A Lesson In Having A Good Vision of Yourself
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- April 15, 2024
I’m about to share something I found very spooky when it happened to me. Also, take this with a pinch of salt because I’ve been known to be a tad dramatic.
In December 2022, I got really sick to the point where I was scared for my life and thought I’d die. So once I got better, I decided to take painting classes because it’s something I’ve always wanted to do but never took seriously because I never prioritised it. I always felt like there was something else more important I could do with my time, which is also a conditioning that should be addressed, but perhaps later.
I started the classes, and on my first go, I wanted to paint a self-portrait. I was so happy about my new health and how I felt that I just really wanted to celebrate it. I also had short hair and wanted to commemorate the moment in my life with a painting of me from that era. So, on the 13th of February 2023, I finished my self-portrait. Yes, it has no eyes, and that’s also symbolic of something, but don’t worry; we’ll discuss it later.
I was so happy with myself.
That actual painting does not exist as a picture. I took inspiration from a photo I took when I was getting ready for a speaking event for Africa NXT, and because I love foliage and greenery, I visualised myself looking like that but surrounded by leaves, and the image in my head is what I painted.
On the 16th of March 2023, I was invited to try out a new restaurant, so I went there, and it’s become one of my favourite places to eat in the Lekki Phase 1 area. It’s called The Terrace. I got there, ordered food, and while I was waiting for my meal to arrive, I decided to ask the waiter to take photos of me. We started taking the photos, but little did I know that the bartender was also taking photos of me on his phone from a different angle.
When my food was ready, the waiter brought it over to my table, and the bartender came over with my drink and showed me that he had taken some more photos of me on his phone. Then, he airdropped them on me. While I was scrolling through, I found a photo that looked very similar to the one I painted. Without me telling him, without me posing for it, he captured a photo that exemplifies how life sometimes imitates art.
That moment was so mind-blowing to me because he had no clue about my painting but was able to replicate it as a favour to me. And it confirms just how much vision matters. How you see yourself, how you talk to yourself or talk about yourself. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he, and it’s the way you see yourself that eventually affects how others see you and how you see the world. Do you want to change your life? Start by changing how you see yourself and how you visualise your life to be, and a shift will happen; a change will come.
Eki Ogunbor has a Vogue Fashion Certificate from Conde Nast College of Fashion & Design and also attended Central Saint Martins, London College of Fashion and the University of Kent. Eki headed the Design Operations at a top Nigerian womenswear fashion brand before developing her own brand, KISARA. She is the Editor-At-Large at THEWILL DOWNTOWN.
