How happiness is like a butterfly

In this issue: how everyone's work/life balance looks different, a gentle caution for beginning creators, what to do when happiness can't be captured, and the role your environment plays in resiliency.

PJ Milani
January 08, 2025

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🤔 INTERESTING

Illustration by milaniCREATIVE.art showing different representations of work-life balance. Three squares display various layouts of ‘work’ and ‘life’ sections, emphasizing that balance can take many shapes, depending on individual preferences and circumstances.

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There is no one-size fits all formula for work-life balance.

It’s personal to you. A moving target based on the stage of your life.

Arrange and rearrange the pieces until you feel aligned.

And remember, you may need to reshape the balance as you shift from one stage of life to another.

What felt right in your 20s will most likely not fit where you are in your 40s.

This issue of Visual I.D.E.A.s is brought to you by:

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📐 DESIGN

A short excerpt from a conversation with my friend Roberto Ferraro.

Social media today is flooded everywhere you look with AI writing and images. In this short highlight from my chat with Roberto Ferraro, I talk about the danger of using AI too early in your creative career.

By the way, if you’re interested in how to make visuals yourself, it’s not too late to sign up for Cohort 9.

🔮 ENCHANTING

Illustration by milaniCREATIVE.art showing the concept of happiness. On the left, a person tries unsuccessfully to catch a butterfly with a net, labeled ‘You can’t catch happiness.’ On the right, the same person waters a garden, attracting butterflies, labeled ‘…but you can create a space for it to visit,’ symbolizing how happiness comes from nurturing the right environment.

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❝

Happiness is like a butterfly. The more you chase it, the more it evades you.

But if you notice the other things around you, it will gently come and sit on your shoulder.

Henry David Thoreau

🧠 ANALOGY

Illustration by milaniCREATIVE.art showing how environment impacts resilience. The top panel depicts a basketball splashing into water, barely bouncing back. The bottom panel shows the basketball hitting solid ground and bouncing higher, with the text ‘Your environment has an impact on how you bounce back,’ symbolizing the role of surroundings in recovery and growth.

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Be sure you're where you need to be to meet your potential.

🤓 WHAT I’M READING NOW

“My Icon Library: Build & Expand Your Own Visual Vocabulary”

Technically, not really “reading” (cause it’s mostly images) but “My Icon Library” by Willemien Brand is a book I often recommend as a helpful reference for anyone who works with visuals. It was initially suggested to me by my friend, Hannah Wilson of Quoted Visually.

There’s loads of ideas on how to present different concepts related to business and technology. It also includes short how-to-draws at the bottom of each page.

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