“I want people to walk away with an Emotion, I think the worst thing is when you create art that doesn't invoke anything inside someone.”
We sat down with London-based Poet, Writer & Entrepreneur, Suli Breaks. We had an inspiring discussion about his journey, his success & his approach to his craft. No Diploma was heavily inspired by Suli’s words via his viral YouTube video “Why I hate School but Love Education” we’re truly honored to collaborate with him on this New Lesson episode. A Full Circle moment.
What is a New Lesson you learned this year?
A lesson I've always known,but I guess I've reaffirmed it this year is like Nike,"Just Do It". I've always known it but I think as you go through different stages of your career, you start to become comfortable doing things a certain way. Things that we see are done by people. It's not magical, & sometimes we're so afraid to do things because we're thinking, Oh there's all these intricate processes and all that stuff but you are a person as well and you shouldn't doubt your capability to do these things, they're not as complicated as everyone thinks they are. More & more I'm reinforcing the idea of just do it and then just figure it out.
What is a Book that helped you Grow?
Arguably one of my favorite books, The Alchemist. It just allowed me to look at reading or life differently. I read it in one sitting, I was getting on a bus and by the time I'd finished the journey, I had finished reading the book. An amazing book.
Graduating from Sheffield with a law degree, what made you choose a different path & how did you deal with the outside noise?
Law for me was always what I was supposed to do, because I was good at it academically, but I never really wanted to pursue it. I always wanted to do English literature to some capacity. There was this idea of security & traditional understand of what professional careers are. So when I graduated, I was at this crossroads where it was like, do I try to pursue what i've been told is the right way, or do I try to pursue what I feel is the right way. Someone said something great the other day, sometimes you're given a job, but sometimes you make a job. I felt like I wanted to at least give myself the opportunity to try & create that path for myself.
What are some obstacles you face in your creative process, & how you deal with them?
The biggest obstacle I face creatively is I think every creative has it, perfectionism is never right, it's never ready, It needs to be improved a little bit more or we need to tweak this or tweak that so it just stops you from getting things done. For me, I've adopted the mentality of that It's never going to be my best work, It's never going to be perfect, It's never going to be great. Just get it done and let the world respond to it, because even the stuff that I think is great, I'll put it out & a year later, I'm like, Oh this so trash. I feel like that's my creative experience.
What do you hope people can walk away with your Art & Poetry?
I want them to walk away with an emotion, whether it's negative, whether it's positive, I want them to feel something. I think the worst thing is when you create art, and it doesn't invoke anything inside someone. For me, the most important thing is that it stimulates something inside you & you think about that feeling in association with my art.
Why did you become who you are?
Because the stars aligned, you know what I mean? The world said it needed someone like me and the stars aligned. (Laughing) As a person, you have something that you do, and when you do that specific thing, you get this kind of feeling like this is right. This is what I'm supposed to be doing, and I feel like with what I do like sometimes when I'm on stage or when I'm writing I often get that affirmation that this what you are supposed to do.
I'm not saying I was born to do it but at that moment in time I get that feeling of like this is what I am supposed to do. I think that's what made me who I am in some capacity.