Asia today is very quiet. Only one journo from Australia submitted a story and that’s it. I just spent the day scrolling through artworks and videos on Instagram, trying to learn their techniques so that I would be inspired to make some more paintings and improve myself.

But I am creatively spent. I didn’t realize that you could be drained of creativity if you keep painting everyday. I just wonder how those artists with deadlines make it through….

I had chicken rice in my fridge and heated it up, less work. I am so lazy today; it seems like the stress of the past weeks has not seeped out of me still.

I needed to do something with my hands today but I couldn’t bring myself to paint. So I took the garments to be repaired and sewed. You see, we are a wasteful society and to keep me from throwing garments into the landfill, I have to repair some of them over and over until they can no longer be used as they were intended.

Speaking of working with hands, this video popped up in my feeds on Youtube and now I want to make my own soap. Goat’s milk soap with essential oils sounds heavenly.

Since I have an outdoor space, I can mess around with lye in my utility area downstairs and make these. I’ve been using lye before to unclog the ancient plumbing in our old house (not the apartment) in Quezon City so I’m no stranger to this dangerous chemical.

Another video I’m immersed in right now is how Hermes makes its bags (by Vogue). As a bag hag, this is lovely to watch. I’m in awe of artisans and their craft. While I could not and would not be able to afford an Hermes in this lifetime—a new Birkin costs a minimum of USD 10,500 each while a vintage one costs a minimum of USD 25,000—I still appreciate this video for the craftsmanship and the process of creating these leather goods.

Which brings me to my original intention of enrolling in a bag-making workshop with Soulflower Co. What’s tragic is that their studio used to be within my old neighborhood in QC, in Teachers Village, to be precise…So easy to make time for when I was there. *Sigh* Now I have to drive back all the way there.

I want to do too many things, but I have too little time.

While we’re on the topic of Hermes, this is a fascinating story of how LVMH sneakily tried to wrest Hermes from the founding family—through the global financial crisis. As a business journalist, this is very, very interesting indeed.

Follow your heart bullshit. I just counseled two friends about careers at the same time on different occasions last week. In the process of eliciting their deep-seated desires and parsing them, I also had some kind of epiphany myself.