Short TikTok videos in which he reads his poems and then turns them into a book. Ali Ibrahim-Hirji, 23, turned his poems into an unique book. While Ali has always loved telling stories, he started using them to help others in understanding certain emotions. You quickly learn that his book, Slow Falling, is about love. He describes his romantic journey and the lessons he learns along the way. What does Ali mean by Slow-Falling, and what is the background to this storyline? A conversation with Ali reveals a wonderful story.
'We're going into story-mode '' said Ali at the beginning of our interview. "Writing has always been a passion of mine. I was always good with words, but I didn't know much about poetry at the time. I saw people who occasionally participated in poetry slams.
A poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. While formats can vary, slams are often loud and lively, with audience participation, cheering and dramatic delivery. (Wikipedia)
How did it start?
"I've always thought poetry slam was fantastic, but I lacked the self-assurance to launch something like this. I'm usually good at telling stories, but I didn't feel like I had anything worth revealing in such a public way. "A large part of me kept believing in that," Ali explained. "I was in a relationship, but we soon called it quits. With such a break-up, you go through such a typical process, so you try to heal again in order to bloom later. I regularly did this by expressing myself through poetry. By writing on a regular basis, I was able to create my flow. After a month of writing, I noticed that I was able to express a variety of emotions.I was doing much better until a friend of mine also experienced a breakup. She was having trouble recovering at the time, so I sent her my poems as a little extra support. My poems had helped me, so I hoped they could help her as well. Since she didn't contact me again, I figured something was wrong. After two days, she called me out of the blue; ordinarily, we don't talk on the phone. She said she enjoyed my poems and that they helped her understand certain emotions. "You need to share this with a lot of people because you can help so many people," she said. Because of how personal these poems were to me, I didn't want that.I can't just reveal my emotions and thoughts. I allowed myself some time to reflect on it. Can my talent for telling stories be used to help others?
What about your TikTok?
That also happened very spontaneously because there was no prepared plan for this. Nothing notable or unique happened. Quotes were written in a Word document and shared on Instagram and TikTok. I had no plan, as I previously stated. "I'll see what happens," I thought. It was difficult for me because it involved my emotions. On the other hand, it was difficult for the person with whom I had that relationship. These are my words about her. Can I just share that? However, my responsibility was centred on the fact that I was capable of helping others. That was my ultimate goal: to help others who had gone through similar experiences. If it's successful, I'll keep going. It makes no difference if it doesn't work out. I already had 20,000 followers after a month. They kept piling up when I hit 100,000 followers in March, around my birthday. That was a major accomplishment for me, and I adored it.
Just before the summer, I received a flood of messages asking when my book would be available. That caught me off guard because I've never mentioned a book before. The comments on my TikToks were about writing a book and releasing it. I received responses such as 'I need more content' and 'if you publish a book, I will definitely buy it'. Was it time to write a book of poems?
What is Slow Falling all about?
So there was a lot of demand for a book. That got me thinking about writing a real book. I had no experience with that, so it was all new to me. First of all I collected all my poems and sorted them in a certain order. There were one hundred and twenty poems in all. Some had a long story and others consisted literally of a sentence. By sorting I have been able to form a kind of process. The process is of a person going through a break up, so what you feel when you are in love and how the sudden break up makes you feel. When will there be a ray of sunshine again and when will there be a dark cloud? There are also poems about how to love yourself again and how it's okay to just be alone. The entire process of such a break-up became the concept for my very first book: Slow Falling.
'Additionally, I understood that you could portray a broken heart in a variety of situations by picturing yourself losing a close friend. Setbacks and specific events can also force you to go through this process. That is what life is all about, and it is for this reason that I see my book as a metaphor. My poems are mostly about my love life, but you can read them in a different perspective. As I previously stated, my book has become a sort of metaphor, which I greatly appreciate. Some of my poems are about a family member and how I lost them, but in another context, they could be about romance or friendship.Actually, it is entirely dependent on the reader and the frame in which they read the poems'.
When did you publish your book?
