People wonder what LX is XL means.
It means Lexain is Forty (XL is roman figure for 40) and this was the way I chose to celebrate the milestone. December 17, 2022.
A year or two prior, a few people I knew turned 40 too, some celebrated it as they should, and the big question for me was what is the big deal about being 40?
My adorable wife asked me from the beginning of the year how I wanted to celebrate it and I just told her I’d decide when the time was right. The time came and I just decided that I wanted to be 40 in peace.
Truth be told, I was going through a midlife crisis that year and there was nothing to be up and jumpy about.
One of my major problems was that I cared too much about people’s opinions as I reflected back and prepped for turning 40. That same year, I started a journey of rediscovery and it was liberating. I realised that nobody really cared so I started to pay less attention to people’s opinions of me (I am glad I took that decision).
When a man turns 40, you can’t really change his ways. “A fool at forty they say is a fool forever”.
In my own honest opinion, that man have not done “Think Like A Designer” yet.
I am grateful to God for the things I had achieved before turning 40. Making a Creative Director role of a major agency was a major goal I did set for myself (that is something to be thankful for).
Anyway, I decided to take advantage of one of the best advice I heard in the past decade and it was “Never let a crisis go to waste” so I decided to create an art form with my crisis.
I created an identity (took me a whole year after trying out several concepts)
I wrote a piece (spoken word)
I did a photoshoot as people do but with one aim only
I created a tech enabled fashion line which I also exhibited at GITEX 2023 in Morocco.
THE IDENTITY
The identity is inspired by the Japanese and Chinese calligraphy.
It was the same concept I used to craft the famous Lexain logo so I just decided to use the same concept to express the theme.
THE POEM
Inhale, exhale
Inhale, exhale
They say life starts at XL
They say a fool at XL is one forever
Pardon me as I reminisce through my foolish moments
It’s been XL years of hard knocks
The last 11 of hard work
A blessing disguised in a curse
This is my thanksgiving
For every gain and every loss
A decade long XXXperiment is come to an end
The treasures in it, I’d keep for life
The residues, stored under pressure archived until the after life
I am grateful to God that I went through it all;
rejection, denial, mistrust, doubt, shame, hate, deceit, backstabbing, betrayal
The rise and the fall
I made mistakes and I failed a couple of times
The friction made a pebble out of a boulder
The polishing will make a marble as I grow older
Here I am, a rose that grew from concrete
Molten gold refined from a black pot under fire and intense heat
This is my comfort zone now in silence
Where I’d rather be till the process is complete
I am better now
I am wiser now
Greyer, with a better sound…of praise
A son of grace, child of mercy
A beacon of hope to a down trodden and
Anyone who makes a whole bread from crumbs starting where they are with what they have
building their life in silence because it is golden
Shout out to the end of an era
And the beginning of another
The shedding of old skin
Letting go of everything that made less sense
A vocation I was never fond of yet devoted to
It made me survive, I ticked many boxes
To God I am submitted to
I discovered who I really was
My purpose is clearly defined
My hair grew longer
My bloodline is now divine
It is almost halftime and it’s time to switch gears
Life hit and I hit, the game ain’t done yet
My mantra is simple:
Play by the rules and serve with good intentions
When the foundations are solid, build yourself a kitchen, make bread on your own terms and stamp your name on your own witty inventions
Have fun with lots of love to give, live life on a daily
You are fine when normal people call you crazy
So, when I inhale, you exhale
When I exhale, you inhale
Life is short no matter how long it is and this is how I choose to celebrate
LX is XL
THE PHOTOSHOOT
The photoshoot was to sell the product. Thanks to my long time great friend Tayo of Belva Phillips.
THE JUICE
This was the core-drive that motivated me to do this project in the first place. The Product.
Interestingly, I had created some NFTs earlier. I used them to create the first t-shirt ever with Augmented Reality artworks which I wore for the photoshoot. Designed and developed by Lexain + Colordtees + Xaine Ingenius
You point your phone at the artwork with Artivive enabled on your phone then the artwork comes alive. This idea took me to Morocco in 2023 to pitch to investors.
The learnings from Marrakech is opening new possibilities and this is just the beginning.
So, yes!
Turning 40 wasn’t bad after all.
OA.