I don’t aspire to perfection, but I have been thinking about dedicating more time and practice to building new habits and working towards goals. Jim Craig, the goalie from Miracle, once told my friend Caroline:
“Organize your life around your dreams and watch them come true.”
This has been inspiring and haunting me this past month. My dreams change somewhat regularly, so naturally, my life is loosely organized around many different, and at times competing, dreams. Even with cloud-like, airy dreams, I want to dedicate more time to them in hopes that they become a little more solid. It is a tricky balance with dreams, though. Dreams change, and I don’t want to be so fixated on more solid dreams that I can’t see them trying to morph into a different shape. I trust myself to let myself and my dreams change over time, so I won’t let this worry linger too long.
Here’s how I spent more time with my dreams this past month:
I try to spend more time each week with my sketchbook. Sometimes, I’ll bring it out with me and sketch when I have a few minutes in transit or am waiting for a friend. I’ve also started doing some master copy sketches in 10-15 minutes. This month, I did some quick studies of Edgar Payne’s Monument Valley, Riverbed. Even after a few studies, I was able to see the value and shapes more clearly. Seeing the shifts in my studies was fun.
I DM’ed cookbook author Frankie Gaw, and he responded!! He used to work in tech and now is a full time food person and wrote a cookbook. I was mostly shocked he responded and also very excited to learn how he organized his life around his food dreams and watched them come true!
I brought The Artist’s Way with me on vacation in hopes of getting started with it again. I’ve tried a few times to complete the full 12 weeks but never made it through. If any of you want to try to do it with me, let me know.
Slide into the DMs! Learn something new! Dedicate time! These are all things I am encouraging myself to do from here on out. Tell me how your life is organized around your dreams. I’d love to know. I’m cheering me and you on.
What I’ve been reading:
I enjoyed this essay, The Case Against Travel. I am writing this post while traveling, so clearly I didn’t fully take the titular message to heart, and I won’t muddle the thoughtful writing with a jet-lagged summary. Since reading this, I’ve thought more about why I travel, how I talk about it, and the value I place on it. As for why I travel, the essay plainly states that “travel is fun,” and I wholeheartedly agree! I’m traveling with my mom right now and excited to have fun and see a new city together. Simple as that.
I couple of group texts and friends have shared another essay about The Pandemic Skip and how we contextualize the past three pandemic years as we resume more of our pre-pandemic habits and lives. I spent most of the pandemic in business school and then as a recent grad, and it all felt like a fever dream. As the pandemic “ends”, I wonder what comes next as the fever breaks. (the drama!)
What I’ve been making:
I made this juk (a Korean rice porridge) twice lat month for friends and family with uneasy stomachs. If you’re every feeling sick and are tired of super bland foods but can’t graduate to pizza, this recipe won’t disappoint. My mom and aunt (my favorite Korean food cooking consultants) both confirmed that the consistency and coloring of my juk were good, so I feel confident in sharing my modifications! I made my juk with chicken broth instead of beef, carrots and potatoes (no garlic, onions, peppers for me), about half the water, and both fish sauce and soup soy sauce for seasoning.
Tell me what you’ve been reading and making this month! Last month Jill was re-reading Howl’s Moving Castle, which I’m now excited to read for the first time. My personal favorite Diana Wynne Jones series was the Chronicles of Chrestomanci.