Finding my MoJo

I haven’t been writing as I didn’t know what I was supposed to write about. I had lost my raison d’être, my reason for being, my mojo.

It seemed that ever since I registered as a business the word business has taken over.

I am lucky in that I have a part time job and I earn money to help with the family bills. I remember on a Supporting the Unsung Hero course the chap who came to talk to us about finance said (i’m now paraphrasing): ‘You don’t need to earn money so you won’t succeed in business.’

I recall being really affronted by this. How dare he say that? I can make money as a small business! But he was right. He was talking about motivation. If you are JK Rowling writing in a coffee shop watching the bills stack up, wondering how you are going to feed your family then you are highly motivated to get out and earn money.

Money has never really driven me.

I have made choices based on what I have. I never buy anything I can’t afford. If I want something, I save for it. If I can’t save for it then I don’t need it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had some tough choices over the years - not having a home so having all my possessions in my car travelling from one job to another, with extremely grateful thanks to a wonderful lady, Doreen.

I wasn't sure if the sign was referring to Coca Cola but it caught my attention. Perhaps I should look at my gifts more. (Accra, Ghana)

Doreen, or Aunty Doreen as we all still call her, was our HR Administrator (in civvy terms) when I was in the Territorial Army Pool of Information Officers (TAPIO) and then in the Media Operations Group (Volunteers) (MOG(V)). She knew us all - our trails, tribulations, needs and, yes, desires! I think she probably still does as she corrals us each year to a reunion.

What is it about Doreen that is so very special? She holds a community together. A group of us who have served over many years to ensure that the Army Communications has been delivered. She knows us. She knows our little community and what drives us.

And that is where I have been going wrong. I have been thinking about my writing as a business and not as bringing a community together. If the business side comes around, and I am still aiming for that, then so be it. Until that time my mojo is about our community, our military community.

What I have also realised during this period of reflection is that it is not about just the spouses, it is about our whole community. The Army is currently describing it as the Lived Experience. What is it that is missing from our Lived Experience?

Our mojo. Our magic.

Mojo, sometimes it is quite literally written in the streets. (A cafe in Accra, Ghana)

The word mojo is believed to stem from the Gullah people, African Americans in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina who were enslaved but refused to give up their traditions and heritage. Originally from west and central Africa, then enslaved and transported to America, the word moco (magic) stems from Fulah, a Senegambian language spoken by over 40 million people.

It was a word made popular in the 1950’s by Preston Foster, a songwriter, whose song Got my Mojo Working was performed by Ann Cole in 1956. She was backed by Muddy Waters (love his music!), who adapted the song and released it. There is a whole other story on copyright with Muddy Waters explaining that he uses the word mojo a lot due to its origins in his culture.

Anyway, back to my mojo!

I was thinking too much business and not enough community. I have started to rectify that locally, here in Aldershot, but I now know that all I want to do is share my experiences of a community that I am so much part of - our military community.

Without it we become absorbed into a life that does not understand the uniqueness we have. The special qualities that bind us all together, whether you know it or not. We are social animals and when you marry into a new tribe you find that the qualities you were attracted to are the ones you come to adopt. This is when our tribe gets stronger and when you realise that the tribe is your family.