is *
* headed until after a while *
* * * he has written. * * *
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He is 27. I am 43.
_____
He has been into writing for the last nine years.
_____
* I asked about his writing *
* his first year and as of now, *
nine years later. He was so kindred
* in his answers. So sincere. So genuine.
He was for real. He said that he went from
– Oh, yeah, writing a book is not that hard!
To
– Yeah, I can absolutely write a book but it is hard. It is hard work.
He was so sincere and asked me several times the same thing:
– Do you know what I mean!?
And I was yeah, I totally knew what he meant every single time.
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He told me about creative
* writing and his thesis mainly *
because I bluntly asked him. I went
straight to the core of his being. And
showed him some of my best work
with the best intentions. And he *
* told me, no he exclaimed *
-Have you written all this in two years?
– This is only a fraction of what I have written.
And I answered truthfully,
– And you have a job!?
_____
* * * And then I told him * * *
* * * something else. Something that he * *
* * will never forget while he is alive and breathing *
on this planet. I told that he has got it. He has something
really really special, something unique. He has something
very unattainable to most aspiring writers. If he puts all his
* focus and attention on his writing, he could accomplish *
* great things. But he has to be very focused and diligent. *
– He was, yeah, I have heard this before but I never believe what they are saying.
I asked him if he believed me. He replied to me softly
– For the first time I actually do. I believe you. You are saying exactly the same thing my brother keeps telling me.
-Do you believe him? I asked.
–No, he answered earnestly.
I told him again and again the same thing. I kept saying it.
– You have something really really special, something unique.
And I added:
– I believe. I have faith in you. I believe you can accomplish great things in this lifetime, if you are getting real about your writing. But you need to be diligent about it. I don’t want you to screw it up, okay.
He was half giggling and half being real about it, especially the part where I said screw it up. And then I continued:
– I want you to feel what I am saying to you. I want you to feel it. I want you to seep it into all your senses.
– Yeah, he said somewhat awkwardly and somewhat heartily looking down at the table.
– You need to be clear to the universe. You need to show that you are serious about writing. Otherwise, you’ll only confuse the universe.
And told him this, as well,
– There is a reason why you are here today. And there is a reason why I am sitting telling you all these things, and you just met me. I am telling you the same things as your brother.
– I want you to take in what I just said to you and I’ll see you here tomorrow.
– Yes, we do. At 8.30, he answered, put his right hand as captain saying ay ay to his crew.
And with this notion I left him sitting by the table and I left the building.
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Later than evening, at the hotel I was staying at, I had to write everything down. It just kept coming, it poured, like from an open well that was closed for the last centuries. And creativity is a powerful thing, perhaps the most powerful thing we possess. It is just that most of us are so unaware of it. We were never taught about the power of creativity and what impact it can have on you, if you have the courage to go where it leads you, that is.
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It baffles me that he is so *
* unaware of this talent, this gift *
* of his. He is so oblivious about it all. * *
And maybe, just maybe, this is what others
were thinking about me at the time I was his
age. People kept telling me how clever, gifted
and all. They said all sorts of things to me but *
* I could never make any sense of it all. They told
me to do this and that. But I never really got to the *
* point where I proved myself worthy of everybody’s
saying until I had lived more than 40 years of my life,
mostly in the dark, with my demons luring in the dark
alleys and gave me a lot of crap to work out and for me
to deal with. It was not until much later that I finally *
got it right. I never battled the demons. The demons
* * battled me to be who I am transforming into, * *
* the truest version of myself living and leading *
a sustainable and healthy creative lifestyle. *
* And here I am soaring and thriving *
* * * * like never before. * * * *
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The best part of it all *
* is to do it with other shining
bright stars like you Daniel. I am
very gratified to have you across the
table today. I am writing all this down
because I don’t want you to derail like I
did when I was your age. Sadly, I lost my
orientation, purpose, goal and soul. It took
me a lot more than I could handle to come *
back to my physical body again. I don’t want
that for you. Daniel, I want you to find your
spark, your purpose in this specific lifetime.
* I want it to find you. Because we live in a *
confusing time where the obvious seems
* to be confusing and the confusing a *
* way of western pattern and way *
* * * * * of living. * * * * *
* *
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* Holding space *
* for me to explore *
* my creative journey *
* in peace & solace. *
* *
I promise you this much, *
I‘ll check in with you once in a
while to see if and when you are on
* track or not. Just so you know. It is *
alright to be off track. It is just that you *
need to get back on track a whole lot sooner
than you used to. Because any time away from
your writing or time thinking of writing will be
* a waste of time and effort. I promise you some–
thing else, the very second you get serious about
writing and serious about you and your writing,
things will move in your favour a lot quicker *
* * and a lot sooner than you possibly can *
imagine. I want you to be the soaring
and roaring lion who is wise enough to
keep his eyes open and brave enough to
stand up for the task of pulling off his
most authentic roar there is. The one *
where ancient whispers seep into your
* body, soul, heart and mind. May you be *
everything you never imagined and nothing
you possibly couldn’t dream of. Daniel, you 
* * are ready to soar, my dear chap. * *
Fly high up in the sky!
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Because I made an ode *
* to the founder of this festival; *
To encourage other writers to pursue
their writing journeys of their lives and
* at all times. And she said that this is what *
this festival is all about. To uplift other writers
and she was so excited for me to experience it all.
* This sense of lifting writers is what SWF is all *
* about. A free zone of play and exploring new *
* ways to approach life. And let’s this festival *
be the festive feast to celebrate you taking
* off and flying high up in the sky. *
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Stockholm Writer’s Festival is a festival not only for published writers but for writers who are real and sincere about their writing. The festival is founded by Catherine Petterson. She is a delicate soul with a pure and tender heart. She encouraged me to pursue my path to the unknown in which I could fully commit to explore my writing and writing ability. She is magnificent and she is the most authentic person in her own beautiful magnificence. She needs to be experienced. She has this divine aura and energy that transforms stuck feelings and energies in our bodies. She immensly helped me in opening up my senses and to further explore and go further in my writing.
I also wrote a poem to/for her called Gratified.
GONG Jae Ok 