Although my book was officially released in August 2021, it has been available on Amazon.com since October 2021. My book's sales began in October, and I had a fantastic book launch with about thirty of my closest friends. The launch was held in a pub in the town where I was living at the time. The success of everyone was also important, not just mine. To celebrate each other's victories, especially after the crazy corona times. In addition, my book sales were successful. Many messages with compliments, but also stories from people who said this book changed their lives, flooded in. That was encouraging to hear."
But then..
Yes, and then I went to live in Spain. My social media activity slowed after the publication of my book. I went from regularly posting to not posting at all. Let me put it this way: I vanished and didn't mention it on social media. I went to Spain and promised myself that it would be the beginning of a new chapter in my life. I focused on myself and began to enjoy life. For example, in the last six months, I have only posted two videos. Following my time in Spain, I travelled to Kenya for six weeks to work on a project. Then I went to the Netherlands to visit Amsterdam. Then I returned to Canada and began working again. I'm going to start making new videos now that I have more time to do so.
What does Slow Falling mean to you?
"I am a person who likes to get things done quickly. Slow Falling literally means falling down slowly. Being open-minded, I always find it preferable when things move along quickly. Feelings come faster, and so does falling in love. That made me realise something: you can experience a great deal of pain afterward. You allow people to enter more quickly if you're an open person. Actually, you just rush through it instead of taking it step by step. That gives others the right to leave your life at times when you might need them. When you open yourself up too quickly, you expose yourself to a lot of pain. I eventually reached a point where I no longer wanted to. Falling in love and developing feelings for someone quickly. I wanted to go at a slower pace and take it step by step. You must fall slower for this process. If you fall fast, you come out faster, which is something I didn't want. I was aiming for something long-lasting, and I wanted to create something with that love. Maybe I can build something beautiful step by step. I was talking with a friend about how we saw our lives. What does love mean to us? Then I explained that I wanted to take it slowly. That's how I came up with the name 'Slow Falling'.
'By the way, the book isn't just about falling slowly; that happens at the end. You'll learn a lot about falling for someone and falling in love quickly in the first few pages. It's about how to mend a broken heart. You're aiming for a point where you'll want to fall steadily. As I previously stated, I was able to create a process. You will finally understand what it means to fall slowly'.
Do you have any future plans?
'Yes, and that is helping people." That is something I intend to continue doing. Everyone, as you mentioned, has a story. That's correct, but how you tell it varies from person to person. It is simple for one person, but there are others who face challenges with it. Slow Falling evolved into a story, but my responsibility was to help people. We've all had it where we feel something but can't put our finger on it. It was especially noticeable when I first started sharing my poems on social media. I received comments like 'I had no idea this is how I feel,' and 'This describes exactly how I feel.' As previously stated, storytelling differs greatly from person to person. I've learned that I can. I actually use this skill to help others understand their emotions.
'In fact, I'd like to slowly move away from romance and poems about romance. In the future, I hope to concentrate on self-development, well-being, and mental health. I've noticed that many people experience negative emotions as a result of social media. Most people don't feel connected to the people around them, making it difficult to socialise. My number one motivation is to help people. I want to help several people and write new poems with a broader audience. My overarching goal is to effect cultural shifts and changes from within. I want men's emotional sides to be normalised. Men are expected to be stronger in some communities. Men are said to be less vulnerable, which means they have fewer opportunities to express themselves. As a man, I'm very open about my emotions; in fact, I wrote a book about it. I want to show the other side and show that men can be emotional as well. I want them to be able to express themselves more commonly and to be more aware of their emotions. This allows them to analyse and comprehend their emotions. If you understand your emotions, you will be able to handle certain situations more effectively. This applies to everyone, by the way, because understanding your feelings allows you to have a less negative impact on those around you. Those are my primary objectives right now. I want to improve my storytelling skills and reach a larger audience so that I can help more people'.
Before we go, Ali will be performing as an opening act for the one and only Rupi Kaur in November. 'I'm not feeling any tension right now. I guess I just get nervous as the day gets closer'.
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