On creative perspective

And the meaning that comes with time.

“I had arrived. I’d done it. It seemed like such a small thing and such a tremendous thing at once, like a secret I’d always tell myself, though I didn’t know the meaning of it just yet.”

— Cheryl Strayed, Wild

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Dear friends,

A few weeks ago, it was right at the start of Elena’s nap one day that I was inspired to write a new illustrated essay, “To Know You Very Happy” — a story about my brief foray into learning Mandarin, and a much longer-lasting connection with my friend Grace from Taiwan. 

A nap has never flown by so quickly as it did that day. As soon as I got the idea, I began reading through old emails with Grace, digging up photos I’d forgotten, and jotting down ideas for illustrations I wanted to paint. Essentially, I spent that hour and a half transporting myself back to 2010 — back to when Grace and I were studying in London, both in our 20s and still years away from becoming moms.

Nearly a decade and a half has now passed since we met, and I wanted to bring a bit of that perspective to the story; to create a bridge between then and now.

It’s what inspired me to end the essay the way I did:

As I worked on the ending, I found myself thinking back to my favorite example of coming across such perspective in a story.