016: permission to play: to the one who’s afraid to start something new
Creativity and Process • Shadow Lakehouse Music Session • Clearing Space • Analog Wellness • Designer Spotlights • A Spring Recipe
Something soft begins to shift in April. Not loud. Just enough to feel it. A bit more light in the room. A bit more room in your mind.
Just the kind of slow return that creativity asks for. A bit of movement. A pause that stirs something up. The freedom to try, and try again.
We’re reminding ourselves that play isn’t just for kids or creatives. It can show up in how we cook, how we move, how we talk to people we love. The point isn’t doing it well, it’s doing it. Period.
This issue is a push toward doing things differently. Noticing what feels possible. Following a new idea instead of repeating the old one. Letting your space, your schedule, your body make room for small, intentional beginnings.
Shadow Lakehouse Soundscape
Small shifts create movement. Here’s something to accompany that shift:
Last month, we recorded our first soundscape. A live mix, captured at shadow lakehouse in Vermont, with Siamak Abrishami. The set blends modern jazz, funk, soul and global sounds.
Pairs well with soft light, late mornings, creative work.
Analog Wellness
Not everything needs to be optimized. Lately, we’re drawn to analog wellness; think walks without earbuds, writing by hand, keeping a physical calendar, or brewing a pot of tea and intentionally sitting down to drink it. Listening to an actual record, taking a break without calling it self-care. Shaping something with your hands. Sketching without a plan. Flipping through a cookbook instead of scrolling. These analog rhythms make space for process. They give your thoughts time to stretch.
These small, tactile rituals help you slow down just enough to check in with yourself. And they often open the door to something unexpected: a new idea, a moment of stillness, or a sense of joy that feels different than what comes from a screen. When you take tech out of the equation for a while, what’s left is the kind of presence that feels like your own. Slowing down enough to notice what’s working…and what isn’t. That’s the feeling we’re after.
This piece from The Good Trade explores the return to slower, more tactile ways of caring for ourselves. We highly recommend giving it a read.
How Art Grows: A Look at Process
Some artists start with outlines. Others begin in the middle and work their way out. Most of the time, it’s not a straight line. The work grows the way plants do—reaching, twisting, responding to light.
We’re highlighting artists and designers this month who let process lead the way. Who follow form, texture, trial.
Designer Spotlights:
A few who are making space for creativity in form and function:
Simon Johns
Working out of the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Simon Johns creates sculptural furniture that sits somewhere between design and landscape. Using local stone and wood, his pieces highlight texture and irregularity. There’s a sense that his objects thoughtfully respond to space.
Zoë Mowat
With a focus on form, colour, and proportion, Zoë Mowat’s work is rooted in emotional connection. Her designs often feel quiet and composed, yet warm. Whether it’s a small tray or a larger installation, her pieces speak to the kind of considered, human-scale design that invites everyday rituals.
Playtime
As new parents ourselves, we’ve rediscovered what it means to play - something that often we forget as we get older. We tend to focus on work, on social plans, but perhaps not always the ones we truly want to engage in. What happened to play dates with friends? Getting together and colouring or working on a puzzle, playing outside. It seems like as children, this is expected of us, almost part of the formula of being a kid. What about when we’re older? Why has play lost its role? Why are we out of touch with friends in a raw, joyful way?
Lately, we’ve taken a step back in time and have spent more time thinking about ways of bringing this notion back into every day life. Going for hikes with a friend, planning a game night, crafting things, colouring, whatever feels joyful in the moment.
We also take our little one’s lead. Finding beauty in the “mundane” - maybe watching a squirrel outside in the tree for twenty minutes. Just observing, discussing its actions and giggling about the silly little movements it makes. It feels so refreshing. A step into a slower, simpler time, that so often we forget about, or at least forget how to bring back to the here and now.
A Spring Recipe for Lighter Days
When you want to get playful in the kitchen:
Spring Grain Bowl with Roasted Carrots, Feta + Herb Tahini Dressing
Ingredients
3 large carrots, peeled and sliced into thin coins
Olive oil, salt, pepper
1 cup cooked farro (or quinoa, or barley)
A handful of fresh arugula or baby greens
Crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup toasted almonds or sunflower seeds
Optional: pickled onions or thinly sliced radishes for bite
Herb Tahini Dressing
2 tbsp tahini
Juice of 1 lemon
1 small garlic clove, grated
2 tbsp water (plus more to thin)
A small handful of parsley and dill, finely chopped
Salt to taste
To make
Roast the carrots at 400°F with olive oil, salt, and pepper for 20-25 minutes or until golden and tender.
In a small bowl, whisk together all dressing ingredients until smooth and pourable.
In a shallow bowl, layer the farro, greens, roasted carrots, feta, and seeds.
Drizzle with herb tahini dressing. Add extra herbs or lemon if you want more brightness.
Good warm or cold. Great for lunch.
Clearing Space
You don’t need a full reset. Just enough space to let something new in. Call it spring cleaning, but for the mind. Making space; for what you actually want to think about, feel, create.
You don’t need a full reset. Just enough space to let something new in.
A few quiet ways to clear the mind:
Rearrange one surface. Just one.
Try the 20-minute "bad draft" rule: write, sketch, make—without fixing.
Take a walk without a podcast. Listen to what’s around you instead.
Delete the app that makes your brain hurt.
Leave your phone in another room for an hour. Maybe two.
Closing Thought
Creativity asks for space more than permission. This month, give it some.
Start the thing you’ve been circling. Rearrange the room. Finds ways to play. Turn the music on and see where it takes you.
The future is bright.
Any thoughts provoked? Ideas sparked? Any corners of the internet worth sharing? Join the conversation and drop a comment below.
Want to find us in other galaxies?
Great newsletter! Appreciate the positivity about life in general. There is way too much negativity these days.
I love the idea of taking away digital devices and seeing what you are left with. That goes really well with the idea of play. Play is not on a device, it is in the woods, on a paint brush, in that smile during a board game.
A lot of this rings true with what I am trying to do with the Revelry Collection Magazine. Cool to find someone with a similar mindset.