Kat’s Korner: The 20/20 Vision

I woke up on January 1st in my hotel room in Ikoyi, Lagos. I had already been in Lagos for over two weeks and had successfully completed my first group tour as part of the LOS Lifestyle collective and pulled off “Lagos in December”, an event concept that had been a mere thought only a few months before.

As I sat in the bed and took stock of the last few weeks, I felt something internal. It’s hard to describe, but it felt like what happens when you blow the dust off an item you forgot you had. You find it in the attic or basement and it looks familiar, but the story behind it is vague. It doesn’t evoke joy or any real feelings, but you realize its taking up space so….you toss it.

I felt myself taking inventory and making decisions on what needed to be tossed altogether, what needed to be given away and what could be re-purposed. Suffice it to say the toss pile grew faster than the others, and by the time I got on the plane to head home, I had made a few discoveries:

• Holding patterns when it comes to people and energy is an absolute waste of time. People either want you in their lives or they don’t. It ain’t rocket science.
• My being “too much” in the U.S. fits in perfectly in Lagos, so I need to make it possible to spend more time there.
• The creative process needs room and the proper support to truly flourish. Its okay to take time to breathe and let ideas stew awhile.

With these three discoveries I have returned home fully charged and laser clear on who I am and what kind of year I am going to have. This also means that self-preservation now looks like whatever brings my creativity to the center. Marie Kondo’s principles around clearing and joy don’t just apply to the clutter, when you apply it to people and circumstances its makes a whole lot of sense. It has never been easy being a creative, Black woman in a world that constantly asks me to be just a little more quiet, but thanks to those have traveled before me. I know that people’s displeasure with who I am is not my problem.

Welcome to 2020! Kat’s Korner, my world as it is, has a good run in 2019, but it is time to turn things up another notch. I am excited with what is on the horizon and invite all of you here for this journey to join me on what will be a fun adventure of creating meaningful Black content and experiences. Step back and let this sister breathe because 2020 is the year of the seeing-eye woman and I didn’t come to play it small.

Creatively,
Kat!