It’s a perfect, picture-postcard day. Not too cold. Not too hot.
Sunny, with a few puffy clouds against a deep blue sky. And across the strait, the mountain is out.
But Charlie doesn’t notice any of that.
He’s too busy pouncing on dandelions. Leaping for butterflies just out of reach. Then chasing their shadows across the lane.
The breeze lifts his soft puppy fur, rippling through it in gentle waves. He doesn’t even pause.
Everything is new. Everything is worth checking out.
I can see his delight—in his stance, his prance, his full-body YES to the world.
The absolute conviction that this moment is the best one yet.
And I realize—this 15-minute walk down a country lane. This small, ridiculous, blink-and-you-miss-it delight–
This is joy.
Reflections
What strikes me isn’t just the joy.
It’s how it shows up.
Not big. Not planned. Just there in the noticing, in following something for no good reason other than it caught his eye.
I know that feeling.
There’s a pull to want more than that. The idea. The direction. Something I can point to and say this is worth making.
But it’s the dandelions. The missed butterflies. The flicker of something moving across the ground. That’s where it starts.
Not later. Not once it “means something.”
Right there.
I begin each piece this way—making marks, playing with no intent. I guess you could call that joy. The painting evolves from that.
Creative Prompt: Noticing Joy
Today, don’t go looking for something “meaningful.”
Notice what brings you joy.
It might be something small. But it might be as vast as the sky. Something that lifts, even just a little.
Follow it the way Charlie follows those butterflies—fully, without overthinking.
If you’re an artist: capture it. Sketch it. Write it. Photograph it. If you’re not: just notice it long enough that it actually lands.
Start there. That’s where the good stuff lives
Back next week–
PS Charlie is part of a little side project I’m calling Studio Dawgs. More on that soon.
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