Why this designer trades screens for trails

There’s a quiet contradiction at the heart of my creative life.

For forty hours a week, I solve problems within constraints, budgets, brand guidelines, and tight deadlines. Every decision is intentional. Every detail matters.

Then I step away.

I lace up my boots 🥾, put on my Orioles cap, forget my hiking poles (again) 😬, and head into the woods, where there are no clients, no revisions, no rules, just the rhythm of one step after another.

After years in this industry, I’ve learned something that still feels counterintuitive: the more space I give myself outside of work, the better my creative work becomes.

The noise doesn’t quiet itself. I have to choose to move through it, reminding myself that this matters, that I need it, and that I genuinely love it. Because this "personal" time is just as essential as anything I consider “professional” time.

Hiking Sugarloaf Mountain

For the life of me, my mind takes a sweet moment to wipe away the noise. It follows me up the trail. Client revisions are due Monday, a half-finished project on my desk, the garden weeds I said I’d get to, and that missing ingredient I still need to pick up to make tonight’s IG-inspired all-in-one pot dinner. What was it?

But somewhere along the climb, something shifts.

I reach the summit on Sugarloaf Mountain with my phone still buzzing in my pocket. I stop. I breathe. SILENCE MY PHONE. Breathe again. Then I remember to look up. It's awe-inspiring. The landscape before me cracks the code. I found it. My balance.

There's no algorithm here.

The problems that felt impossible an hour ago suddenly have a solution. Not because I pushed harder. Because I finally stopped.

I breathe again.

I don't pretend to have all of life's answers, but this one practice really helps me bring the bigger picture into focus. It feels good. I am better because of it. And then it turns into appreciation, something I didn't feel at the bottom of the mountain because I was buried under all of my to-dos. Gosh, I am so grateful for the opportunities in my life and the people in it!

This is how I continue to thrive, willingly, and with great purpose. This is how I show up for my family and those who depend on me. I hope you are able to do the same.

Don't forget to look up. Permit yourself to disconnect. Embrace being human in this digital world. We certainly deserve it.

Exhale. 🧘‍♀️