On creative essence

And the story inside the stone.

Hello friends,

One of the things I love most about writing is also one of the things that I find the most challenging — getting to the heart, or essence, of a story.

I was freshly reminded of this as I worked on my latest illustrated essay, which I just shared earlier this week: “Like a Garden in the Winter.” 

The idea for the story was planted the night Jose got home from a work visit to the studio and private garden of Wirtz International — a renowned Belgian landscape architecture firm that he’s loved since we lived in Uruguay.

And as soon as he told me that night about what the studio’s founder is famous for saying, I knew I wanted to work on an essay exploring the idea: