Staying Grounded with Akua

Akua, as a woman of colour, are there any noticeable differences in your outdoor experience here in the US vs Canada or Ghana?

I would say that as a woman my experience outdoors has always felt tempered by the fact that outdoor space doesn’t always feel like it’s a place where I can be safe. Sometimes I want to explore places at night but then look around and there’s just men everywhere ..men on the corner, men in the streets, everywhere!

I think part of the beauty of the outdoors is the ability to feel free and empowered by what these natural environments might bring out in us….and at times my status as a woman, and more pertinently , as a woman of color,  has inhibited my ability to feel that, no matter where I live or travel. Being a person of color makes navigating every space a consideration.

Akua, in creating music - what impact has the outdoors / leisure time had on your creative process?

It’s taken some time to realize and accept how much the city seems to only serve as a distraction for me and what I aim to create. I absolutely love being part of a creative community and am inspired by my friends yet at the same time, I have found it harder to connect with the part of myself that makes my best work.

Before the pandemic, I would usually take a little self-imposed retreat-meets-residency at some point each year...the last trips being in Running Springs, CA and Ojai, CA at the beginning of 2020. I would load up all my music gear and get an Airbnb in the woods for a few days and just stay alone to write and create...it would always feel so starkly different than being in the city. I would take more breaks during the day to hike and explore my surroundings, yet somehow accomplish so much more.

I found that replacing the stimulus of the city with the stimulus of nature activated my creative mind in a different and more generative way. There was time and space not only to create but to also step away from what I made, reflect on it and then revisit it and make it better.

You've recently moved from Los Angeles to Rhode Island in a very stressful time. What role did leisure time play in this transition - if any? Did you discover any new benefits from being outside?

When the pandemic hit and Los Angeles went into lockdown, we found ourselves newly-pregnant and basically confined to our cute-but-tiny apartment in Koreatown. With most spaces closed, outdoor activity was our only outlet. Fortunately both of us had gotten really into running so finding parks and trails in and around LA felt really accessible and was keeping us sane.

That said, within weeks of everything closing, outdoor spaces became absolutely saturated to the point of frustration and apprehension. There were so many unknowns and a lot of collective fear and anxiety at that time, and being pregnant only exacerbated those feelings for us in the city.

We decided to temporarily relocate to Rhode Island to be with family and suddenly found ourselves dropped into nature. The transition from walking around the hot, littered streets of Koreatown in a mask to breathing fresh ocean air was stark and undeniably a better option for us.

Getting out of the city required us to adjust our mindset and the pace to which we had grown accustomed. After a few months out of the city I noticed a drastic change in my partner...it was like a pressure valve had been released. The literal and figurative space allowed for so much reflection and recalibration for us as a couple transitioning into becoming a family. Down-time/leisure against the backdrop of a tragic pandemic allowed us to reconnect with ourselves and each other and re-examine what was most important to us. Living amongst nature has become a central value of our new family and we feel grateful and privileged to have had this past year to define and accept this for ourselves.

What's your idea of #TimeWellSpent?

I have a lot of ideas but at first thought it’s spending time with people I love, drinking great wine and playing cards.

For artist and doula, Akua, and her music-executive partner, Jimmy, the great outdoors act as a place for grounding, rejuvenation and inspiration -- especially so during the pandemic.

With their new baby boy in tow, we sit with them to talk through how they seem to find balance and calm within all the chaos of life as new parents (who've just made a cross-country move no less).