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Take Qui-Gon Jinn’s reminder in Episode I: The Phantom Menace: “Your focus determines your reality.” If you hyper-focus on the little “failures”, like spilling coffee or forgetting to pay your parking meter, you might be destined for a disaster of a day. But if you shift your focus to what you’re capable of achieving and pockets of creativity hiding all around, suddenly, you’re the main character in a very promising day.

Do yourself a favor: be your own hype person today. Channel your inner Jedi and kick some butt. May the Force be with you ⚡️

Art show, New York last year. Photo by my mom.

Art, creativity = happy place.

Creative inspiration can strike anywhere. Take my coworker Jeffrey’s keyboard, spotted while we were working remotely in Pittsburgh last week:

I love the specialized, colorful keys.

Good luck this week! Crush it 💚

I went sailing from LA to Catalina with some friends recently. I love being on the water (sunburns aside) it’s the best way to get in some restorative conversations, far away from the weekly grind.

While we were catching a breeze, a friend shared how he kicked a 20-year smoking habit. He’d been smoking since he was 15, and for years, that cigarette was his way to mark time during long days building movie sets in Hollywood.

He realized he didn’t actually need the nicotine, he just wanted the punctuation. He was craving a sensory "pause," not the substance. Once he started creating his own intentional breaks, he was finally able to quit. It got me thinking: we all have these habits. Whether it’s smoking, vaping, or doom-scrolling social media (guilty! 🙈), we aren’t always looking for the substance, just a way to unplug.

So here’s a challenge I’m taking: replace the doom-scroll. Use these five minutes to take a brief walk or read up on a subject I’ve always wanted to understand deeper. Ditch what drains the tank and make room for what fuels inspiration. Happy sailing.

Casual style + book, photo rg @tanyaoperaa

Roses in Portland, OR neighborhood garden

Image by @wondervisionary

This is a great quote. Here’s my twist on it: Travel. As much as you want. As often as you can to unique experiences.

Be open to every moment as a new possibility or chance to learn something you didn’t know ten minutes ago. Grab a cup of coffee or chat with someone new at work - it might open the door to a cool new project or offer a fresh perspective that totally shifts your outlook for the week.

Consider your daily habits. Check the view from the window, ask an extra question, find the adventure in ordinary interactions ❤️.

Check the view from the window :) Video by @czikkcakk

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Grab some sunshine :) My illustration based on a photo from IG.

A smile is a heart is a smile is a heart is a smile is a heart is a smile is a heart is a smile

Imagination rules

Reposting Instagram featuring ‘A Moon or a Button’ by Ruth Krauss and Remy Charlip (1959) 🌝🌞

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Before the eight Oscars and EGOT status, Alan Menken spent the 1970s and ‘80s writing shows for New York’s theater scene that often went nowhere. He created his “Disney Renaissance” and reputation the world knows of him today by staying in love with the work and putting in the hours ❤️ Source: The Talks.

Below: my ai-generated art using the. prompt “create a complex non-linear luminous pure white system trajectory image”. I love the result 🤍 #nonlinear success

My illustration of flowers that I created for A Right Brain Assessment of the MTA

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Just finished this illustration ♥️

California pup, hazel eye & blue eye, out and about in Santa Monica.

Writer’s block (or “Jenny” as her friends call her) decided the most creative thing she could do that day was… absolutely nothing.

She didn’t fight it. Instead, she grabbed a coffee, packed up a six-pack of premium half-baked ideas, and headed straight for the lake.

She cast a line into the water, and waited. Surprisingly She didn’t catch a thing. She spent four blissfully unproductive hours admiring the shimmering water. No nagging sentences, no demanding to-dos. Just the sound of nothing much happening.

When she finally packed up, something shifted. The pressure was gone. She came back to her desk lighter, clearer— like her brain rebooted while she wasn’t looking. And just like that, she was ready to write.

Turns out, the old saying holds up: silence really is golden.

Take the break when you need it. Your best ideas are probably out there… just waiting to be hooked :) ✨

Life got busy, and my workout routine slipped onto the back burner. If you’ve managed to avoid that, I’m impressed. If not, I 100% relate. Either way, today I’m officially getting my tush back into the gym.

We all know the usual perks of exercise like better sleep and more energy, but I recently read an article by MindBodyGreen, Strong Muscles, Strong Mind, that takes it a step further. It describes exercise as a sort of cheat code for the brain.

