"When UnSpoken Things become Spoken": Guest Blogger Friday

Who is KAFO? She's a young woman who's simply motivated by SOULS STRIPPED BARE!

It was love at first sight on my first encounter. So why do I keep going back to her blog for more? It's the way she "keeps it real." Most times the best lessons in life come from those who are not afraid to admit their doubts, worries, and concerns about God and to Him.

She's also a relentless "Spoken Word" artiste. So here I am, on a "Guest Blogger Friday" introducing Kafo, writer for the Unspoken Blog

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Title: "Dear Human I"

 5 Real Things About Kafo:

1)    1) Kafo, the first post you ever wrote quoted Lauryn Hill’s words, “Fantasy is what people want, but reality is what people need.” Over the years I’ve watched how your writings emphasize realities rather than theories. Tell us what your blog is about. Have your views changed since your first post? 

I am selfish. My blog started out as an outlet for me, it wasn’t initially about others reading or benefiting from it. It began in my mind during a very tumultuous period in my life when sanity and I didn’t always see eye to eye. I’m a PK (pastor’s kid) and so I grew up with a complex to be perfect, to be beautiful and to say the right things; when all I really wanted to do sometimes was scream. So, my blog started out as an avenue to be real about my relationship with Christ and with others. It has grown over the course of the last three years and now focuses less on me and more on the struggles that being a Christian presents. The ugliness of who we are and how it taints His beautiful gospel, is woven with personal experiences and revelation. So my views haven’t changed but instead, in some situations, have become spoken.

2)      2) What are you most passionate about? What drives you?

Wow, this is a tough one. I’m passionate about life, real life, not fiction or entertainment but just "souls stripped bare." Okay, that makes me sound like a wannabe psychological surgeon but what keeps me up at night is this Christian thingy and how to live a life that speaks volumes. So I’m attracted to the Christians in pain (that I can relate to) because on some level I need to know how they operate. I used to be shy, the first 18 years of my life were spent in the shadows and so now I just want to make a difference and yet not be seen. I don’t want praise or recognition but I want on some level to help others see that this walk with Christ isn’t about the layers of masks that have been put on. I live for that moment of comprehension when a friend wakes up from self induced misery and accepts life abundantly.

3)      3) Tell us about the origin of the name of your blog, and the transitions so far.

Initially being real was the aim of my blog. To strip the layers and reveal some of the ugly stuff that my mind comes up with. Over the course of the last three years, I’ve been invited to preach, speak and mentor others and so when this New Year started, I realized that speaking my mind had seized to be the main issue. Instead taking my thoughts and words that I now share and making a tangible difference was the new dilemma. So now my blog has two parts:
a) The Unspoken: wRitten which focuses on unspoken situations and emotions that arise and also things that are now said and must be acted upon.

b) The Unspoken: Reality’s Reaction which focuses on emphasizing issues that aren’t focused on by mainstream media and making a sustainable difference now that words have been spoken.

4)      4) Can you describe your first experience of “Spoken Word?” How did you feel? What inspired you to do it? What is the difference between spoken word and written word?

Spoken Word: I oscillate between wanting to share and yet not wanting to be seen. About 18 months ago, (11.11.08) there was this poetry slam competition on campus and I thought about it, got the flyer but rationalized and talked my way out of it. Until a friend was said emphatically, “you have to go” and so I did.

It was intense, I did Dear Human: Part 1 and I was nervous, sweating and my hands were trembling but there is this moment when one opens their mouth and for me it stops being me and it becomes a God thing. You have 3 minutes to make a point, 3 minutes to impact and then it’s over.

The difference between spoken word and written word has its origins in the tales my grandmother used to tell under a full moon. 

There was something about the way she told the story that made it personal. Spoken word is the word laced with emotion and drenched in personal experience. It’s the person and the content all presented to you.

5)      5) You once did a Series titled “Woes of a Logical Person” (Part I, Part II, & Part III) Can you tell us more about them? Why did you write them?

I’m logical, sometimes to a fault. I woke up one day and I was 22 and had never been kissed or been in a relationship and didn’t really care because I had other priorities. Then I met this guy who is also logical and so the series began. It focuses on how relationships are hard when one or both parties is/are so used to operating on a logical level.

You can WATCH Kafo's other "Spoken Word" videos here:

Dear human 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS4IJywXaPY

Dear human 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBMG8InoH44
To Haiti with Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvJ7tEoZe8Y

What are your views on this blogger who keeps it real? 

Many times we are logical, and that destroys the essence of God's love. But even in our "logical-ness" His love somehow still finds us.

That's all folks...see you on Monday as I continue the "True Celebrities" series.

CIAO...