Inspired by: Surprises

A last-minute trip, deliveries, invitations, a change of plans, and adding delight to our creative work

Hi from Los Angeles!

This trip wasn’t on my 2025 bingo card, yet here I am, sitting in my sister’s bright apartment typing to you (really, the light in here is so gorgeous—it needs a post of its own). I’ve been here for a few days, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around the events that led me here. 😵‍💫

It’s a lot, and I won’t be able to tell the full story until I get home, but for now, I can say that I’m here for a👏very👏exciting👏reason.

And it’s not just this West Coast visit! So many surprises have popped up in March that I’m starting to lose track.

These recent events have been enlightening, especially during a time when I am anxiously pitching my book to literary agents. I LOVE to plan. I feel great when I can take control of a situation and forge my way to a desired outcome.

But you know what? Good things can also happen when you let the unexpected in.

I’ll share all the details in an upcoming newsletter, but for now, I want to celebrate some of the other surprises that happened this month, starting with this notification from Substack:

This was exciting! It also made me curious to learn what you’re here for. I do share a fair bit of design content, but would you like to see more?

💌 Surprise mail

I absolutely dread checking the mail. At this point, it’s 99% junk, and I hate the daily act of sorting through it, feeling like we’re wasting so much paper.

But this month, I received three(!) separate surprise packages: two books (one from my sister, one from my friend Kalyn) and a puzzle from my husband’s godfather.

I can’t tell you how much joy it brought me. It made me stop and appreciate these three special individuals. It made me excited to enjoy the things they sent. And it made me a little less cynical about opening the mailbox every day.

When was the last time you sent something to a loved one, just because? How might you delight someone with a small gift, a handwritten letter, or a “Saw this and thought of you” item?

↩️ A change in plans

We were supposed to get our house painted this month. If you happen to drive by, just shield your eyes—it’s really starting to become an eyesore. Unfortunately, things fell through with our painter, and when we canceled, it meant moving our plans around a bit.

Instead of staying home during the painting process, my husband took back his vacation days, and we both headed to Orlando so he could work in the office. It was a last-minute trip, so we didn’t stay in our usual hotel.

Instead, we ended up at Wilderness Lodge, where they put us in a room with an absolutely incredible view of Magic Kingdom. We watched two fireworks shows from our balcony (a third happened at 11 PM after I had fallen asleep, and that one was NOT a surprise I enjoyed 😂).

It was the week after I’d started pitching to literary agents, and my stress was sky-high. I also took the most life-giving walk around their gorgeous property. It was exactly the grounding I needed.

✨ Surprises that lead to more surprises

I already mentioned that this trip to LA was a surprise. But once I knew I’d be here, I reached out to two of my writer friends who live in the area to see if they wanted to meet up for coffee. One of them mentioned they’d be attending a writer’s conference this week.

A what?! A writer’s conference? I assumed it was some small local meetup, but I was so wrong! AWP is a major event at the LA Convention Center. And it just happened to be taking place during the four days I was here. I grabbed a Saturday ticket and got to meet up with my friend Andrew and another writing group alum. I also met my friend Alexis (find here Substack here:

Feeling My Shelf

) earlier in the week at a very cute coffee shop.

🍀 + little things

There were other small surprises this month:

✨ I found lucky pennies!

✨ I got unexpected invitations to two more upcoming events that are eerily connected to images on my vision board!

✨ I had an empty seat next to me on the flight here!

✨ One of my favorite old movies, To Catch a Thief was playing at a theater here in LA!

✨ The list goes on.

I feel like the more I started paying attention to the lucky things happening, the more I felt grateful—and the more surprises kept coming my way.

All of this has me thinking about the power of surprises.

How can we incorporate more wow moments into our art?

How can we delight our audiences?

What if we were the ones to spark a surprise so special that it created a ripple effect?

Wishing you the most delightfully surprising week!

✍️ Creative Exercises/Journal Prompts

1. Send snail mail or a care package to someone special.

2. Perform a random act of kindness.

3. Pause and have boundless gratitude for any happy surprises that come your way this week.

☀️ Five good things

When we can recognize the things that bring us the most joy, we invite more of them into our lives. Here are five things that made me happy this week. Share yours below!

Five good things that happened this week:

1. We returned to a fun bar in Santa Monica for pub-quiz trivia, hosted by a former Jeopardy! contestant.

2. I started watching (obsessing over) The White Lotus Season 3.

3. Happy start to baseball season! My husband was over the moon when we discovered a Mets watch party happening right here in LA.

4. One more round of cheers for writer friend meetups! It was such a joy to meet Alexis, Andrew, and Jenna in person!

5. It is impossible to find a bad meal here, and I’ve been spoiled by so many amazing food experiences. I’ll give you a peek below!

💬 Share your intention

Whether it’s a giant leap, a tiny to-do list item, a habit change, or something else, there is power in accountability, and this is a safe space to share your aim. Some weeks, we’ll fail, others we’ll soar, but with support, we’ll always keep going together.

Until next week, get out there and make something beautiful.

Michelle

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