MONDAY MUSE

six things that have captured my attention the past week.

Aug 05, 2025

In my stint as social media manager for my sister’s interior design firm, we did a weekly montage of things that we were “musing on” each Monday. I’ve always loved the idea of a muse (both to have and, if I am honest, to be) — a force stirred so deeply in the soul there’s no choice but to put form to what we have dreamt up; igniting the spark to make something. Recently I’ve felt disconnected from aspects of my creativity and am on the journey to rekindle the embers of a fire neglected for far too long. Finding myself at this doorway, the pull to chronicle what necessitates artistic expression looms larger. I desire to live an intentional life marked by devotion to what matters.

Mary Oliver puts it so well in Upstream by saying: “Attention is the beginning of devotion”.

The Monday Muse is a love letter to both the beauty that yearns to be held by my attention and the longing to willfully give my devotion.

Without further ado, here are my musings on six of the things that prompted my insatiable urge to create:

Mudroom by Tiny Habits
I could just say Tiny Habits on the whole here because I don’t think there is a piece of music this trio has put out that I haven’t enjoyed. With that being said, this song in particular has been echoing in my mind as of late. Silky harmonies paired with tender use of metaphor kept this song living with me (and on repeat) the past few weeks. I’ll do my best to resist breaking it down line by line. Mudroom evokes such rich imagery and deep feelings as it explores connection; relationship through the lens of a warm place to call home, a haven, beckoning someone in from the threshold and the accompanying inner turmoil of what it might mean to walk inside. When the song first came out, I enjoyed it, but it didn’t linger with the intensity it does now. I had a rare pleasure when listening to it again a few weeks back: it felt like I was hearing it for the first time. After each play, I am increasingly inspired to find courage & vacate the mudrooms I exist in.
“When you drown once, it's scary to swim again”
”There are people that I don't want to end up like but we're all sequels to our parents' lives”
Bumble Bees
Summer swirls and the bees are tipsy on pollen and driven by a sense of purpose that most humans crave. I’ve always felt quite connected to nature and the bees are a nudge to consider the ways everything connects & every role is essential for the collective flourishing. Their gentle dedication to their work without recognition or fanfare is a reminder to do the same in my own corner of the world. Not to mention they’ll let you pet them sometimes, but you’ve got to be gentle:
Devotions by Mary Oliver
Need I say more? (yes, always). I’ve been having a renaissance of many beloved things in my life — revisiting the things that make joy bubble up in my soul. Among these: Memoir of a Sparklemuffin (hi Suki Waterhouse), handheld fans, and Mary Oliver. A few summers back I was captivated by her deep love of and unmatched way of speaking about the living world in all its glory. She spurred me on to engage intimately with this one wild and precious life I have. Now, I find myself again drawn to her work as I am floating through this waterlily world. Tandem with all the luminous she pens, she intertwines the dark realities of existence while holding all the beauty still out there to behold. After I read each poem, I’m compelled to walk/move/write; to make my life art and think deeply about the everyday moments containing undeniable magic that we so easily pass by. This collection stands out due to the vast amount of poetry it contains.

”When it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.”
Matcha
As a former barista, I will never abandon coffee, however, I like to say tea was my first love. I have been relishing in the matcha process — as each step is integral to the final outcome and cutting corners impacts the result. There is a reverence in this ritual. Beyond enjoying the taste, I have been coaxed by the deep running traditional aspects of it in Japanese culture and ceremony (chado or chanoyu). There is a reverence and sacred mindfulness with things like harmony and tranquility at the centerpiece. I recently got back a chawan I was able to craft at an event with Gishiki and Dusty & Co. What a gift to live in a world where others so kindly share their sacred traditions and may I hold them with tenderness and respect. Although I have been making my drinks at home, I have had the honor of enjoying excellent matcha from Setsugekka.
Blue (yes, the color)
Whether it is reading Bluets by Maggie Nelson, looking to the sky, or distinguishing each shade of blue in the pools of someone’s eyes making you want to dive in — needless to say I’ve been noticing blue. From Joni Mitchell’s album to Coco Mellor’s book, I find myself surrounded by this color and taking the time to recognize the deep tones that almost look black, but their blue hue is undeniable. A color, a feeling, and so much more; blue has been helping my work take form.
Vivian Maier
A prolific photographer and significantly unknown until after her death, Vivian Maier was an enigmatic and complicated individual who was a Nanny with a keen eye for documenting human experiences. I recently was exploring some art history regarding self-portraiture and came across a documentary from 2013 cataloging the journey of John Maloof uncovering her work and her daily life. A notoriously private individual according to those who knew her, Vivian would not have enjoyed the posthumous attention given to her. She marched to the beat of her own drummer. Not a stranger to darkness, in her own soul and in the lives of others, she often captured moments many wouldn’t think to, both with sensitivity and, at times, cruelty. Collecting trinkets and stories, she lived a solitary life in many ways but always with her camera. From street captures to self-portraits, she likely took upwards of 150,000 of film photos. Since I was a kid, I always found myself drawn to photography — from my childhood rinky dink 35mm or izone camera (iykyk), through various digitals, and ultimately finding my way back to film (mad love to my ABQ lab: Picture Perfect). Although a controversial figure in aspects of her personal life, I admire her tenacity + audacity to trust her intuition to freeze moments in time without fear. Although her work was a vastly different concept than my choice of recent self-portraits, she played a part in me picking up my camera and snapping some shots (below).

”Well, I suppose nothing is meant to last forever. We have to make room for other people. It's a wheel. You get on. You have to go to the end, and then somebody else takes your place. And now I am going to close and quickly run next door to do my work.” ― Vivian