Issue 25: Written in the Stars
On dark times, beautiful things, and moving the unmovable.
✨ Airplanes in the night sky
The month before starting college, my high school friends and I spent a week in rural New Hampshire. Most of the memories from that week blend together into one big warm and fuzzy glow. But what primarily stand out are the seemingly endless hours we spent cuddled up in the backyard, staring up at the Perseid meteor shower and the galaxy at large. I had never spent substantial time anywhere that dark, and in a time of transition and uncertainty — highlighted by so many confusing and scary emotions — there was something both inspiring and euphorically comforting about confronting a beauty I’d never had access to, bolstered by the unconditional love of those around me.
In her concession speech this week, Kamala Harris quoted an adage — that “only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.” Times have been dark, and many of us fear they will continue to get darker. I have talked to so many people in the past week who have expressed despair — not only sadness or fear, but a lack of inspiration. When your best efforts haven’t worked, it’s easy to feel that everything is out of your control, and that you are powerless to rewrite the path ahead. As someone who always defaults to action, I relate hard. It’s harder than ever to know what to do next, and more important than ever to get our next actions right. But as the week has gone on, I have also been overwhelmed by what I’ve seen from people in my life. I have seen caring, determination, and resolve beyond what I could ever reasonably anticipate. And in a world where so much has begun to feel inevitable, these stars have helped me see that the course of the universe is only unmovable if we reject the infinite possibilities it presents.
That’s why, this week, we’re looking at design through the stars. We’re shooting into space and getting down to earth. We’re taking care of ourselves through chaos and overwhelm. And we’re checking in on the James Webb Space Telescope because, let’s be real, we’re all overdue. Read on for all this and more!
🌌 Moodboard of the week
This week’s moodboard is inspired by the mysteries of the universe and the view from down below. It puts us in context and helps us create context of our own. It helps us connect whichever dots we see fit. It’s also just so pretty. Click here or below to view the full board, with original images, on Pinterest.
🔍 Question of the week
“How did you navigate the chaos/overwhelming nature of actually starting your business?”
In a week, where so many of us are thinking about new beginnings and next steps, it felt appropriate to talk about the overwhelm of getting started. I love owning my business. I’ve never looked back from the moment I decided to start Aura Creative, and even the hardest moments have only reinforced why I do this. I love that I am empowered to run projects efficiently, to work with clients who align with my values, to create a schedule and style that allows me to do my best work, and to take the next steps that will yield the results I want in challenging moments.
But you’re also very correct that starting a business is overwhelming and chaotic — and truthfully, one of the joys of business ownership is that those moments can also come up unexpectedly and at random! While truthfully other types of employment can also be unpredictable, it’s an added level of stress to know the buck stops with you. Here are some of the things that helped me most when I was first starting my business, that keep me grounded in overwhelming moments even today, and that help me tackle big tasks at work and beyond:
Get informed
Uncertainty is one of the most overwhelming parts of a big project — one that can easily lead to procrastination or panic. When you’re feeling like this, the best thing to do is to get answers to your questions. Finding relevant books, articles, podcasts, or even Reddit threads can help you transform your overwhelm into an action plan.
Do a next right thing
While learning and research are really important, it can also be easy to use lack of knowledge as an excuse to put off action. In these moments, I always say the best thing to do is always “something.” The sooner you can take any action, the better. The more action you take, the more opportunities you find. Action is also its own learning experience, since it takes the theories you have about what will work and puts them to the test.
Stay open to opportunity
Look EVERYWHERE for things that will help you reach your goals. You never know who or what will provide an opportunity or support, so even when you are scrolling social media or talking with friends (or strangers!), keep an open mind about where opportunities may come from. Be sure also to stay open to possibilities, even from opportunities that feel “small.” I’ve often had quick one-off jobs grow into amazing long term client relationships.
