The Studio for Life Design
Is a creative space dedicated to exploring out of the box thinking and counterculture living for people of African descent. It serves as a hub for individuals desiring to live as they choose and enhance their lives with thoughtful design, strategic planning and creativity.
This Adinkra symbol represents transformation.
It’s from the Ghanaian people and is called Sesa wo Suban. It is a composite of an inner star and outer wheel. The star symbolizes readiness for a fresh start, new day, a different way of seeing and being, a life shift. The wheel suggests forward momentum, taking initiative, proactivity and sgoing places. This visually appealing symbol masterfully depicts the two mindsets we need to design our lives.
What is Life Design?
Life Design is a creative, iterative process that you do when you want to radically change how you live, where you work, with whom and how you spend your time. It is a multi-step process where you conduct a life review, identify your top priorities, reframe your biggest challenges, create scenarios of your ideal life, envision, prototype, and test the outcomes, so you can course correct before fully committing to a new life path.
Downshift. Then Design.
I downshifted in 1996.
After reading an article in Kipliner’s Personal Finance describing the downshifted lifestyle, I wanted in. The downshifters I read about embraced voluntary simplicity, left well paying, high stress jobs for simpler, slower paced, more meaningful lives. After reading their manifesto, Voluntary Simplicity, I begin designing my life to do the same.
The first thing I did was to give two weeks notice to untether myself from an uninspiring-but-necessary-for- the- cashflow- job I had as an administrative assistant at a large , white-shoe law firm. The job served its purpose: to repay my undergraduate student loan, finance world travel and save money.
The cash I stashed away allowed me to take a one —that became a two— year sabbatical. During that time, I pared down my life, donated, sold and shared with friends clothing, jewelry, books and keepsakes I no longer had use for. I stopped wearing hosiery and high heels. Letting go was liberating . It was a psychic signal from the universe that I was ready for the next phase of my life’s evolution.
With more leisure time to play and uncluttered headspace, I had the bandwidth to kick back, reflect , study the clouds and begin to design my life.
The results of my experimentation, iteration, trial and error, I became a certified Pilates instructor, opened a boutique Pilates studio (www.perfectpartspilates.com) that specializes in older adult wellness, received a Master’s degree in gerontology, created an online community for AfroBoomers, completed The Institute of the Future’s Strategic Foresight course work (which I overlayed with an Afrofuturist lens ), obtained an Associate Certified Coach credential from the International Coaching Federation and more recently.have been awarded a scholarship to study Transpersonal Astrology.
I continue to be a student of my life and help others design exceptional lives.
Play is the brain’s favorite way of learning.
Become A Student of Your Life
So, how is life working for you? Are things fine, but need a bit of tweaking? Exciting and challenging at the same time? Multitasking without a minute for yourself? Are you running on automatic, grinding day to day? Managing but not happy? Bored, depressed, anxious or unfulfilled? Do you know it’s time for change, but you’re stuck in a rut?
Before commencing with life design we must choose to become students of our lives, commit to discovering who we are and what we need. This is no simple undertaking because we are complex, unique, multidimensional individuals with depth and mystery. Contemplative practices like self-inquiry, journaling, meditation, having deep conversations with people you trust and can learn from, spending time observing nature help us succeed in this important work.
As people of African descent, connecting with our ancestors, understanding the Black aesthetic, African origin stories, art, mythology, culture, and worldviews connects us to our authentic selves, cultivates Black genius and promulgates Black swag. Think of saxophonist Pharoah Sanders’ “ The Creator Has A Master Plan”, dancer/choreographer Alvin Ailey’s “Revelations” and the elegant refinement of actor Cicely Tyson and you get the vibe. Blackity-Black!
We were born because Life (with a capital L)wanted us. We can fulfill what Life has in store for us by activating the ancestral memory that is encoded in the fiber of our being. The understanding of Self, why we are here, what we have been called to do, starts with mental excavation. Intentionally getting deep with our lives jumpstarts the self-discovery process and is essential for living authentically.
If You Don’t Design Your Life, Someone Else Will.