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May

Touch Grass

COOLLECTING ARCHIVE

Bea Forte

7/26/20262 min read

Once again, quite impossible standards I set for myself. And so the inevitable happened: I spent weeks drawing and drawing, never happy with the results. All of a sudden, I was in a race; I could almost hear the clock ticking as the days passed, and I couldn't draw a single stick figure. I was panicking (I'm a bit dramatic like that) when I made a decision that felt almost too simple: I took the day off and went outside. No deadline, no plan, no destination; just a warm day and a walk. I came back home and drew that postcard the same night.

Is it my most original piece? No, I'm not reinventing the wheel here. But it's true to me. Sometimes that's enough; actually, sometimes that's everything. I needed that reminder of why I even started. Getting rid of a creative block is not always as easy as a walk in the park, but we sure need that reminder to slow down from time to time; to stop racing, stop running, even if just for 15 minutes.

This month, I'm inviting you to take your allergy medicine and, just like this silly goose, go smell some flowers, touch some grass. This postcard is stuck to my fridge and genuinely makes me feel joy every single morning; I truly believe colors have that power over us, more than we give them credit for. I'm also including a mini version for you to add your colors to; please share it with me when you do. I would love to see it. As always, thank you so much for allowing me to do what I love most, and for being here with me.

Love, Bea

Dear Coollectors,

At one point, I thought this month would not happen because of me, or better said, because of my perfectionism, which can be my best trait as well as my worst flaw. Most people see perfectionism as delivering a perfect result, but that's not what it is. Perfectionism is the relentless attempt to deliver perfection; note the word "attempt" here, because as we all know, that's impossible. But that still doesn't stop my brain from trying to transcend those limits. And yes, it can be great. I have never been bored in my life. Always trying to improve my skills at the same speed that I try to acquire new ones. And that same perfectionism that keeps me curious? It's also what made this month the hardest one to create.

As your FYP might have shown you, mail clubs are booming, which makes me genuinely so happy; I mean, without it you probably wouldn't be reading this letter right now. But as this tiny club grew, the pressure I had been putting on myself grew just as fast, and I caught myself in a loop: "How can I make next month better than the last?" "How can I twist a theme to be both relatable and different enough to stand out?" "Flowers? For spring? Groundbreaking! Insert Miranda Priestley narration."