Miles Morales And The Leap Of Faith
If it was possible to go back in time, I would take a short trip to the first moment I watched the leap of faith scene in Into The Spider-verse. My heart beat faster than usual, even though I knew this wasn’t real. I leaned out of my seat kind of like in a “just in case he didn’t make it, I’d-catch-him- way.”
The scene stuck with me for the rest of that year; I had pixelated fan art I’d saved from Pinterest as my screensaver. These past few days more than ever, I’ve felt like my second favorite spider man in the spider-verse, Peter B Parker, will always have my heart.
A few weeks ago, I said my final goodbyes to life in corporate, life for the longest time I thought held me, hostage, especially as a creative, imagine being a writer and artist whose nature hinges on emotion and self-expression, two of corporate’s biggest nightmares. I remember the first time the idea of working at a bank came up. The funniest part was the fact that I’d sought this opportunity myself.
That afternoon at the marketing agency I worked in, we got the news that one writer assigned to our client’s marketing and communications department had resigned, and they needed a replacement that same week. My boss at the time had asked one of the older employees who played off turning down the position as something he was rather too chill to do only for us to find out the next month that he was moving to the UK.
“Do you think it’s something you can do?” my boss at the time asked me while assuring me of the possibility of me getting a full-time position and possibly earning double what I was currently paid. Long story short, with about 30,000 Naira raised, I packed my belongings from the quiet office space at Lekki Phase one and began my life in Marina as a copywriter in marketing communications.
Retiring (lol), as Content Editor, SEO, and Web Manager, one would say I didn’t do too badly, despite never getting a raise in the two years I worked there. Just in case you’re wondering, no, I never got to become a full-time employee either, even though I worked as one and took up as many responsibilities as I could handle. One of the funniest responses I got from my decision to leave was what my team lead said when she found out another bank will hire me as a full-time employee but only at a single grade higher than a trainee, “with all my experience” she exclaimed. Too bad that experience left me in limbo for an entire year.
When I joined in 2021, my mantra was “one year”, because at the time my CV had over six prior experiences and only one had at least a year in a few months, so the goal at the time was to do a year, just enough time to fund my self-publishing venture, and get myself a car.
Like most things in life that subject you to a routine, I became super comfortable. Whether I liked it, my stories, books, art, and even plants became a secondary part of my life. Being comfortable if you ask me is not always a bad thing, but I was easing into a life that was just not me, or for a clear picture, a life in which I found little or no long-term fulfillment.
This was why when I left, I could barely share the news with anyone. There were voices in my head telling me what a mistake I’d probably be making leaving a comfortable Job, by Nigerian standards that even promised to get even more comfortable if I just wait it out.
This was where I reached my Miles Morales. I wasn’t sure of my decision. I’m still not sure I made the right choice, but I did it. I took the leap of faith.
My life was not subject to fate or some que sera, sera” line, I want to write, and if after two years I haven’t been able to pen down the second chapter of a novel I know will change my life because of a job, then the leap was necessary.
After all, I was at the Job to live, not living for the job.
I imagined myself sometimes in his suit with the sneakers bursting from the glass on the building at Marina, swinging through Lagos traffic, and the news going up on the blogs most likely Instablog and any of the other messy ones you can think of to humor myself.
I can’t pretend like faith, friends, and family didn’t play a part in these decisions, besides assurances from religion. Seeing my little community excited about my choices changed things. Truth is, when I shared the news with my people, I genuinely waited and hoped someone would validate my fear with something that sounded like this; “what if it’s worse?”
But just like Peter Parker, Gwen, and all the other Spider men/women were to Miles, I was pushed even further out of my current comfort zone.
As Mr. Morales, with my new spidey senses, the last trick was meant to be on my last day, aka the day everyone heard my piece, damning the consequences. My plan was to tell as many people who I considered made my life hell how I really felt, but when the day came I went quiet. I no longer cared.
I jumped.
