Rethinking What We Endure
Your perfect day, habits that are soul sucking, filthy drawings, personal work
What do you endure out of habit?
This week, I’ve been thinking about choices, the lack of choices, and the anxiety that both can bring.
I was listening to a podcast, and it brought up the "Perfect Day" exercise—something I haven’t done in years. As I stood over the sink, scrubbing dishes with lavender dish soap softening my nails, I paused the conversation in my ears and started to think: What would my perfect day look like? Most definitely not starting with washing dishes.
I turned the water off, closed my eyes, and here’s what came to me:
It’s early. The sun is just beginning to blush the sky, and a light rain is finishing its work.
My partner is only starting to stir next to me, while our dog Indy jumps into bed for his obligatory morning cuddle.
After a couple of minutes of hugging this cinnamon-shaped bundle, I ease out of bed, grab a tea or coffee, and wander around the house, turning on lamps, starting diffusers, and checking my garden. Once the scene is set, I curl up on the couch to think, journal, and read. There’s a hush in the house. Only the sound of pages turning and the scratch of a pen break the silence.
Now, I’ll stop there because the point of sharing this is to help you see that the exercise is not about forcing some idealized version of what you think a perfect day should be. It’s about letting details and emotions naturally rise to the surface.
Let’s talk about emotion for a second. The word "emotion" comes from the Latin emovere, which means ‘to move out.’ Emotions are meant to move you, to stir something within.
If you choose to try this exercise and find yourself tempted to dream big and wild—like winning the lottery or lounging on a yacht—I’d encourage you to step back and refocus. This exercise is about the small things: how it feels to wake up, the sounds you hear, the smells in the air, the rhythm of your day.
These small, everyday moments are clues to how you might start shifting from today to that ideal tomorrow.
Much like how I sigh when thinking about washing the dishes and realize that maybe I need to switch my habit to cleaning before bed so I can wake up with more peace. The feeling I crave is the solitude and space of an unrushed morning. That’s why I wake up early in the first place.
I started by asking what you endure because I’m guilty of sticking with things I feel I should do—things that make me feel safer or more stable. I’m not about to throw out all my responsibilities, but as I stood at the sink, I realized I’m actually pretty close to my ideal day. However, moving from where I am now to where I want to be requires a level of courage and commitment.
The things I endure are often things I’m great at and that pay the bills, but don’t fill my soul.
Can I have both?
How can I spend less time on social media and emails and more time creating, researching, and thinking? Maybe one day I’ll even have someone manage my emails so I can focus on what I love most. Maybe I’ll go back to school. Maybe I’ll finally set aside the time needed to focus on my art instead of my work.
What are you enduring out of habit right now? What small behaviour changes can you make to be one step closer to your ideal day?
Artist & Scientist: Anna Maria Sibylla Merian
I was reading my art history book when I came across a quote that made me roll my eyes and think, “Of course,”: “Merian was once described by a Dutch contemporary as a painter of worms, flies, mosquitoes, spiders ‘and other filth.’”
Merian was something uncommon for her time—both an artist and a scientist. As a woman in the 17th and early 18th centuries, she faced skepticism simply because of her gender. And if that wasn’t enough, she was also challenging long-held beliefs, like spontaneous generation—the idea that certain life forms could just appear out of nowhere from non-living matter.
That’s why her work is so important. Subsidized by the city of Amsterdam, Merian spent two years exploring the jungles of Surinam, a region nestled between the Atlantic Ocean to the north and Brazil to the south, where over 90% of the country is covered in rainforest—the highest proportion of forest cover in the world. During her time there, she meticulously studied insects in their natural habitat and documented their life cycles in incredible detail.
Her observations revealed that insects didn’t just appear out of nowhere. Instead, they transformed through distinct stages: egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis), and adult (butterfly or moth). Merian’s work provided clear, empirical evidence that life doesn’t spontaneously generate—it follows a developmental process.
What I found particularly interesting is how Merian brought her artistic eye to her scientific work. After observing insects in their natural environment, she carefully arranged her depictions of exotic insects alongside elegant fruits and flowers, creating skillful and harmonious compositions. It’s a bit like what Rachel Ruysch did with her stunning floral paintings.
And here’s the takeaway: there will always be critics. But their opinions don’t necessarily reflect the quality or significance of your work. Merian’s ability to push against the norms and combine art with science reminds us that true innovation often faces resistance—and that’s okay.
Her work:
Personal Work
We recently trekked into the mountains for a much-needed weekend of unplugging. We camped at an alpine lake, picked blueberries, swam, hiked, and read books as the sunset. All in all, perfect.
Hey you made it to the end! I have a little secret for you.
I've mentioned before how much I love to read. Growing up, I spent a lot of time reading and drawing, which eventually led me to get a design degree. That's probably why I care so much about book design and covers. I have a list of books I'm always hunting for at thrift shops, and I'm pretty particular about the covers I collect. I also take photos of these books, bookstores, and libraries whenever I can. When we travel, visiting these places is just as much a part of the itinerary as any other tourist attraction.
All that to say, for fun I started a little Instagram account to put those photos somewhere. If you are like me and have a bookish streak you can hang out with me HERE.
You can also find more of my photography and personal IG is HERE.
