Creation is just the beginning…

It hit me after I collected the first 100 copies of my self-published collection of affirmations, gratitude verses and spoken word New Thought, New Words in July of 2018: now that I had created this new thing, I was tasked with doing something with it! (I’ll save those details for the 2nd anniversary this July.) Fast-forward to 2020, and I have thrust myself into similar territory. Thankfully, this time, I am more prepared and less daunted by the journey ahead.

On March 14, 2020 I uploaded the first episode of Fabian Seh! on YouTube. It was a giddy, exhilarating feeling tinged with a dash of mild panic. It was real. Just like when I held the first copy of my book in my hands. I had created something and it was now in the world. I’ve always wanted to host a show. A great deal of my childhood was spent putting on performances for imaginary audiences in imaginary theatres and studios. Fabian Seh! is a real-life manifestation of that childish mimicry. The description I have settled on is ​ ‘a talk/interview show on YouTube bout a whole heap a tings from the mind and mouth of fabian m. thomas’. I have to admit those twenty words bring me immense joy every time I see or remember them.

As you might expect, the initial focus becomes generating content, new episodes etc. No problem, I have had 40 plus years to amass all sorts of quirky and idiosyncratic topics and treatments. Passion is a crucial element. Mine is a robust, rolling boil that often keeps me up at night. Enter COVID19, which caused a minor blip in the Fabian Seh! radar. Who tell dem fi gi mi more time? Saints, I went into overdrive, after recording a remote discussion on COVID19 and the Entertainment and Creative Industries in Jamaica my producer Damian Levy relocated out of Kingston in anticipation of a national lockdown, which meant he wouldn’t be present to record new episodes. No problem, I moved to recording myself with my phone. Then my brain and I concurred that remote video recording was an option. Damian heartily agreed. Thank you Zoom! On April 25, we recorded our first remote video interview with the first person to say “Yes” to my message requesting an interview. He was in the UK. Firs’ interview: Yona Knight-Wisdom, Olympic Diver will be uploaded to YouTube on May 2 and will be the eighth episode! Can you say GRATEFUL!!?

An epiphany enters stage right: I now have to work on promoting Fabian Seh! as widely as possible. Hmmmm, what does that look like? Is posting the episodes on my social media platforms and begging people to ‘like, comment, share and subscribe’ enough? Is it wise for me to be self-financing the show during these COVID19 times? Should I be thinking about and seeking future sponsorship and support from now? Yes, the struggle is real! But it naah more dan mi!! This is my dream, which is now reality. If I don’t have the mettle and gumption to tallawahize my work and creativity, who will/should? I end this with a declaration: Creating Fabian Seh! was just the beginning, I will press on, learn as much as I can, apply what fits and take my creation as far as I imagine! A so mi seh!

Fabian M. Thomas

April 27. 2020