O.F.P.
A little about me, my journey to creating this space and my interaction with it.
Hello my name is Oladoyin Foluke Phillips
On here, I go by O.F.P.
I am from Lagos, Nigeria, and this is my little corner on the inter webs.
This space started out as a blog in 2017. It was focused on sharing the insights I gained from my meditation and reflections. In 2020 I decided that I really wanted to make it more engaging and a true reflection of my inner world.
My intention was to stop hiding behind my ‘messages’ and be able to connect with my readers through all of my writing, not just a part of it.
So this is me.
Artist: Peju Alatise
When I started the blog , it was a silver lining in a cloud of what I formerly believed was a fledgling career.
I had just left my job in India, six months earlier than I should have and I really believed that I had failed.
Then I moved to London and the job I got there was even worse - simply because I did not believe in myself.
Everything felt disastrous
However, in the process, I became more reflective, more attentive, more spiritual, and eventually, I grew wiser.
Perhaps the most useful thing I learnt is that I had been looking for answers outside - from ‘God’ - or the version I had of Him in my head, from other people’s opinions and expectations of me, and just from generally being fearful.
A lot of this fear manifests in anxiety, which shows up in different ways - small and big things. It is something I am learning to work through.
I started the blog by writing down these lessons from my personal experiences. It has always about being authentic and truthful.
It still is.
I made the decision to create more space to share the many things that are very important to me.
I am still learning to overcome my crippling anxiety, body image issues, uncertainty about myself and my abilities, and many of the same things a lot of other people deal with in the course of their lives.
Writing and rereading the Truth Thursday posts have really helped with this. The section shares different lessons I learnt when I paused to reflect on my particular circumstances. They are helpful, open and honest.
I encourage you to check them out.
Artist: Peju Alatise
The Truth is Naked section speaks specifically to body image, health, care, self-love and positivity, especially with regards to women. I use responses to works of art to do this. There is some nudity, so please be aware of this before you read these posts.
Artist: Peju Alatise
Artist: Jekein Lato-Unah
I try my best to see God in everything, not just in a single religious sect or belief system. I respect people’s right to be themselves, and I am trying very hard to eradicate all forms of judgement from my mind. I love learning about spirituality and pursuing spiritual growth by expanding my knowledge in the area. I talk more about this in the Oratory section of the site.
I also love ice cream (Hi milk& cookies!) and milkshakes :P, but they have too much sugar so I am having to reduce that love … significantly. I write well sometimes, but I enjoy writing all the time. If you enjoy reading creative writing, check out the Voices In My Head section of the blog.
I am about to start my PhD at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International affairs at Princeton University, where I will be researching how to build energy planning optimization models for sub-Saharan Africa that include considerations for public and environmental policy as well as the political economy. So, I will also be talking about my research here. If you are interested, you can go to the Thinking Thoughts section.
(I went to Princeton for my undergrad, so I am excited I have this opportunity to go back there!).
I co-founded an Africa-focused start-up and SME advisory business called Spurt! With our bias for implementation, I find that we end up being very useful to our clients, whom we really want to support in achieving that growth spurt!
(see what I did there?).
Artist: David Akinola
I have always wished I was a visual artist, and could draw and paint, so you will notice that I have included images of different art from various artists I like. They have been gracious enough to allow me use their work to beautify, and give more depth and experience to this space.
Feel free to click on the images to be directed to the artist’s webpage (or just google them).
Please reach out if you’d love to share your art on here!
Finally, I really do enjoy interacting with people (even with my social anxiety), so please feel free to book a one-on-one session with me if you ever find that you need someone to listen to you or speak with.
That’s me!
Welcome to my world.
Don’t forget:
Yẹ inú wò.
There Is Treasure Within
— Love, O.F.P.