Talking mindfulness, colouring books and affirmation with Author Mercedes Osakwe
The Author
Mercedes Osakwe (O-sak-way) is a self-published author who is currently a student receiving her doctoral degree in occupational therapy. She is also a content creator, travel guru, food lover, workout junkie, and make up enthusiast. She created The Enchanted Garden Affirmation Coloring Book for children and adults who may be dealing with mental health, self esteem issues and self doubt. This book can also be used for leisure, aids in improving hand writing and visual motor skills in children.
The Book
This stunning book, created for children and adults, features 49 inspirational affirmations coupled with exquisite and decorative illustrations. There are life changing powers and positive outcomes with the use of creativity and affirmations. Simultaneously, colouring and focusing on the affirmations encourages your mind to pay close attention to what is meaningful to you. While u, we subconsciously use the right side of your brain, which transforms our desires into reality. This book could make a great gift for the holidays or birthdays. For any of you that would like to elevate their life and cultivate a positive mindset and encourage self love will enjoy this book.
The Interview
Question : What drove you to embark on the journey of creating a mindfulness colouring book?i
Answer: I wanted to incorporate a book for children and adult, giving words and enlightenment for others who feel insecure about themselves. I wanted to help those that lived a similar lifestyle. Those that are sometimes unsure of who they are but are looking for a way to positively uplift their life. This book is an everyday pick me up that can be enjoyed by all age group
Question: Why occupational therapy?
Answer: This is something that I have always been passionate about. Occupational therapy incorporates your lifestyle. This field is responsible for coming up with interventions that will help other people achieve their goal.
Question :How did you come up with the concept of this book?
Answer: Colouring is a very meaningful activity. Colouring is enlightenment and helps with emotional regulation. Colouring shows different sides of yourself and helps with self love. It helps to enhance your creativity and help others with their mental mindset. The eye and brain helps to bring out certain emotions and certain colour helps one to be more vibrant. Colouring helps with emotional regulation and helps with the reassurance that everything is gong to be okay.
Question:What was your biggest challenge then and now?
Answer: My biggest challenge was coming up with words that could be both beneficial to children and adults. I wanted it to fit the criteria of things that would be appropriate to children but at the same time having things that were not too childish that it would not appeal to adult.
Question : How did it feel when you were able to complete this project and view the finished product?
Answer: At first I couldn’t believe that I had accomplished this dream, I was a bit flabbergasted and try to downplay it at the beginning. Now I feel amazing and beyond proud of myself. It has been an emotional roller coaster because I wanted to play it safe because I was unsure about how it would be accepted.
Question: How did you overcome the fear of putting the book out there and not knowing how it is going to be received?
Answer: I have always been a courageous person and I am not afraid to take risks. I use my confidence knowing that regardless of how people may feel I am going to put it out there because this is my passion, my dream. My worse fear was not having any sale, but I felt okay because I was pouring my heart out into something that was personal to me and hoping that it would have a positive effect on someone. I didn’t let the fear of not being successful held me back.
“Colouring is a very meaningful activity. Colouring is enlightenment and helps with emotional regulation. Colouring shows different sides of yourself and helps with self love.”
Mercedes Osakwe
Question :What is your take on mental health in the Black community?
Answer: We are expanding a little more and striving for inclusion but not merely fast enough. As a Black woman I know that there is a small percentage of people like me in this field. I want to be an advocate for all people but more for people like me. I understand that everyone is not educated about mental health and because of the stigma attached to it, it is not spoken about enough or taken seriously enough. I want to be that person that is educated enough to let others know how reading books and participating in something as simple as colouring can positively impact their mental health.
Question : How do you think we as a community can go about creating positive resources and open spaces to discuss and address our mental health?
Answer: I think that we need to work together more and create more groups, start bringing more awareness and helping others to understand. We need more people to come together as a collective. The ignorance of it all is something that is killing us. We need to be more aware of the things that are going on. We also need to find ways to mend our mental health and our spiritual health as much as we find ways to mend our physical health.
Question :Why did you choose to focus on creating a colouring book as opposed to any other genre of books?
Answer: I wanted to stand out. I wanted to be different. Being a creative person I wanted to be unique with the way that I create things. I wanted to create this book realizing that not everyone likes to indulge in reading and there are a lot of people who like colouring and pictures. This is also a childhood activity so it allows adults to seek comfort in this activity and nurture the child that lives inside of all of us.
Question :What is your goal for this book?
Answer: My goal is to allow this book to present healing to people all over the world and break the stigma of mental health letting it be known that mental health issues are normal.
“This book will appeal to people of all ages. This book will enlighten and encourage individuals to love and always be themselves.”
Mercedes Osakwe
Question : How have you dealt with negativity and setbacks that usually occur when bringing an idea into fruition?
Answer: We live in a world where people are very insecure even if they have everything. There are also those that possessed an inferiority complex and others who make it their duty to tear someone down whenever they see them trying to attain certain goal. I had to look into myself and tell myself that these people are just projecting their negativity towards me. Negativity that they feel towards themselves. Most of the time it has nothing to do with me and everything to do with them. I make sure not to take things personally even though sometimes people can be cruel and words can hurt. I know that my destiny is already written in stones and no one can take it away from me. Ive realized that a lot of the time people are just ignorant so I deal with it by ignoring them.
Question : How does indulging in colouring impact one’s mental health?
Answer: Colouring helps to open up and reach different parts of the mind in different ways. Similar to writing and reading it involves a euphoric feeling. Seeing certain colours can instantly change your mood, making you happy or just simple get your attention. Colours can also alter your reality as your eyes and brains retain all the information. Colouring can open up different parts of your mind, work on your emotions and connect with you on a spiritual level. Colouring can alternate and change the trajectory of how you think and view things. Colouring is also very relaxing; it takes you away from negative thinking, helps your body calm down and put you in a happy place.
Question :What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you?
Answer: Never let anyone let you feel less than you are
Question :What does success mean to you?
Answer: Happiness, as long as I am prospering, healthy, living my dreams, having spiritual and mental happiness and making the people around me happy, I am a success
Question : Define having a positive mindset?
Answer: Living in a way that is beneficial to you. Living a healthy, stress free lifestyle and working on ways to decrease anxiety and negativity.
Question :Your book consists of 49 inspirational affirmations? What are your top 5 favourites and why?
- BE YOU – Everyone is not themselves and I feel like telling children to always be themselves is something that they should grow up with especially in a world that normalized following the crowd.
- I AM BLESS – Being born in this world is a blessing. You have the opportunity to do so much and change so much
- I AM ABUNDANT – Being mentally and spiritually healthy
- YOU DESERVE ALL GOOD THINGS IN LIFE – I say this more as a woman and gearing it more towards women because we need to pour into ourselves as much as we pour into others
- I AM DESTINED FOR GREATNESS – I know that I am destined to be more, to be further than I am today as greatness is my birth right. I was born into greatness.
“Colouring and focusing on the affirmations encourages your mind to pay close attention to what is meaningful to you.”
Mercedes Osakwe