“[True happiness] is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.” — Helen Keller When I was younger, I used to think a “worthy purpose” meant having to do something that makes a huge difference in the world, like ending world hunger, engaging in world peace efforts, …
“Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.” — Helen Keller I first came across this quote shortly after the success of my first solo exhibition in early 2013, and I instantly resonated with …
What’s your dream? To become an artist? To travel the world? To start your own business? To spend more quality time with your loved ones? To be happy every single day? If time, money and energy didn’t matter, what’s that one thing you want for your life such at the …
You might have done this exercise before, where you spend a few minutes to imagine and daydream your answer to this question (or some variation of it): “If time and money didn’t matter, what would a Perfect Day in your life be like?” As a big dreamer (and daydreamer), I …
Ten years ago, I went on my first solo vacation trip to Hong Kong. From the time I arrived at the airport in Hong Kong, until I met my friend three days later, my heart pounded in my chest and I was fearful almost all the time, because traveling alone …
Two years ago, I spent the month of July in a town in Spain on a Workaway language exchange with a local family. One day I had a medical situation, and after spending 105 euros at the local clinic to check it out, I was told they didn’t know what …
A year ago I attended an artist residency in Cēsis, Latvia. For some reason I felt that I wasn’t “artsy” enough to be there, and among these artists who I perceived to be more “legit”, I couldn’t help feeling like a fraud. Each time I hung out with them, I …
I stared at my half-finished painting of a hot air balloon in an orange sky, wondering what to put in the basket. All I knew was it had to be some flightless creature that was blowing hearts into the balloon to make it fly. Then I thought, what about a …
Wake up. Go to school. Return home. Practice piano. Do homework. Go to sleep. This was my weekday routine all through elementary school. Every school term passed in the same way, year after year. Weekends promised something different, and yet when Saturday evenings came round, my family would drive ten …
When I was preparing for my first solo exhibition in early 2013, it was the most difficult things I had ever done. I worked with a life coach for 5 weeks on a project plan to bring this exhibition to life, and for one entire week, I didn’t do anything …
