Sankofa - Looking Back to Go Forward

A dear friend of mine who is an Ifa Priest, gave me a copper Sankofa bracelet as a reward, for supporting his trip to Nigeria.

Loosely translated, Sankofa means looking backward to gain wisdom from your experiences. You look back, so you can move forward. Images of Sankofa include birds looking backward, while flying forward. I have a Sankofa bird on my bracelet.

Today I did just that. I looked backward so I may continue to move forward. Something the artist in me balked at, since the artist in me just wants to create, not analyze.

But it was good to look back. My looking back came in the form of setting up a spreadsheet to chronicle all the articles I've written and had published, classes I've taught, speaking engagements, book signings, conference appearances, and the amount I've earned from doing each engagement. Definitely not something the creative spirit in me likes doing, but oh so very helpful to my technical mind.

It took a bit of work, as all things worthwhile do. But now I can look backwards and clearly see where I am headed, where I'd like go, and have a roadmap of where I've been to get there.

Perhaps today is a Sankofa day for you too. Taking time to see where we've been, can been extremely in helping us move forward, even if it's a pain in the ass to do it.