Studio Notes: Rest is Productive Too

Hi friends,

Happy October! I spent the first half of this month in Japan — and it turned out nothing like I expected! When planning my itinerary, I imagined making the most of my train and bus rides to write newsletters, edit artwork, and sketch. But once I arrived, I quickly realised that trains in Japan are often packed to the brim, and I found myself standing most of the time which made working nearly impossible. Eventually, I decided to leave my laptop behind and just enjoy the experience.

On longer rides, I managed to squeeze in a few hours of work here and there — maybe 10 hours a week — but funnily enough, I wasn’t craving work. I was craving exploration, rest, and simply being present. Instead of falling into thoughts like “I’m falling behind” or “I’ve lost my motivation,” I chose to lean into rest. It’s taken me a long time to see that rest is productive, too. After working almost nonstop, using every small window of time I could find over the past two or three years, it’s been deeply refreshing to slow down and just enjoy.

The next few months are shaping up to be a whirlwind — we’re in the process of buying and moving into a new house while preparing for some big life changes. That means my business will once again be squeezed into small windows of time, but hopefully things will settle soon so I can get back into a rhythm and dive into new paintings and stationery collections.