Making space for more audacious optimism
On leaning into whimsy, wonder, creativity, and nature to find light even in dark times
Dear wonderous one, I’m writing to you this week feeling filled (OVERFLOWING even) with excitement. Which actually feels very unsettling given these truly unstable, BLEAK times on a global scale, if I think about it too much.
Also quite the contrast to the sluggish state I wrote to you with last week. Actually… that’s probably an insult to slugs. 😅
It’s an excitement I can’t quite put into words but the closest I’ve come up with is “audaciously optimistic”. As if you were looking at a sunrise on a beautiful day, in a magical place, so inspiring it makes all your worries and frustrations lighter, more manageable. Even if it’s just for an instant. Because that moment somehow feels… limitless.
So… what on earth is there to be audaciously optimistic about right now? And what’s that got to do with creativity and wonder? Let’s explore that together!
In this week’s letter, you’ll find:
⚠️ A note on privilege and mental health
🤔 What if you became your best cheerleader, playmate, and advocate instead of your worst critic, through wonder and whimsy, nature and creativity?
😌 The audaciously optimistic mindset shift I’ve been leaning into this week by changing how I ask 2 simple questions
💡 A playful mood- & creativity-boosting invitation (with just a jar, pen & paper scraps)
As always, if you’re feeling short on time or brain space, feel free to head straight to the section you feel most drawn by. If the overwhelm & despair are extra strong this week, I recommend the invitation at the end (it’s really fun!).
1. Honoring & respecting where we each find ourselves (a disclaimer of sorts)
While I firmly believe we can all benefit from more creativity, wonder, and audacious optimism, I am aware it’s a LOT more accessible for me, in the very privileged place I find myself, physically, mentally, financially, geographically, etc. right now.
When your days are filled with worry about personal safety, homes, livelihoods, communities, placing food on the table. Dealing with life- and sanity-threatening challenges of any kind. Getting through the day, the hour, can feel nearly impossible.
This can also change from one moment to the next, alternating between waves of hope and fear, joy and despair… Or coexisting all at the same time.
If the heaviness of existence and the state of world feel overwhelming, there are so many forms of support out there. I’m a big advocate for therapy but there are also free or more accessible alternatives (support groups, hot lines) and other forms of care out there. If you’d like me to you send some I’ve compiled over the years, let me know (via email or comment/message depending on where you’re reading this).
Still, I hope at least some of the ideas and tips below will resonate with you. Today, next week, or further down the line. If they can help even one person, a tiny bit, the way they did me, it’s worth sending out into the world. 💖
2. What if you became your best cheerleader, playmate and advocate instead of your worst critic?
👆What would that look and feel like? How might you build up that skill on a regular basis?
I unfortunately don’t have a magic wand, one-size-fits-all solution for you, but I do think wonder and whimsy, nature and creating are excellent places to start.
And the benefits of this are two-fold: they can make life feel less heavy for you, and that light (and lightness) can than radiate around you, inspiring you and others to find creative ways to bring about positive change on local and global levels. After all… WHY NOT?! 😉
If all this sounds a little too abstract, check out the mindset shift & playful invitation below 👇 or do a bit of self-exploration by asking yourself:
WONDER: What can you notice that’s funny, weird, beautiful, inspiring, etc. if you take a closer look at your surroundings? At yourself? At the people around you? At life itself?
WHIMSY (+ PLAY): What would be fun to do, today? This weekend? This month? What’s something you enjoy but haven’t done in a while, or might like to do? What did you love to do as a child? Or perhaps something strange, silly, weird you want to do, or learn more about?
NATURE: What nature-filled spaces or elements are there around you? How could you interact with them? What could you learn from them? What might they inspire you to do next?
CREATING: What do you enjoy making (but rarely make time for)? What have you always been curious to try (but feel intimidated by because you’re not sure where to start or if you’ll suck at it)? Then… make some time for them in your calendar.
If/when the doubts, fears, or overwhelm pop up as you try this out, take a closer look at them and talk to them (= yourself) the way you would an anxious child. From there, maybe you take another audaciously optimistic step forward, or in a different direction, or pause. The intention here is to gently, regularly expand your comfort zone and nurture your inner light, not add a layer of stress, obligations, or trauma to your life.