Movement helps regulate cortisol, our primary stress hormone, while boosting endorphins, those feel-good chemicals that lift our mood. Regular exercise can actually reshape the brain by building new neural pathways. In other words, working out doesn’t just make us feel better, it helps create the ideal conditions for our brains to perform at their best.

Pretty cool, right?

If you’re restarting too, here’s the game plan I’m sticking to, modified from the article:

• Mix it up: I’m aiming for 2-3 HIIT workouts and 2-3 strength days. It keeps the body adaptable and the brain building “resilience pathways.”

• Anti-Boredom List: Life is too short for workouts you hate. I’ve got a list of a few activities that don’t feel like a chore (like dancing and hiking) to lean on when my energy is low.

• Don’t skip rest: Sleep, good food, and downtime are part of the plan. I include these to avoid burnout.

• The Buddy System: Everything’s better with a partner-in-crime. It’s a lot harder to hit the snooze button when you know someone is waiting for you to show up.

What’s your go-to workout for busy days?

I find this funny. #positiveAffirmation. 🧑🏻‍🎨

I tried a different drawing technique for this illustration, and I really like how it turned out. I usually start by outlining everything in black ink, but this time I painted the color first and added the outlines afterward. It’s a subtle shift, but I think it gives the illustration a more realistic feel.

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Fishermans Bay Garden

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🐶 Photo @maison_flanuer

Flower 🌸 @car__lotta via @ad_magazine

Flower 🌼, Irving Penn

On a beach walk: Me, Mom, Sister, and Kaia (same that I illustrated recently)

Flowers🌷via @ad_magazine

If you made a Life Weather Map for yourself, what would you chart, and why? (I’ve been thinking about illustrative journaling and life maps. I’ll explore this more later 🔎 :).

“Luck sets the weather. Integrity sets the direction”

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The Interview:

The following is a reflective interview, part of an ongoing project to record important family memories. Today’s spotlight: my stepdad, a very successful businessman-entrepreneur who loves family, art, music, and offering strong opinions, whether you solicit them or not 😉

On Business

What’s a lesson about work, money, or success that either surprised you or became important to you over the years?
Success requires a great deal of luck and good timing. In my case, I was in the right place at the right time, and that was partly luck. You should never take success for granted, because timing plays a much larger role than people like to admit.

What matters more than intelligence in business?
Self-esteem. That is an easy one. It is the most important trait a person can have. It has to be part of who you are. That does not mean it cannot be built over time, but it is difficult. Without it, intelligence alone will not carry you very far.

On Life

What did you overestimate in your 30s?
Not very much. I became a CEO at age 31, running a company with about 600 employees. I was young and willing to take calculated risks. I was trained in finance and analytics and at the time knew very little about running a company at that scale.

I put myself in a position where I was visible, and I asked for the promotion. I went to the senior executives; they did not come to me.

If you could invite three people to dinner, living or dead, who would you invite?
First would be Winston Churchill. I consider him the most important world leader of our lifetime. I have read a great deal about him and admire his bravery and willingness to take enormous risks for the good of the free world.

Second would be Beethoven. He is the greatest producer of music of all time. I am listening to him right now. I would be fascinated to talk to him about how he saw the world.

The third would be someone from much further back in history, like Julius Caesar or Plato. I would want to understand how they thought and what their presence was like. Would you feel awe in the room? Would they dominate the conversation?

Artists we discussed over the holidays

Giorgio Morandi. “Still Life” (1931)

His good friend Takesada Matsutani studio + work, photos from NYT

“Circle Yellow-19” (2019)

Louise Bourgeois, three images from The Puritan Suite 1997-2003

He and my mom, out and about in California

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This is Archie. He’s deaf and doesn’t hear when his humans get home. Luckily, his little brother Frankie lets him know with a gentle nudge to make sure he doesn’t miss the moment. (Video and poem below illustration).

Poem for a friend

If I could write a poem.

I would write it just for you.

But I can not write a poem.

So what am I to do?

If I could write a poem.

I would tell you lots of things.

Of love and happiness.

and the joy your friendship brings.

But I can not write a poem.

So you will never know. So, I will have to tell you instead.

Just how much I love you.

And now I have to go.. Because life is short, I choose to share what’s true.

I found this poem online, credited to an unknown source. I rewrote two of the lines. Here’s to keeping things simple, saying what you mean, and making every day count. Happy New Year :)