(r)Evolution

and a new 100 day quest

Feb 23, 2026

I have toed the start line of a triathlon, crashed buying a bike in Walmart, trekked up to Tiger’s Nest monastery in Bhutan, got lost in the luscious mountains of Iceland after hiking up a wrong mountain, had a five hour conversation in the dark in a Tallinn hostel about economic freedom, fell in love with abstract art on a sunny afternoon in Kuala Lumpur, and traded my corporate life for a more creative and slower one. Most of the time, I say Yes now and think later. Sometimes I overthink a lot. Now I write about creativity, art and how to turn constraints into something meaningful. My short bio is here.

Playing around with updating my bio. Let me know what you think.

Lately I found myself feeling pretty complacent about my creative practice and my health. I felt like I haven’t really made any progress on anything, really. While I do have several painting series in progress, 27 drafts of newsletter posts, collection of a kids’ quest story that I’ve been writing on and off since 2013 and many other creative ideas, I felt like I haven’t pushed myself creatively in a while. That also applies to my health. I realize I am my worst critic when nothing is good enough. And I am also my best critic because I actually know what to do and how to do it, I just sometimes don’t do it and succumb to the winter blues. Currently I am somewhere in between.

The other day I was in my studio and saw a flag I made during the James Victore workshop a few years ago. The task was to make a flag as a kind of north star that will remind you of your mission in life.

(r)Evolution

I made this one. Sun, moon, blue sky, water, trees, secret language of nature, all the metaphors that inspire me. It was supposed to be a reminder that sun and moon play by their own rules, seasons come and go and that nature constantly goes through both evolution and revolution. There is no revolution without evolution. And there is no evolution without revolution. Kinda like a serpent eating its own tail. The cycle of life. A reminder that sometimes it’s ok to take it slow, and sometimes it’s ok to disrupt everything. Know thyself. Know the season you are in. Pay attention.

This time around I’m keeping the flag out of the drawer.

And with that in mind, my theme for the 100 day quest is QUIET OBSERVATION.

You might have seen all around the social interwebs that today is the start of the new 100 day challenge where people pick something that are going to do every day for the next 100 days. I was going to pick one of those half done existing projects and see how far I can take it in 100 days, but it didn’t resonate much. Also, I think I have a love hate relationship with the word “challenge” and challenges, in general. At this stage of my life, I much rather prefer the word quest. Going on a quest implies curiosity, discovery, uncertainty and imperfection. It’s ok to get lost and you usually make friends along the way.

So instead of committing to revolutionizing my creative art practice yet again, I decided I’m going to do a few small things, choosing to go a slow evolution route.

5 minutes a day. Simply sitting on a stool by the piano. 100 days. If I’m away from home, I’ll add a day at the end. That’s it. If I choose to play, so be it.
1 sentence a day in my journal. If I want to write more, I can, but it’s not a requirement (I’ve neglected journaling for a while and need to a new way to keep track of my ideas and possibilities)

Will I fall in love with playing piano again as I did when I was a kid? Will I get inspired to finish my story about a little boy who has to save his brother in a galaxy far away against sweepers and other evils? Will I finish my new painting series? Or will I just end up with 500 minutes of sitting in front of a piano looking through the window and a 100 sentences? Only time will tell.

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Here is my last year’s quest from February 2025 (that is still to be completed)