The Secret O' Life

Living in the countryside has an obvious consequence: long drives. The last thing you want at the end of a long day is to stay focused on the road for two hours to be able to get home and relax.

But I have a theory for repetitive tasks that I like to keep in mind: when I'm annoyed at chores, that's probably when I need them the most. It's not a silly cliche, I promise. I just noticed that whenever I'm avoiding them, it's because I've been putting a lot of effort into work-related stuff, and catching up with deadlines for projects, so stopping to take care of the house, or cook, or do laundry doesn't "feel like" a priority.

It's been almost a year that we moved to the new house, and I have ignored the mold on the windows for exactly that same amount of time. Would it make any sense to do it in the busiest month of my year so far? Of course not. But for some reason, I did exactly that, and decided to start tackling them. You gotta be a little crazy sometimes, right?

I started by opening each window as wide as I could, and letting in the chill breeze. The sun was shining on my skin while I was overlooking the overgrown grass, filled with the largest amount of dandelions per square feet that I've ever witnessed in my life.

Yet nothing felt more satisfying than seeing the black funghi powder disappear from the white frames as I scrubbed it with maybe a little bit too much "intention" lol (I mean 👹BRUTAL FORCE👹).

I forgot about my tasks, my to do list, my upcoming events. I heard the robins saying hello, the crows soaring carrying something yellow in their beaks (what are they snacking on?), and heard the rustling of the trees swaying with the wind. Maybe spring cleaning was a priority afterall.

Now what about driving, the thing I started this email yapping about? Same thing! It's a couple hours that I can use to decompress, and process the day - no music, no podcasts, no audiobook, no productivity, nor multi tasking.

It really helps that I'm cruising through farmlands and cute country roads, instead of being stuck in a rush hour's traffic jam. But even the most majestuous weeping willow can become "just a sight" on the way if I'm passing by it every single day.

So I compromise. Some days I'll wait until I'm out of the city's perimeter - once the honking and the concrete jungle is out of the picture, I pick one album to play. That's it, just one. Which makes it really special. "Calico", by Ryan Beaty, if I'm feeling contemplative; "Rumours", by Fleetwood Mac if I'm feeling energetic, "Amir", by Tamino, if I up to some stories.

The sun is setting pretty late these days, so last weekend, after a full day at an art market, I could align "Secret O' Life" by James Taylor with the pink skies amongst the fluffy cirrus clouds, and as he sang "the secret of life is enjoying the passage of time", I couldn't help but let some happy tears stream down my cheeks, thinking of this whole point I'm trying to make here.

We have endless tasks, we complain about time; but even if life is a big blob of unknowns and we're juggling multiple things to balance it out, "try not to try to hard, it's just a lovely ride".

1. Some things seem to take a hold of us when we least expect. Getting addicted to food styling tips is not one of them. I could definitely see it coming lol. I found a blog with so many fun stories and behind the scenes of this very interesting career, which led me to watch several videos and maybe consider once again working with food. I don't want to, but it doesn't hurt to think about it, right? Hahaha. I never knew the person styling the food on a set/photoshoot is also the same one cooking or baking it! Or that they would spend hours sifting through baskets of fruit trying to find the perfect one. They even "humanize" a setup by creating mess on the table or plate to make it look less perfect. I love art!

2. Spring migration is bringing so many new birds to visit us! I thought I had seen all the species there is to see in my corner of the woods (my list counts 28), but nooo! This week I spotted a Hawk, A Rose-breasted Grosbeak (frenglish name? hahah) and a Catbird. Please tell me you're gonna click on this link and hear its songs. He's so good!!

3. Last year, the garden was almost literally as bare as it could be, if it wasn't for the wildflowers and wild beries that refuse to allow someone to have JUST GRASS growing in their yard. I'm very thankful for the service they provided! Eager to start populating our lawn, we grabbed a business card at our local coffee shop. It read "Family farm - we have trees for sale all year long". Sounded perfect! We went there and bought our very first conifers. Five of them. They costed money. Fast forward eight months later, I'm checking my mail box, when I pick up this flyer with a quintessential "designed in Word by my cousin" look. "Tree giveaway day". Wow, free trees? Too bad it's the very day I have a market. Who am I trying to surprise? The tree people opened their doors at 8 am, at 7:59 I was there with our truck, ready for whatever they were gonna give us. In this case, it was seventeen trees: spruces, pines, maples and birches. I repeat, seventeen free trees. Ten plus seven. Things are quite crazy here in the countryside. I like it.

4. This is the postcard I drew for the Mail Club in May. I could create a story about every single one of these objects and how much they mean to me. In fact, there's a book called "Significant Objects", about ordinary stuff like toys, discarded souvenirs, and tasteless kitchenware picked up at thrift stores and yard sales. The goal: to see if commissioning great stories about these insignificant things would increase their value - as measured in actual eBay auctions. The experiment was a smash hit, raising a lot of money for youth-tutoring organizations. I'm not doing this here, I just like to draw lol. But you could definitely look up the "Significant Objects" website and have a good time reading some of the stories, giggling at humankind.

5. A few weeks ago, I read this article by Paul Ford giving out some guidance for people who have been asked to be in the media.

"Nothing matters, and nothing works. If you’re selling a book, everyone will want you to go on TV to promote the book. That will sell negative ten books. Some stupid tweet will sell 1,600 copies of the book. I mean obviously if Oprah wants to feature you and tells people to get your book, the math changes. Sometimes things do work! But in general nothing matters, and nothing works. You won’t cost yourself your career if you say no."

I thought it was such a good, comforting thing to hear. Sometimes we get caught up in trying to make sense of the actions we're taking, trying to measure out our efforts, wanting feedback, results and recognition. Reading that "nothing works, and everything works" is just the perfect solace for that. Maybe it's not about having one piece of content, media, artwork or product get a lot of traction, but more about that slow progress that compounds when it will, and your creations finding the people it ressonates with over time. Nothing works, and everything works. And that's okay!

7. .... And, funnily enough, to make for the perfect example, I ended up being interviewed for the newspaper a WEEK LATER LOL! The universe has a great sense of humor. Maybe I would have been a little more anxious wondering how to word things in a neat way, or how much to say. The article from Paul Ford helped me to let go of trying to imagine how I was going to be portrayed, or how silly it might be to oversimplify my art/work/life in half a page. So what? It's alright to tell just parts of your story, and enjoy the fact that it might make strangers smile. :-)

And that's the message for today. Keep doing your things, as messy as they are, because we're the ones organizing life in a way that "makes sense". In reality, it's way more nuanced and chaotic, but it's okay to try to make it prettier from time to time.

Whether it's a garden, commuting, social media or a letter, "try not to try to hard... it's just a lovely ride".

I still have some windows to clean, see you next month! x

Cool things I want to share with you:

• Make your own grid/dotted/patterned paper

• Have you seen these skinny lockers?

• Steve Martin Explains Why You Should Never Trust Your Own Read Of The Room
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