hello again, friend. icymi, the last update was on home and nostalgia, featuring a shanghai photo series. in this newsletter, i write about creativity and inspiration, small joys, and my favorite chocolate mousses in lisbon. (interspersed are photos of the coffees i’ve consumed recently for a visual break, because why not? especially as they fuel my brain and therefore this project.)
first, coffee and a cookie to start.
on creativity
i used to think creativity was like water in a pool. abundant but fundamentally finite, capable of being drained before being replenished each night. while i always wanted my job to have creative aspects, i didn’t see myself in a primarily creative function, as i believed it would leave me too mentally depleted to regularly pursue hobbies like writing. but after three full weeks on my new team, i’ve changed my mind. to continue with the analogies, creativity now seems more like water in a well; i can draw from it again and again. i can write for work, then switch screens and spend another few hours writing this personal newsletter. it’s easier, actually, now that i feel less drained after a workday, since i spend more of it in a natural flow state rather than forcing myself to get tasks done.
creativity is a skill, though more abstract than most, and i’m beginning to see how it’s essentially cycles of synthesis and genesis. the skill is in being able to focus on one or the other (and they often go hand in hand) to achieve a goal, whether that’s conveying an idea, expressing a feeling, or solving a tricky problem.
it requires interpretative and associative thinking as well as generative. it’s distilling concepts down and then forming new ones. turning ideas into messaging, or messaging into predictions, or predictions into ideas. giving shape to thought, whether that’s through words or visuals or another medium. taking existing shapes others have sculpted, and your experiences, and the environment around you, as inputs and as inspiration. synthesis, genesis.
it’s fun. but even if practicing creativity is more like drawing water from a limitless well than from a pool, anyone can get tired eventually. or get stuck. then it’s time to take a break or seek inspiration. (or take a break first, then seek inspiration.)
how to get inspired
when i was interning at a creative agency, i often had coffee chats with people and my last question was always “what inspires you?”. i was really curious how people stay inspired when their job is to be creative, especially when most of the work (but not all!) is for clients whose briefs can broadly be described as uninspired, clients like large banks and human resource companies and big pharma. it’s still a question i ask colleagues (and friends and mentors) today, and while there are the generic-but-reliable answers like taking a walk or visiting a museum, i love hearing an unexpected response.
here are some answers that stuck with me:
look at interesting things people you admire have created. projects they’ve worked on, personal or commercial. read their case studies if they have them, to see how and why they made what they did.
read niche magazines or magazines featuring cool projects. they can be in different fields; good design in any field is interesting and inspiring.
go outside and try to notice interesting patterns, like the interplay of light and shadow, or the shapes made by different buildings.
three words: talk to people.
ask someone what they’re passionate about, and dig into it. their energy when they talk about that thing is usually infectious.
here are a few things i personally like to do when seeking inspiration:
read a well-made magazine about something i enjoy (travel, food, coffee…), featuring good writing and beautiful photos.
look at the work of photographers whose style i like. it’s fascinating to see a familiar place or environment through a new lens, or a experience new setting through their deliberately-curated perspective.
get lost in a good book.
go to new places, see new things. this could be traveling, or simply trying a new cafe.
recall a tradition, daily ritual, or common practice that’s part of another culture and examine it in light of your own familiar rituals. why rituals? because often, they’re times to rest, or talk, or clear the mind. or, they’re commonplace and overlooked, but perhaps not to those less familiar with them.
notice and think about contrasts in the environment around me.
this is F magazine (f for food), part of B magazine (b for brand), a korea-based publication i love. it dives deeply into a topic (a food item or a well-known brand) through essays, interviews, global features, and fun stats and stories. it’s published in both korean and english. i was lucky enough to live quite close to the bookshop/archives in seoul, and to visit their pop-up exhibit in shanghai in 2020.
i like feeling inspired, but i don’t pressure myself to complete any project i ideate. maybe i’ll write down some thoughts, maybe some will make it into this newsletter, maybe not.
