We recently connected with Mayen Akpan and have shared our conversation below.
Mayen, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
For me, imposter syndrome is fluency in the language of doubt. It questions anything beyond existing patterns and confronts the nature of expansion. Meaning I was as successful as the environment I answered to. I broke imposter syndrome when I made a habit of seeing what is there instead of what isn’t there.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I create collage art. The forms are botanical and abstract. What excites me about creating art is the journey to the final composition. I invest time in nature, take special images, and transcribe it playfully between physical and digital arrangements with mixed media.
My latest project, ‘Fairies’, is a botanical typology project. After taking images of botanical organisms, I craft them into digital bouquets that sometimes bear the essence of mystical little creatures.
The reason I create I art I love today is thanks to the art of tarot. Through studying and reading the cards to help myself and others, tarot helped me temper a relationship to spirituality that was turbulent.
Growing up as a problem solver, I appreciate pruning the chaos of the mind into something we can step back from and observe, and I find this easy to do through the narratives expressed from tarot and oracle decks.
Currently in development is ‘The Riot Tarot Deck’. This project blends my love of collage art and tarot. I believe to create a deck, I should maintain a persistent connection to tarot reading. On Instagram, I post collective readings every weekday. Creating posts on social media promotes my creativity between physical and digital craft the way I choose to. My tarot teachings focus primarily on promoting a harmonious lifestyle by learning how to do more of what you want to do, thinking the way you want to think, and acting the way you want to act.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The first skill I believe builds confidence is energy conservation. Having time to invest in changing unproductive habits is key to expanding your field of success. Fill your schedule full of what you prefer to do. Having the energy to commit to what inspires you will mean curating a lifestyle that supports you having the time and energy to do it.
The following skill piggybacks off the first–routine. The key is to create a routine, incorporating more time toward the goal or doing activities in ways that feel better for you. Make new agreements with anyone who can support your change in your immediate surroundings. It’s easier to create a routine you’re proud of in an environment curated to prioritize the goal and routine.
The third skill is self inquiry. Being able to gather internal monologues and adjust them accordingly is transformative. The way you talk to yourself will determine how you will perform under pressure. Find techniques that help regulate any reactions and shift the perspective of the situation.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I collaborate with others invested in designing sacred spaces for creatives to fine tune their crafts. Ideal partners feature galleries, exhibits, educational seminars, metaphysical and somatic activities to help others to feel included and safe in the world they’re already creating in.
The best way to connect with me is through email: contact@mayenakpan.com
Contact Info:
- Website: mayenakpan.com
- Instagram: mayenakpanart
Image Credits
Mayen Akpan
