That Creative Life: How I’m Finally Building My Childhood Dream

One Slow Step At A Time

I’m not about to give you the whole Spider-Man origin story intro. But, much like Miles Morales in Into the Spider-Verse, I do have a dream.

I wanted to tell stories for a living. Whether written, or animated? I was all over it. My future was written in the stars. I would become the greatest creative artist. Open my own unique studio and tell the best hope filled stories ANYONE ever imagine.

But… I hit a speed bump, when seven-year-old Smart was diagnosed with Dyslexia.

A Creative Career Seemed Impossible

Okay! Let me give you my backstory. Life in my educational years was a struggle at best.

From grade 1 (in the UK), and through high-school, well into college years. I learned new things about myself. This made me feel more alien. Growing up as one of two black kids in school was extremely difficult.

Dyslexia eclipsed a large part of my life. It was not because I lacked intelligence. Stigmatically, what makes me different had been marred by the shame of failure. It was affected by comparison or lack. In the early nineties, educational systems and Clinical or Educational Psychologists were incapable of fully grasping what Neurodiversity is.

And how does a-typical mind (someone non-neurodivergent) truly understand, without lived experience? A lot of what exists are systemic, scientific bias or stigmas?

Cognitive stigmas are a real thing. Trust me, I’d know.

That Creative Life

It sounds crazy, right?

I have spent over 30 years unpacking my life with help. This journey has led me to rediscover my true life, faith, and calling. It all starts with my one dream. Sharing stories.

The realization came to me after I returned to creating what I call the “Destiny 2 Documentary.” The internet, though, calls it “Destiny 2 lore.” If you are a big Sci-Fi nerd like myself, then you undoubtedly heard about this First-Person Shooter. Once I gave seven years of my life obsessing over or talking about until I was blue in the face.

It was the perfect vehicle to lock-in on, and do what I do best? In the process of learning and improving, I truly did everything you can imagine, thriving and be seen.

Learning to Stand Out From The Crowd

I spent hours, weeks, and months crafting what I believed to be the perfect YouTube script. It was meant to propel a budding YouTube career into the number one lore channel on the platform. Hahaha! I laugh so hard at myself. I was very serious about dissecting the narrative and hidden lore. Still, the story was ultimately not written by me.

In 2024, I went into a hiatus influenced by the change of a romantic relationship. Unrequited love can fool us into thinking hiding parts of who we are, and our passions, will improve a relationship.

Friends, this is untrue. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. If you cannot share your passions and the person you are dating, embrace and accept them. Then I’d encourage you to think deep.

Creative Masking For Love

Strap in Cap’n! I want to share three really important points with you.

Neurodivergent people mask ALL — THE — TIME! Most especially with people they do not know or trust. Why? Because it is easier to hide unique quirks about yourself to avoid being pushed away or worse… socially shunned.

In a dating relationship, this looks like:

• Pretending you don’t like things to fit in.
• Giving up significant aspects of self-identity to keep love.
• Being ashamed/ and or scared to express yourself.

This happened to me two summers ago. (It sounds like a novel, but it’s truth.)

Creating a successful business, will not happen if you are portioning off a large part of your ID. That being the case. Take this as your challenge! Start getting to know yourself, and fully embrace your quirks.

Get help if you need to, to figure out what is good and where you still have room to grow.

Trust me! It will have a major impact on your creative craft. It will affect your business. It will change how you show up within social settings with boldness and confidence.

Building My Dream Business

My dream is to own an animation studio. And you know what? It happened, and is happening as we speak. Each blog post you receive is a small part of lived experience in story form.

Alongside that, I am crafting three different novels. I am not working on all of them at once. Right now, I am writing a four book series called [REDACTED]. I’m not giving the title away just yet. Adjacent to my novel is an animated series called Old Chicago, that I am producing which is quietly cooking, based on the events of… you guessed it! Destiny 2 lore. Hahaha! It had to be done.

We have an incredibly talented team of voice artists, and animators involved, and it has been in production for five years. 2026 will be our sixth year of development, and I am super excited and eager to get a teaser trailer out there for the world to see.

What The Heck Is SEO?

I mentioned in my previous article, that social media is dying.

Here is why?

In 2025 this graph depicts an average calculator of how long a different social media platforms last, and even hitting top trends it can still be low.

For platforms like TikTok, it can vary, although similar. TikTok is a fast-paced platform where even the best post lasts seconds. Here are a why reasons why:

1. Social Media posts don’t prioritise SEO.
2. A good post lasts for an hour.
3. Once it’s done, that’s it.

Sure! No one would deny a post going viral is great for their business, but what happens days, weeks, months, or many years after?

In fact, viral posts get bigger when publications write about them. This is the key.

When a topic turns from a social media post into blog, article or listicle? Google search engine immediately picks it up. Why? Due to keywords matching that of the original content.

Are social media posts truly dead? Yes, and no? Some marketers will tell you their posts continue to trend. And then stop there. Selling you part of the information without telling you the truth.

Any good marketer knows if you want to be seen? You need to use clever hooks and keywords. Platform developers understand this, which means they will continually keep adjusting their algorithm to suit their needs.

You should never rely on any platform but yours. Choose one additional platform:

• Instagram
• TikTok
• Substack

Whichever you choose to use, master it or replace one piece of content 2–3 different ways. If you want my personal advice (which is why you’re reading this post)? Then get good on one platform.

Once you grow a loyal community, you can then consider expanding. The goal here is business growth, not instant cash. You may be top book author of the week. But doesn’t it make more sense to have a loyal fan base continuously purchasing your titles?

Some food for, though.

Get Yourself a Blog

If you don’t have a website? Get one!

If you don’t have a blog yet? What are you waiting for? Get one!

Blog posts and articles fall under a category called EVERGREEN.
And it sounds pretty, right?

When a blog post contains “search keywords,” that is, can be terms, subjects or items users are searching for on Google and other search engines. It will offer up content answering the question? This is the moment a well written post becomes bottled lightning.

Build business with legacy, not instant transaction.

Will this really work? Yes! If done well, then you will start to see the fruit of your labour, within weeks of your hard work.

Write a Good Blog: Legacy vs Instant

Here are some important things to keep in mind when Search engine optimizing:

1. Create a blog website.
2. Check your keywords, you can use Google, or Ryrob Keyword Search and others.
3. Look for trending topics in your niche to write about.
4. Share value within your niche.
5. Remember, legacy isn’t about competition.
6. Post minimum 1–2 blogs a month consistently.

Related article: Should You Delete Old Blog Posts?

While you’re not going to earn $1000 dollars immediately, this can put you on track to earn that amount and more on a regular basis if done well. If you get stuck? Reach out! I may be able to help you somehow.

---

If you enjoyed reading this, be sure to leave a like ⭐ and comment. Follow me on YouTube, Threads, and consider joining my ✨ Creator Newsletter. To stay up to date on all things creativity, Neurodiversity, insights and encouragement.

“No matter what you are facing at this moment in time, you can do all things! Stay safe, and God speed!”