Hello dear reader!
Welcome to another issue of this newsletter. I’m writing this during the quiet week between Christmas and New Year. That strange period of time that moves slowly. It’s a liminal space, and I’ve come to appreciate it as one of the best times for creative work. As you noticed, I’m sending it one day later than usual, you know, holidays.
In this issue:
- Creative coding experiments
- Working on side projects during slow time
- Why rest periods are investments, not expenses
These liminal weeks have something that invites a different kind of work or experimentation. Not the urgent, deadline-driven kind, but the curiosity-driven one. The kind of small experiments that matter precisely because they have no immediate purpose beyond learning and play.
This year, I am spending some of this time experimenting with generative art and creative coding. I built a small script that generates Bézier curves with a random point that controls them. The point moves around the screen, and as it does, it affects the lines: creating fluid, organic patterns that shift and evolve. It’s a simple concept, but watching those curves respond to movement feels oddly meditative.
As you know, I’ve been thinking about the intersection between photography and creative coding for a while now. Photography captures a moment from my point of view, but code can explore what lays after it: how an image might transform, how patterns might emerge, how colors might interact in ways that don’t exist in the original frame. I’m thinking of it as a tool to push beyond the image itself and see what else is there.
Rest as Investment
This kind of creative wandering, experimenting with curves and code without a clear goal, only happens when there’s space for it. When I’m not rushing between meetings or forcing productivity, ideas like these surface naturally.
I’ve noticed this pattern in teams too. Companies that intentionally slow down at year-end (fewer meetings, clear boundaries, even surprise free days) see people return in January sharper, not depleted. Rest isn’t downtime; it’s how the system recovers. When we treat December like business-as-usual, January just inherits the exhaustion.
Sometimes the answer isn’t to push harder, but to step back. The quiet week between gives us permission to tinker without pressure, to let ideas surface instead of forcing them. That’s where new directions appear.
Before I go, my friend and photographer Emilie Bernard is selling a limited series of prints after an ice skating accident. If you’re looking for beautiful work to support, take a look.
That’s it for today! If you enjoyed this issue, share it with a friend! Know someone who needs permission to slow down? Send it their way—they might need the reminder.
Luis