The image of snacks, TV and a laptop was maybe less idyllic than the seaside writing retreat I had pictured, and yet sooo much more doable!

Create for yourself, from yourself. Not as a destination you're working toward, but as a way of moving through every day — because that kind of creating is more honest, more alive, and so much gentler than the endless striving against what is.

How do you know if you're having too much fun and not taking your art seriously enough? Is silly art still art? The easy answer is yes. But the gold in this question is a bit more nuanced — and it's something I think about a lot in my own studio practice. I am drawn to a certain level of freedom, playfulness, silliness — in art and in life. It wakes me up, makes me laugh. The freedom to exhale, to not cling so tightly to serious meaning and big stakes.