5 Ways to Creatively Touch Grass
How to reset your sense of wonder
Floor Time
/flôr tīm/
noun
the 15-60 minute time period spent laying on the floor in the middle of the work day, typically as a relief from the soul-sucking reality of corporate America.
Maybe it was the eternal New York winter (really beat that dead horse talking about it, didn’t I), or the general state of things causing more existential dread than usual, but I personally have been jonesing to reset my sense of wonder. Usually, I pride myself on my ability to find beauty and fascination in most things. Yet lately, I’ve felt creatively stunted. I’ve been grasping at straws to help reclaim my sense of whimsy1. Enter: a day trip to Catalina Island. It offered a change of scenery, which in turn offered me a good shake from the universe—reminding me that there are countless wonders all around if I just open my eyes a bit more. It gave me a reset that I need to tap back into my creative energy, and inspired me to write today’s Floor Time that I hope will help you do the same.
Though I spent all my formative years in California, I had never been to Catalina before. (And I NEED to know, does anyone else think about the Even Stevens Movie when they hear “Catalina Island”??) The trip was simple from Long Beach: an hour-long ferry, albeit kinda pricey, will take you straight from the LBC pier to Avalon on Catalina. After a 50-minute reminder that I, in fact, do get seasick if I look at my phone on a boat in the open ocean, we made it to Catalina. And I observed a quaint, idyllic beach town, in some ways stuck in time, and in all the ways vibrant and colorful and quintessential of southern California. I snapped a ton of pictures, quickly realizing how wonderful the colors were in what I saw. So when I looked back at the photos, I challenged myself to a creative exercise: make palettes from the photos.
It was one of my favorite things I’ve done in the past few months. It’s such a simple and quick exercise, yet it gave me the spark I needed to explore other ways of creatively touching grass—preferably ones that are low lift and low-to-no cost. Cult followers of The Artist’s Way will clock that these are just versions of artist dates, but I think they’re wildly versatile if you’re trying to reset your wonder or just exist a little harder in the world.
5 Things to Try to Reset Your Sense of Wonder
Create a color palette
I think this is most exciting when you’re traveling, but it’s a great activity to make you see your existing surroundings in a new way. Walk around your neighborhood, snap some pictures of greenery on a well-painted house, and capture the color palette. Or to make things even simpler, snap a photo of your coffee mug and book and see what palette that becomes. You may stretch your creative brain in a way you haven’t done before—I know I did.
Cook a new recipe from an old book
Loyal Floor Timers know that in addition to being an avid reader, I am an avid book buyer (two completely different hobbies by the way). During the pandemic, I bought a ton of cookbooks—it was a period when I was really tapping into my chef and mixologist era, and I relied on these books weekly. For my birthday this year, my best friend gifted me a copy of Samin Nosrat’s Good Things, along with a spice packet I’ll need for some recipes. It made me realize how long it’d been since I cracked open any of my cookbooks to experiment with a new dish. So I challenge you: save the money on books, grab some high quality ingredients instead, and pull a recipe you haven’t tried from the book that’s been sitting on your kitchen shelf forever.
Wear a new old outfit
If I was like Woody (the Toy Story one), with a catchphrase that would play every time you pulled the string on my back, I would say: “everything in my closet is ugly.” Because that’s how I’ve been livin’ for quite some time. One of my favorite accounts to follow is @oldloserinbrooklyn, aka Mandy Lee, who is the best kind of fashion influencer (low consumption, trend aware, social conscious, etc.). She came up with something called the 75 Hard Style Challenge, which I’ve just been doing a version of—pairing pieces that have never been worn together and seeing if I like them. The best part? If I don’t, it means more pieces to clean out of my closet this spring.
Host something
In my experience, the single best way to remind yourself of the wonder in the world is to remind yourself of who makes it wonderful. I’m sure you’ve seen the flurry of articles come out the past few years like “Americans need to party more” and the surgeon general’s loneliness epidemic report. We need each other. I’ve always loved hosting, but 2026 has driven that urge even more. And I think the biggest thing to note here is that “hosting” doesn’t necessarily mean having everyone over for a beautiful themed dinner party with a perfect tablescape and hours spent in the kitchen (though I’m guilty of having done that on countless occassions lol). It can be these two examples of recent gatherings I’ve attended and loved: 1) watching the Met Gala red carpet, judging all the looks, and reiterating that all the money in the world still can’t buy taste and 2) my friend luring us over with a homecooked meal in exchange for putting in her AC units. Stop sweating being a host. Seriously. Just send the invite. Most people are longing to connect and to have plans on their calendars. “Inconvenience is the cost of community,” “everyone wants a village but no one wants to be a villager,” etc. etc. All these sound bytes just point to one truth: we need to be together.
Find a free creative talk/activity and GO
A few weekends ago I attended a Coffeehaus event hosted by Collins (one of the most acclaimed design studios, of which I am a huge fangirl). It was a free event, we met on a rainy Sunday at their Brooklyn studio, and they provided coffee and pastries and good conversation. I was interested in the talk that day because it was the two owners of Goodtype, who I have followed for quite some time. So I was there as a lover of typography, but in talking to many others, I realized they were just lovers of being creative. It made me realize I need to leave my typical mediums and branch out. So I’m now enrolled in a nude figure drawing class next week. That’s all.
Something I Thought of in the Shower
Which European city can I realistically see Bad Bunny in?
Something Pretty
It’s just 5 perfectly filty martinis being ordered at an impromptu night out with friends. Hell ya bruther.
Something for Clarice
Hey! This Friday newsletter is free, and I intend to keep it that way. That said, if you love it and want to show your appreciation, buy me a coffee :)
By the way…I’m reading this.
I’ve been reading Murderbots all week, but I finally got off the Libby waitlist for Strangers. Can’t wait to see what all the hullabaloo is about!
May you find a little morsel of wonder this weekend. Hope you’re having a great spring. :)
Til’ next time, wonderful humans. Your friend,
Clarice
In the true definition of the term…none of whatever’s happening on TikTok where people wear mismatched socks and are like, behold! whimsy! HUH??