The Burning Castle: Somali-American Actor Sharmaarke Mohamed on Finding Freedom in Creativity

Sharmaarke Mohamed was born in a country where virtually all of the things we taken for granted—food and water, education, and, most of all, stability—are in short supply. But Somalia gave Sharmaarke other things, like a deeply rooted sense of community, a feeling that family is a pillar of his individual existence, and, maybe most of all, a burning need to (re)create his own future.

On this episode of The Burning Castle Podcast, Sharmaarke and I speak about this drive to create your own destiny—in his case, virtually from scratch. We talk about how Sharmaarke used his passion for soccer (he was a pro player in Somalia) to lever himself into a new life as an actor developing and producing his own projects in the US.

We also talk about something that many artists toiling away in small rooms miss—the importance of nurturing a community of likeminded people around you, who share your interests, ambitions and challenges as a creator. This is what the great British musician Brian Eno called scenius—the genius of a being part of a scene—and it’s what makes all the difference in the often lonely life of the arts.

I hope you enjoy this episode. As a reminder, the podcast—like The Burning Telegraph newsletter—is free. We work hard to keep it that way, so a share by you with someone in your network—by email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or even the boring old word of mouth method—is hugely appreciated.

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