One of my recent whimsical moments?
Finding this photo on Wednesday, while sorting through my archives, then trying to imagine what these 2 turtles were thinking or talking to each other about on that sunny branch. ☺️
—> The action it reminded me to take?
To check the various election dates in France and the US, as a double citizen, and set reminders in my calendar so I can do my part in trying to protect nature and humans alike by voting for the candidates that most align with my values and vision for a more sustainable, inclusive, intersectional future. 🌍
And to plan some photography excursions to more natural reserves near Toulouse. 💚
3. Mindset shift: asking ‘what if?’ and ‘why not?’ with more audacious optimism
As someone with anxiety, I have a long history of asking ‘what if?’ and ‘why not?’ to mentally list every potentially disastrous outcome to any choice or opportunity I’m contemplating. No matter how unlikely. Here’s a classic: ‘what if I share my art… and everyone thinks it sucks, doesn’t find it original enough, feel it’s problematic, judge me?’
As I start to embrace this idea of more audacious optimism, I’ve found myself asking those questions in a very different way. One that’s filled with possibility and hope. That acknowledges that, sure, I could fail stupendously and the world could descend into even more chaos… but what if it all worked out? Even just some of it, some of the time. Surely that worth trying for and taking action towards?
As social media expert Sarah Whittle shared in this recent interview with OG YouTuber (& 1/2 of my favorite podcasting duo) Grace Helbig about their respective career pivots:
If experience is the goal, you can never fail.
What this mental switch has helped me do this week:
Say YES to opportunities (for a podcast interview and 4 photography competitions) even though I don’t feel as ‘ready’ for them as I’d like to be.
Dust off my networking skills by reaching out to a couple of artists I’d like to chat with on social media. Also researching who I already have in my network that might help me share and sell my art more widely.
Ask for what I need support with. Out loud. To people 🤯! Yesterday, that meant contacting all the photographers I know nearby, then my local alumni network, about trustworthy places to take my newly broken external hard drive filled with cherished photographs.
Show up on social media more, ‘face forward’, after a long break.
Imagine what this reframe could open you up to… the good it could lead to for all of us as a collective! Fear of failure, seeming foolish and flawed, being rejected or judged, and doubts be damned.
4. A playful invitation to create your own mood- or creativity-boosting jar(s) 🫙
Inspired by the Poetry Pharmacy in London’s ‘prescriptions’ of quote-filled pill bottles. I keep a bottle of their “Happy Pills” on my desk:
Here’s my invitation for you, that can easily be adjusted to what you’ve got on hand and what you could use a ‘boost’ of:
Get a jar or 2 of any size or style. Cups, bowls, or boxes would work too. Some strips of paper (cut, torn…) and something to write with. Then choose your own adventure.
For a MOOD boost:
Every week you could add one accomplishment, one win, one thing that brought you joy, a happy memory, a wonder witnessed.
Fold or roll it up and place it in the jar.
Dip into it at the end of the year, or any time you could use a pick-me-up.
For a CREATIVITY boost:
Fill the jar, or jars, with prompts, ‘constraints’, art forms, materials to use…
Then pick some out whenever you need to get out of your head and into a creative flow.
Examples of ones I’ve played with: Picking 1 animal and 1 food item to draw together. Picking 2 actions (tearing, pinching…) to make something out of clay. Picking a ‘challenge’ (like keeping your eyes closed, using your non-dominant hand, setting a 30 second timer…) to use as you create.
Next on my list: painting a bunch of blobs, then picking a ‘subject’ (people, animals, items…) out of a jar to turn those blobs into, inspired by Carlotta Klee adorable illustrations on Instagram.
You could also do this with your partner, kids, friends (for a fun get-together). Even coworkers. Using quotes, writing prompts, questions, inside jokes, things to mime… Have fun with it!
💖
Wishing you a joy-filled weekend,
~ Claire
Thank you for the shoutout!! Experience is the goal and it will always work out!