The start of a new year always carries a strange pressure. New planners, new goals, new promises to ourselves — all wrapped up in the idea that we should suddenly know exactly what we’re doing.

But as a surface pattern designer, I’ve learned that my best creative years don’t begin with urgency. They begin with curiosity. With space. With listening.

Planning my creative year isn’t about locking everything down. It’s about creating a framework that allows ideas to move, shift, and grow.

In the middle of June, I woke up and didn’t have to check my work emails. No back-to-back Teams calls, no corporate dress code, and no Sunday dread leftover from the night before. After years of dreaming and months of planning, my first week as a full-time surface pattern designer had finally begun. And honestly? It was so beautiful — and yet still anxiety ridden— in ways I didn’t expect.