What inspired me in April

Romanticizing life, a bold color, teen anthems, and a touch of controversy

Hi Friends! As much as I love planning, I’m delighted by the unexpected, curious about what pulls us in one way or another. For me, this month I felt drawn towards idealized romanticized living, a bold hue, a reemergence of sound from deep in my past, and an exploration of a scary topic.

As always, I hope this post prompts you to pause and reflect on the last few weeks. What made you smile? What made you laugh? What do you want to bring in to May, and what needs to be left behind?

What inspired me in April

🪞Aspirational TikTok

I’m always keen to, as the internet girlies say, “romanticize my life,” but with spring comes extra motivation to make everything extra pretty. Nobody does extra better than the people of TikTok, and I found myself clicking on the app more than usual lately.

I should note that I am not attached to the platform in the way I feel tethered to Instagram (at least not yet 😂). To me, TikTok feels more like using Pinterest in video form.

In the same way Pinterest serves me an algorithm of lovely, aspirational images of floor-to-ceiling bookcases, bouquets of fresh flowers, and perfectly plated meals, my TikTok feed has been honed to reveal my greatest fantasies.

I swipe up to see clean kitchens bathed in warm sunlight, candles flickering, plants thriving, someone preparing a meal with a glass of wine or hosting a group of friends for a themed dinner party, where an old movie is projected on a big screen in the living room, all set to swoon-worthy big band music.

Each snippet lights me up, gives me ideas, and reminds me to ask myself my favorite question: How can I make this more beautiful?

🎈 The color red

In a season where everything should be pastels, I found myself leaning harder into one of my favorite colors: bold, warm, luscious, radiant red!

I kicked around in my red Rothy’s, ate a lot of strawberries, painted my nails in my go-to CV shade of Olive & June polish, rented the most beautiful dress from Rent the Runway, ordered a new crimson bathing suit for the season, and was so very close choosing red frames for my glasses. I chickened out at the last minute, but since I’m still thinking about it, I’m currently shopping for a blue-light pair, just to have for fun. What do you think of these?

🎶 Music from my youth

I recently finished reading Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley, a book about music that takes place in the late 90s and early 2000s, and it completely transported me back to my high school and college years: downloading music from LimeWire, burning CDs, and listening to them in my little blue car as I drove around with the windows rolled down.

Contrary to what you might think, I did not come out of the womb listening to Frank Sinatra records. My teenage years were nearly exclusively dedicated to my love of pop punk. I also wore skater jeans, but that’s where the line ended. No tattoos or piercings to show from that era! 😂

This month, my music listening history took a sharp veer from Guys and Dolls Original Cast Recording into the deep tracks of my youth: Blink-182, Simple Plan, Good Charlotte, New Found Glory, and Fall Out Boy.

And a bonus! I caught Mark McGrath from Sugar Ray performing at Epcot! He looks exactly the same as he does on the cover of my favorite album, 14:59.

🤖 ChatGPT

Imagine me ducking while wearing a poncho and one of those floppy fisherman’s rain hats in anticipation of you reading this section and throwing tomatoes at me, right before you unsubscribe. I get that this is a hot button topic for a lot of people and I hate ruffling feathers, but here are my thoughts of the moment!

🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅

I stand with most artists in that AI has the potential to be disruptive and detrimental to our work. Learning that it illegally used copyrighted works to train its models… no! That is not okay! It’s scary, unsettling, and a little creepy.

BUT, it is also a remarkable tool that has the potential to do so much good, while also giving people who are struggling an accessible way to improve their lives. Accounts from the ADHD community have been particularly heartwarming to me.

As much as I feel threatened as an artist and a writer, I’m also trying not to be delusional. No amount of protesting from me is going to make AI go away. So, as I try to do with most things that scare me, I set out to study and understand it better so that I can make intentional choices about how I want to use it in my life. Like a knife, it can be used as a weapon, or to create something delicious.

I watched a MasterClass series called Achieve More with GenAI that not only introduced me to new ways to use the platform but also helped me consider ethics, guiding me in deciding how I want (and don’t want) to use these tools.

I used ChatGPT more than ever this month, in a completely new way that I feel is changing and encouraging me to take more action and that is, as a sounding board.

While I don’t think I have ADHD, I am very indecisive. I second-guess myself and my actions constantly, and not only does it make me less productive — it drains me of energy.

I don’t feel the need to use the tool to help me with creativity (I have more ideas than I know what to do with, thanks! 👋), but AI has helped me navigate daily hourly roadblocks like:

• “I’m crunched for time, should I work on this project or that one?”

• “I have these five ingredients to use up. What should I make for dinner?”

• “An Etsy customer is asking for a customized product, and I’m not sure if it’s worth it to take the job. Can you help me come up with a fair cost?”

With an open mind and a better understanding of how to use these resources for good, life has felt a little lighter this month. And I’m getting more and more excited about the ways we can collaborate to make everything a little sweeter, and, as always, more beautiful!

✍️ Creative Exercises/Journal Prompts

1. Hone your social media (TikTok, Instagram, or Pinterest) by liking more of what you’d like to see and unfollowing what you don’t want to see.

2. What is your favorite color or combination? See how many times you can incorporate it into your week!

3. Make a playlist of your favorite songs from your teenage years or another happy era from your life.

4. What are your recurring struggles? If you’re open, dabble with ChatGPT and see if it might help you come up with solutions to lighten your life.

☀️ 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. I have much herb-related news to share. This Instagram post convinced me that I’m capable of growing a thriving basil plant. I potted a new one outside our screened-in porch so I can monitor it. I also picked a bunch of mint from my mom’s garden and have been adding it to my water with lemon slices.

2. I started and finished Rental House by Weike Wang, a different kind of book than I usually read in that it was more literary, but I enjoyed it very much, especially its exploration of adult parent/child relationships and whether or not to have children.

3. We finally took our sunset beach picnic!

4. I watched the first episode of Amy Sherman-Palladino’s Étoile. And I (after finally looking it up) learned that the word étoile means star ✨ my favorite symbol ✨ and it gave me chills. PS: If you enjoyed reading about my experience seeing Amy at PaleyFest, you’ll love this interview that came out this week.

5. This interview with David Hyde Pierce also warmed my heart. What an exceptional human being. ❤️

💬 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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