other times, inspiration will elude me, and that’s also okay. not everything requiring creativity feels creative. as with any skill, it’s possible to practice it, by creating.
tidbits of a good day
a fact in life is that sometimes a bad day is just a bad day. and the only thing you can do is accept it, minimize losses by going to bed early or escaping into a tv series, and hope the next day is a good one.
but other times, bad days don’t have to stay bad. how do you transform an unappealing day in to a good one? if you have answers, please share your secrets. i also have a few thoughts on what works for me.
coffee. lots of it. tea too. dark dark chocolate.
delicious meals. brunches, served quickly and eaten slowly. desserts, served warm and eaten quickly. slicing into an egg to find it perfectly poached poached and gooey. (anyone else had your mood temporarily soured by an overpriced rubbery egg?) cortados with the milk foam just right.
meals as simple as ginger broccoli with chili crisp tofu, because these flavors, more than any place, say “home.”
the sun. warmth. stepping into the sunlight when i go outside for the first time, feeling the rays on my skin. the smell of grass or crisp leaves. taking a deep breath, and another, and again. cozy cafes, if it’s raining. steaming hot showers.
messages to and from friends. yes, you. catching up.
new editions of magazines to peruse. with good views, chemex brews, chocolate mousse. kimchi stews.
sometimes, i don’t get past step one—consuming enough caffeine to feel human again. sometimes, it’s all i need.
an ode to chocolate mousse (and 3 to try in lisbon)
i was not planning on writing this short guide, by the time i had two good chocolate mousses (and some incredibly mediocre ones too), i thought “why not eat all the good ones i can find?”. and so here we are. say what you will about the other endeavors i’ve left unfinished—i am nothing if not dedicated when it comes to the pursuit of dessert.
and chocolate mousse is the most effortless of desserts. a confection of chocolate and air, made structurally sound with egg whites and sometimes yolks and butter, or with cream. okay, maybe it seems effortless, but it’s surprisingly hard to get right. (i prefer the egg white version to the cream one for its delicate texture. it’s possible to make great mousse with only chocolate and water and air, but it has to be eaten quickly.)
what makes a good chocolate mousse? firstly, high quality dark chocolate of course. i could approach it from a food science perspective and write about colloidal suspensions but i won’t. essentially, take a good bar of chocolate and turn it into a whisper, one that dissolves just fast enough to make you want more.
rich yet airy, decadent yet light, not overly sweet, nor bitter.
savor it. if you find yourself ordering another immediately after, it’s a good mousse.
like these three below.
chocolate mousse at taberna do calhau (olive oil and sea salt)
it’s extremely light in texture, so the olive oil adds a smooth and fragrant richness rather than weighing the dessert down. the floral sea salt harmonizes with the dark chocolate, balancing the sweetness. extremely moreish; do not order one to share because it’s definitely not enough.
chocolate mousse at insaciavel (plain dark chocolate)
it’s a classic. well-executed, simple, and simply delicious. the chocolate has a long finish, lingering longer on my palette than in the cup it’s served in. it would be better with some sea salt though, and i might ask for some next time.
the cake at landeau (half of it is chocolate mousse, all of it is scrumptious)
the mousse is light and fluffy, and bottom layer of the cake is texturally similar to a torte. together, it’s delightfully creamy, a great balance of the two textures. the chocolate used is bright and floral but with the classic strong cacao finish. i usually think cakes are too heavy but i ate a whole slice within minutes so that’s definitely not an issue here. (i brought a slice to the airport once, and it made me the happiest person in the overcrowded ryanair waiting area.)
chocolate mousse should really be more popular—three items on a list is not a lot. (and two are restaurants.) i wrote a longer london pastry guide in the past but haven’t shared it here yet since it hasn’t been updated since 2020. and as i eat a lot of it, i might have to do a lisbon banana bread wrap-up soon. lmk what you want to see in comments and i may write it up for next week!
🤤