From Comfort zone to Cosie zone.
An ongoing journey.
When the name ‘Cosie’ came to me, it felt so right. It immediately gave me warm sensations and welcoming energy, and felt aligned with the vision that I had in mind. It was one of those aha-moments. Firstly, because the word ‘cosie’ was put together through an acronym made up of the perfect key words encapsulating my vision (co-creative, sustainable, ideas and endeavours). Secondly, because it came at a more unexpected moment that involved a lot less planning and structuring and much more openness and creativity. It was a moment that unknowingly set the path for Cosie and its culture to begin to come to life.
I’m a planner, I always have been. From planning my next move and where I was going to live in the world to organising get-togethers or even planning my day-to-day calendar. It’s a love-hate relationship that I have with this side of myself. Either way, my ability to plan has taught me some of my greatest and most valuable lessons along the way, some harder than others.
Planning things always helped me to feel secure. That idea of knowing what I am going to do or attempting to actively participate in understanding certain outcomes I guess always made me feel safe. I’ve lived outside of Malta from the age of 18, so every next move I made always had a motive. Some perceived me as adventurous and brave, which to some extent I could understand. However, from my perspective it was somewhat safe because I always had my plan and I knew it well. Planning gatherings between friends and bringing people together has always been kind of my thing. As a child, I suffered from a lot of anxiety which affected my exam results, so planning out my work and daily schedule helped to reduce the stress while keeping me focused on my goals.
Throughout my adult life, planning has become my comfort zone, my safe space. As a result it also ended up supporting me in my work and reflecting in my ability to approach things strategically and systematically. So, naturally I do indeed have a deep admiration and love for this space that I have carved out along the years. It has essentially become a huge part of who I am. With that love and admiration there’s also been an equal amount of resistance and reframing that has had to take place. In the end, this is where most of my lessons were learnt and growth happened more effectively.
The very nature of planning involves a level of control. However, through my experience, life and work has taught me there is only so much that one can do to be in control. In actual fact, there is very little that one can do to be in control. With this lesson coming in complete confrontation with my safe space, throughout the years I’ve had to learn how to be more flexible within that same space. I learnt that no matter how much planning gets done or how many outcomes I thought I knew or attempted to predict, our living and ever-changing world requires a lot more openness, willingness to fail and adaptation.
Today, I find myself still very committed to my safe space, wanting to share the lessons learnt and the tools that I gained with others to make room for growth and sustainable development. At the same time, I am continuously learning on how to find the middle ground between playing it safe and stepping outside of that safe space. Why? Because essentially that’s where all the magic happens. Just like that moment when I came up with the name Cosie. I had been planning and strategising to formulate my ideas for quite some time, which of course was very helpful and relevant. However it taught me that no matter how many brainstorming sessions I planned and sat down for, I would have never been able to have that aha-moment if it wasn’t for spontaneity, flexibility, adaptability and everything in between. Making room to let go of my safe space, and stepping out of my comfort zone allowed me to step into my Cosie zone.
While my passion for strategy and planning is still very present, especially when it comes to sustainable and purpose driven work, I am also very aware (and keep learning) about the importance of integrating free creative processing with structured systemic thinking. Within any plan comes flexibility and adaptability, which in turn makes room for those aha-moments. While I always had a vision in mind for the kind of impact that I wish to contribute towards in this world, I could have never imagined how it would manifest. Even more, I could have never planned or predicted that every step of my journey (good or bad) would feed into each other and get me exactly where I need to be today.
The start of Cosie Studio began a long time ago, I just wasn’t really aware of it. I always had a vision in mind and imagined a space (physical or not) that is open and flooded with light in one way or another, I actually found these words in old journals. Today, our logo was developed from the concept of light, without us indicating this specific imagination to the graphic designer Ed. On top of that our HQ is my grandfather’s converted art studio which is surrounded by skylight. For me, this manifestation is a clear example of the power of planning with flexibility and adaptability. It showed me the equal importance of setting out plans and visions while not getting too stuck and committed to them. This is how we, Cosie Studio, intend to support you along your sustainable and purpose driven journey.
So, without further ado, I am excited and equally scared to share Cosie Studio with you and the world. A co-creative space that intends to guide and be guided by light. A space that makes room for creatives and problem solvers to come together and support each other to thrive. Where community and vulnerability is celebrated and collaboration is key, because we truly believe that sustainability and its development requires these kinds of spaces. The time to Cosie up is now and we cannot wait to connect with you and hear more about your ideas.
