Worshiper Mkhize is a 15-year-old Grade 10 pupil from KwaMhlanga in the Mpumalanga Province, the unique and hard-hitting storytelling reflects the rejected voices of this current generation. This talented writer is sharing her story with our Editor Dumi Mbona.
In our world today, a lot of things happen to many of us, and we hadn’t as yet been at a place where we could talk about anything we are going through and express ourselves freely because we have the fear of being judged and maybe some people might not see things the way we might as individuals. I then just felt that most things we go through (especially young people), might be issues that are common between us, and they are just not addressed enough. I was inspired to just talk about situations around us and people’s experiences just so they could relate to my story and just know that they really might just not be the only people going through what they might be going through and that may be one of the ways of consolidation, knowing that you are not alone.
If there’s anything that I hope people get from my stories, it’ll have to be consolidation through situations that they might be going through, wisdom as to how to cope and trudge your way through a situation you might find yourself in, and you have read about it in these stories, awareness of what tragedies our generation is witnessing and going through. Finally, acceptance of events that take place in our lives because they can always take place at any given time. It is important for my generation to understand that these things do actually happen and there might not be anyone coming to our aid, how can we get through it all. With all I mentioned above, I believe it all plays a great role in morality as to learning to accept and respect other people because one thing may happen to most of us and if we can relate to each other, it means we can be able to help each other through things and that is humanity.
One story that I feel stands out to me is the story ‘Without you’. In that story, we get to know how a lady who is a widow going through the grief of her late husband. It stands out because most of us had been at a point where we go through grief after a loss of somebody or something that mattered a lot to us through passing or parting ways. In the grieving process, we all go through denial. Where you just cannot accept that you have lost something or somebody close to your heart because it is not something you could’ve been prepared for. And that is laid in the story where the lady always expects to find her husband at home when she comes back. In the grieving process, we all go through loneliness. Where you just feel alone at a place where nobody present understands you. Where you feel that what or who you lost really did depart with its presence and you no longer feeling it, hence you feel alone. And that is shown in the story where she doesn’t seem to be anyone or any other character that avails himself to provide a support system to the newly widowed and the reasoning behind that seems as if she shut everyone out because even around their presence, she still feels alone because her husband has left, and she can’t feel his being anymore. In the grieving process, we go through having to let go. And in the story, it was just so hard for the lady to let go of her husband’s passing because we see her taking him new flowers to his grave as soon as the old ones die, and with that, I was trying to get people to understand the hardship of having to let go and get detached from things that mattered to you…from things of specialty to your heart and the hardship of also having to continue living with things being not the same anymore.
I would really like my writing to reach as many people as possible. It could be because I believe it can have a positive impact on the lives of many. So I do wish to write books when I have a greater audience than the one I have now and just keep on passing what I have to say about things happening in our lives because there will always be things that keep on happening, and addressing them whilst being considerate of other people’s feelings would be one of the best things I could ever ask for.
My go-to writer for inspiration is my older sister Nompumelelo Mahlangu. She is a writer and has a blog, and she has been doing this for way longer than me. She is a very good writer and her work has a great touch of realism. And with that, I’m inspired to keep on writing about real things that happen in society, so people might understand and relate to them and who knows they might be learning something and getting help in a way.
My family has been supportive towards my writing journey…especially my elder sister that has also been inspirational to me and urging me to embrace whatever seed that I’m planting, so I’m very happy about my family’s reaction towards my writing journey, and they are proud having to consider my age.
The top 5 things my generation is struggling with at the moment are:
- Depression and overthinking
- Materialism
- Stress and lack of time management
- Parental and peer pressure
- Shifting economy and unemployment
Quick one two’s
- Favorite quote is: “You must be the change you wish to see in the world”
- Music: hip hop
- Soapy: Bones
- Best Movie Storyline: Until forever
- Best Storyteller in Music: Santan Dave
Well as my favorite quote is “you must be the change you wish to see in the world”, that is a great drive into me being the person that I am because I’m always striving to just be of help to anyone in need. As people, we go through a lot of things every day, and we do need support, people to talk to, people to ask for advice, so I then just always try to be there for anyone who needs me, in the way that they need me to…. and now writing happens to be one way of doing it because I talk about things that we go through that people can relate to, and that way they might then be comfortable and also speak about their experiences and feelings regarding matters discussed in my stories, so I’ll always share to readers stories that they can understand, relate to in hopes that they might be the help the reader might need in a certain situation…
I’m on Instagram my handle is ‘@worshiper_mk’
on Twitter, I’m also ‘@worshiper mk’
my email is worshipermkhize10@gmail.com
and the link to my blog is http://theworldinmyheadroom.wordpress.com/