Make lots of lists
Whether it’s tasks, goals, ideas, themes, vibes, or anything else, be sure to take the random thoughts floating around your head, write them down, and let them either become an actionable to-do list, or a source of inspiration. This can help you see what to do next and, just as importantly, let go of thoughts and ideas that won’t help you but keep showing up.
Do the work you need to do
In a world where I am always trying to take better care of myself, I also want to be honest and say that starting any new venture sometimes does just take concentrated hard work upfront. There is a MAJOR limit to how much of this you should do (or how long you should do it for). But sometimes a little bit of intense work upfront really will help you feel grounded, as long as you feel like it’s an empowered and temporary situation.
Take. Care. Of. Yourself.
That said, first and foremost, you need to take care of yourself. This is just as true if you’re in the middle of an intense time as it is if you’re just doing the work to get started. Eat food that you feel nourishes you, get a good night’s sleep, spend time with people you love, watch TV, read a book, write in a journal, take time for activities that make you feel happy, and/or do whatever else makes you feel happy, healthy, and alive. And most importantly take days off. It’s disturbingly easy not to, especially when you love what you’re doing, but this is not optional.
Stay grounded in your goals
Above all, when you get overwhelmed, remember why you’re doing what you’re doing. Stay grounded in your immediate and long term goals and come back to them whenever you need a reset. I keep mine in a Google Doc (called Manifestation Station) that includes both the specific things I want to achieve, and the reasons I want to achieve them — even if they feel only tangentially related. This not only helps me stay grounded in why I do what I do, but helps me reevaluate if what I’m doing isn’t yielding the results I want.
Submit your burning design questions by sending me a message below. Questions can relate to design itself, entrepreneurship, workflow, or anything you think I may be able to answer. There are no limits.
🎧 Soundtrack of the week
This week’s playlist fluctuates between optimism and contemplation, and saves more than a little time to sit in our feelings. It views the stars from as many different angles as there are songs on the playlist. It confused Spotify a lot, and I love that for us. Preview it below, and click here to listen and save.
🔭 My Favorite Things
As a designer, I spend a lot of time looking for inspiration. There’s a certain kind of inspiration that is at once the most powerful and also the most overwhelming — something that mirrors the way I think a lot of us feel about the future of our world right now. Images like these conjure up infinite possibility, but when you try to distill them down to an essence you can do something with, it’s easy to feel inadequate.
We talked the other week about whether there’s ever an occasion to purposely create bad design, and I think memes like this are one of the best possible examples. These memes are pixelated, weird, and use a chaotic range of consciously unaesthetic fonts — which only serves to enhance their deeply unhinged sense of humor. How does somebody even come up with this? I couldn’t begin to know, and I’m awe of the mind that does.
I’m sorry, you’re going to tell me with a straight face this wasn’t designed by the Marvel CGI team?
And yet, we keep trying, because how can we not? When beauty like this exists, you just want to be a part of it. That’s why we create — not to get everything perfect every time, but in a continual quest to make things better, more beautiful, and ever closer to where we want them to be.
All images provided by NASA. The fact that you can just download these will never cease to blow my mind. The world is often crap. This is not.
🌱 Touching Grass
📖 What I’m reading: I’m balancing finishing up Jason Stanley’s How Fascism Works with The Pairing by Casey McQuiston. It’s a hilarious contrast that serves to both contextualize the world we find ourselves in, and provide a much-needed respite from it.
🎧 What I’m listening to: I have way more audiobooks lined up than I could possibly listen to before their respective due dates. But I’m taking my own advice and getting informed, so that’s something!
📺 What I’m watching: I’m looking forward to attending the Working Families Party of Connecticut general meeting on Tuesday, and am planning on watching their post-election mass call on YouTube tonight in preparation.
🎃 What I’m eating: I made this EPIC pumpkin bread this week, on my sister Francesca’s recommendation. It’s only one bowl if you don’t make the streusel, and it also happens to be vegan! Not only does it not remotely taste like a Vegan Dessert™ but, as my sister said, “I’m not even sure where you’d put a non-vegan thing in it.” I can’t recommend it highly enough.