More Than One Story | Salamatu Habu Bida | TEDxDamaturu

What if purpose is not always something we find before we begin, but something we discover through the people we meet, the ideas we encounter and the things we dare to try?

Under the theme ""Recoupling: Reconnecting People, Ideas and Purpose,"" this talk is built around one word: encounters. I never planned to become a poet or a spoken-word artist, or to find myself facilitating conversations, working in communications, learning about leadership or exploring AI. Each began with an encounter with a person, a conversation, a challenge or an idea, and the question, ""What if I tried?""

We are quick to give ourselves labels: I'm not creative, I'm not a speaker, I'm not a leader. Sometimes they come from us, sometimes from others, sometimes from one experience we allow to define every experience after it. But what if we are more than the stories we have already told about ourselves?

For me, recoupling is reconnecting what has drifted apart: people and people, people and ideas, ideas and action, experience and purpose. A challenge to write a poem opened a door, and behind it were things I had not imagined for myself. We are more than one story. Salamatu Habu Bida is an educator, poet, spoken-word artist, communications associate and community facilitator from Yobe State, Nigeria. Her work sits at the intersection of storytelling, youth development, civic engagement, education, leadership and social change.

She is a Communications Associate at Spotlight for Transparency and Accountability Initiative, supporting storytelling, digital communications and youth-focused civic engagement, and Alumni Relations Officer for NTIC Yobe, where she helps build a community that extends beyond the classroom.

A teacher at heart and a storyteller by instinct, Salamatu has facilitated youth and leadership programmes, moderated conversations, hosted literary events, and used poetry and storytelling to explore identity, society, leadership and possibility. She believes becoming is not about arriving at one final version of yourself, but remaining open to who you might become next. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx