Life is a mood board

I’m a bit obsessed with design and aesthetics lately. I’ve always loved things like fashion and moody artistic expression, but I held back my whole life, feeling like a fraud.

But recently, I decided to embrace all my sides—together. It’s messy but clear. It’s expressive and fun. It feels true to me.

I used to try to separate my music and art from my travel/lifestyle content. I suppose it makes sense to a certain extent for SEO and blogging…but damn, for social content, the multi-passionate approach is feeling like gold.

In my newfound obsession with mixing art, lifestyle, music and design, I happened upon the idea of curating your life as if it’s a physical mood board.

Because truly, everything influences mood. Everything brings energy and has an effect on how you feel.

So it’s my new approach to life: jump into a mood board.

The “clothes” your room is wearing creates a vibe. The accessories you have on create a feeling. And the personality of the song playing in the periphery shapes the conversation and energy of the whole room.

Add some liquid (like coffee or wine), and we’ve got a whole vibe…a proper mood board.

Everything in life is design…and we’re constantly creating and curating mood boards out of stuff…often unintentionally.

Even tiny aesthetic ornaments have their voice. Although quiet, let’s remember Aristotle: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Everything is an opportunity for creative design. It just needs a little intention.

Mood manufacturing.

And the benefits of this manufacturing? There are many…but for me, a big one is lots of creative inspiration…excitement and control over the energy I feel…it feels like I’m decorating the stage of my movie life.

I feel more like the author of my story.

Life is a physical mood board. So why not manicure our environments to be the most aesthetic and authentic as it possibly can be?

For me, sometimes I imagine I’m in some Woody Allen movie…but a rainy day in Tokyo instead.

Interior designers know the importance of all this. The colors, decorations, furniture and style of your spaces impact everything.

Actually, we all know this. You can just feel it when a space is designed well.

We know that an uninspired, chaotic or low-energy space infiltrates creative processes, conversations and the mood of the moment.

And so, I’m obsessed with mood curation…

The artistry of life design.

I’m surprised by how little I focused on it before…instead investing too much in my digital mood vibes.

The way I look and feel are everything. Sometimes, if I need inspiration, I dress up just to do some art. This is mood manufacturing and it works.

My life looked nothing like the mood board on my computer.

Perhaps I need to become more of a curator-creator and fully embody the aesthetic I so seek.

A core mantra in my creative work these days is inspired by Ghandi’s quote “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

But here’s my mid tweak:

Mood is everything in a creative, aesthetic life.

And you don’t need to be some obscure artist or influencer to embody the creative energy that is aesthetic life design.

Create the vibe you seek to feel. It’s not even expensive, it’s all about intention, self awareness and maybe a little taste.

Comfort zones may be stretched…but that’s far better than authenticity being squeezed—isn’t it?

People who know me would not say “oh, he’s so fashionable and aesthetic…”. But have they not seen my mood board??

I suppose not…as it only exists in two places right now: on my computer and in my mind.

Life is a creative project. I’ve said this many times…but didn’t embody it in a way that felt real to me.

Whoops.

But mood and life design is different for everyone.

For some, fashion is key. For others, it’s scent or something social. There’s no right or wrong answer. But when you’ve reached your life-design nirvana, you’ll know.

That’s truly the post-luxury life that some people in some places talk about these days.

And the more I step into this mood-driven space, the more inspired and aligned I feel.

Like I took the wheel for the first time. Now, I’m driving. And realizing that I’ve been living off of cheap drive-thru moods.

Occasionally, that’s nice. And I’m not saying we need to be 100% intentional or fancy or moody all the time. Of course not.

Prioritize pajama time. That’s true post-luxury.

But subtle tweaks and new habits that bring you closer to your passions is all that’s needed.

So become harmoniously obsessed with this ideas. It’s creative too, so have fun with it.

For me, life is all about feeling.

And the better I feel, the clearer I can think.

David Lynch knew this well:

I’ve tried to curate the perfect digital ecosystem…an authentic social feed, a curated personal brand that feels like me (which ironically makes me less like me).

But then I realized, I totally neglected my real life.

Again, whoops.

I planned and plotted, but never got it (“it” being this illusive aesthetic I sought and saw in my mind).

I crave romance (in the artistic way).

Drip coffee, slow mornings, a thrift store find and a painting about that life.

A good movie with soft night lighting…and guitar breaks from the scenes that inspire me most.

Followed up by a pop punk show with converse and lip rings.

That’s a snapshot of my mood board. And you can achieve your things too…because a truly epic mood board starts with one simple tweak…like a springboard.

So from here on out, let’s conjure our mood boards into physical reality. That was the real goal anyways, right?

Later ✌️