Saturday with FELISPEAKS: 'Creativity requires you to do a bunch of nothing to generate itself'

Felicia Olusanya, better known as FELISPEAKS. Picture: Pato Cassinoni

13.00

If I can, I get up at like 1pm. I don’t have a built-in routine because my Saturdays never look the same. I like to have a lie-in, though. I don’t get up early on Saturday for anybody.

The first thing I do is check the time. Then I light some incense, journal and put on some music. I listen to Janelle Monáe a lot. I’m obsessed with their most recent album, The Age of Pleasure. 

It’s very queer and Black and features West African/Nigerian musicians on it. It’s so affirming.

It’s basically about being in this time of your life when you’re just ready to enjoy yourself; you know who you are, and you’re just feeling yourself. It’s beautiful.

13.30

No matter what time I get up, I still like to have breakfast.

I usually cook at home and will have eggs and a bagel, or maybe some crepes, and of course, a cup of tea – I must have a cup of tea.

Saturdays are for very “adult” behaviour. I’ll either deep clean the house, do my laundry or go grocery shopping.

It’s my ‘getting my life together’ day. I don’t want to do that on a Sunday because that makes me anxious about Monday.

I think we should all be excited about our Mondays — it’s how you start your week — so, if you do all your bits on a Friday evening or Saturday, then on Sunday, you can have a peaceful rest and you wake up better on Monday. 

I want Sunday to feel more chill so that my brain can keep resting.

15.00

I tend to chill out most weekends, unless I’m working, in which case my routine will be slightly different. But generally speaking, I like to just catch a vibe on the weekend.

If I know that I have my weekend off, I don’t make plans on Saturday and then catch up with friends on Sunday.

We either hit the beach if the weather’s good or perch somewhere to hang out.

One of my favourite places to chill is the steps at the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre on South William Street. It’s so buzzy.

17.30

Food is a really good pillar for me. Regardless of what my schedule is, I’m going to eat. I always have breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Those are my non-negotiables.

When I’m doing a show, I’ll have an early dinner around 5.30/6 pm. That gives me time to digest, but still ensures I have energy to actually do the show.

I don’t believe in treating my body like shit. My body and my voice are my instruments; I use them in a way that most people don’t, so I have to be really intentional about their care, especially when in the middle of a project.

My new show, Octopus Children, is a love letter to Black, Irish, and queer communities; people who live on the outskirts of society in many ways.

It follows the journey of young Felicia discovering and accepting themself via the guidance of an octopus. I hope it helps people in these communities to feel seen, heard, and celebrated.

19.00

My favourite thing about the weekend is that there are no expectations of me most of the time. My least favourite thing is that everyone wants to hang out with you at the weekend! I have really important people in my life, and I try to make time for them.

I like to spend intentional time with my friends, so I came up with this idea of the ‘yap list’. It’s for friends I don’t talk to every day.

If I’m really busy and I need my evenings to myself, I’ll wait until Saturday to call up one of the girls, and then we’ll talk through our yap lists.

It’s basically a list with all the bullet point ideas we want to hit. It could be updates, things that have been happening in your life lately, or just a new idea you want to tinker with, and need a different brain to help you out with it.

It helps keep you on topic, so even if you go off on multiple tangents, you can come back to your yap list and make sure you’ve covered everything you want to talk about.

21.30

I think people who work 9-to-5 jobs think I do a bunch of nothing half the time, but creativity requires you to do a bunch of nothing to generate itself. You need to unplug.

The volume of work I do in my busy period far exceeds a regular 9-to-5 anyway, so it balances out.

You definitely need time for creativity. If I’m working on a commission and I have a month to do it, I’ll probably spend two and a half weeks just percolating on things in the back of my head before an idea arrives.

I don’t believe that you get more creative if you’re constantly creating. I actually think that slows your creativity down.

• Felicia Olusanya, better known as FELISPEAKS, is a Nigerian-Irish poet, performer, playwright, and artist. 
• THISISPOPBABY presents ‘Octopus Children’ written by FELISPEAKS, this September as part of Dublin Fringe Festival from September 5-18. 
• fringefest.com