“We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.” 

— John Dewey

Have you ever tried to start a journaling practice but failed to make it a habit? ✋

I get it. Sometimes staring at a blank page is intimidating.

Hello friend,

I recently came across this photo series of remote office desk setups. I love seeing other people's spaces, especially ones where they do creative work.

I thought it would be fun to share my at-home creative space.

First, photos:

Hello friends,

It's been tough, hasn't it? Here's a snippet I wrote in my journal back in March:

Day 23982 of quarantine (ok, it's actually day 19). I opened the windows to let the outside in. I went on a walk and touched a pile of white petals that had blown into the gutter. A friend said I shouldn't touch things on the ground and she's right. But I couldn't resist their softness. AJ, my partner of 6 years, plays computer games on the weekends and I fall asleep to the blue glow and click clack of a mechanical keyboard. I've already made all the FaceTime calls. I repotted the plants. I mended the clothes. I'm tired of cooking. I miss standing in someone else's kitchen and talking about nothing in particular. I miss coffee shops and bowling alleys. I wonder if there will ever be a time in the future when I'm not thinking so much about germs.

The company I work for laid off 11 employees. The rest of us got a 13% pay cut. Still, I am one of the lucky ones. Lucky to not be deemed essential. Lucky to be inside, working and getting paid from my kitchen counter. Lucky to be doing terrible yoga in the living room.

Hi friends,

It's been weird. I spent the weekend at home, flitting between calling family members and working on projects that I have some control over. One of those projects was switching this email list from Mailchimp to Buttondown and building a new home for my writing. All of this sort of feels pointless with everything that's happening in the world, but I enjoyed the time spent playing around with new web technologies. I'm hoping the simplicity of Buttondown allows me to connect with you all more frequently, which feels right. I believe that now is the best time to add a little more creativity to our lives, which is what this newsletter is for!

• I wrote quick post with 27 social distancing activities to do at home or in nature if you have some extra free time this week. The best thing I did this weekend was take an hour nature walk by the river.
• I also wrote about how my recent engagement and how to collect and remember the small, happy moments that pass us by.

I encourage you to spend any extra time you may have this week working on something creative or learning a new skill -- even 15 minutes a day makes a difference! Here are a couple opportunities I came across that you might be interested in: