i like working at night because it’s just me and no one else is up. of course, this isn’t true and it only feels like this, because everyone is up, everyone likes that feeling and there’s a lot of us, silently working away in our little apartment boxes. the appeal is just that no one is going to bother you. the blanket of nightly routine, the respect of silence and space. zoning in and honing in and getting to the heart of the thing because no one is in your ear.
and actually, that collective energy and work and feeling permeates somehow, and boosts us and gets us to the heart of the thing even more. separate but together. alone but then you wake up and you get to show and tell. what did you complete last night? excited exchanges of late-night discoveries. swapping midnight snack recommendations. the occasional “omg are you still up too?” text or seeing a green "active now" bubble during iPhone break but never breaching the boundary or breaking code.
cover: my old table setup in my last apartment, photo i sent to @fortuneobject on one of many late nights updating them on my crafts.
recently i've been up late, two desktops open — one for work and one for blog — typing away. i’m on the bus now, still typing away.
just know that if you are reading one of my posts, it’s very possible i was on bus line 4 late at night, hurling down Sunset in either direction, brow furrowed in my notes app.
It’s 8:14pm and i’m heading west. this is my much needed break. the company i work for as of about a week ago has a very flex, hybrid culture, which is a nice change from the strict in-office-set-hours policy at my last job. there is no better feeling than curling up on my couch at 10:30 pm with a hot coffee in my hand, logging into PLM and working in silence while exchanging cat photos with my design director. the green bubble of solidarity is still lit at 11pm, indicating my coworkers are also online and also half-in, half-cooking or watching tv, putting the kids to bed, softly clicking and tapping alongside a glass of wine. a deadline looms but no one looses their cool. leave it to me to romanticize microsoft teams.
i am currently in a phase of my creative process where i am embracing mess. i tend to cycle around from messy phases to everything-must-go-back-in-its-place phases, and both seem to work and both seem to be true and honest. the past few weeks, the time and effort that it takes to keep the space clear actually takes away from the time and effort that could instead go into the project. when the mess becomes a hindrance, i will tidy up. but when tidying up becomes a hindrance, i both-hands-abandon tidying up.
the special thing about the mess this time round is that it's ever-changing, which is think is the reason why it's not stressing me out. nothing piles, nothing mounds. it's a strictly lateral mess, and everything gets used and uncovered very quickly. my desktop is full of little tornadoes. i can go to sleep at 4am leaving it exactly as it is, and pick right back up where i left off in the morning.
a substantial amount of my favourite pieces I created at night. I finished this look late at night. some favourite things i've gifted, favourite new sketches, little details and explorations have been borne at night, tea steeping, bed disheveled, either no music or music full blast, balcony door wide open to whoosh and siren of downtown. i love this city and i love it at night and i love living in the heart of it and i love hearing it through my window and love the magnolia tree right outside and i love i love i love.
often times my repairs happen at night because somehow it doesn't count. during the day i feel like i need to use the time to delve into a lengthier process, like patterning or sketching or beginning something. something that would involve a lunch break. repairs, at least before i start them, seem to be quick and menial tasks, something to be saved for about 11 or midnight. of course, they are always more involved than i think they will be and sometimes i even get to see the sun rise, though this has not occurred in quite some time. perhaps with this ongoing project, multiple deadlines (both institution and self imposed) and my newfound zest for creating i will see one of those days very soon.
