Let your little sister, or your older one, influence your personality. Sometimes borrowing someone else’s confidence is how you discover your own.
Read whatever the hell you want. Nobody becomes more interesting by pretending to enjoy a book.
Make mistakes worth writing about. Perfect people make terribly boring fictional characters.
A city can give you another version of yourself. Amsterdam, Paris, New York. Different streets, different possibilities.
Never underestimate the emotional importance of a good burger. Some things deserve their own hierarchy.
Learn to enjoy your own company. A walk without music isn’t necessarily a walk in silence.
Have a very active imagination. It’s one of the few forms of entertainment that doesn’t require a subscription.
Don’t rationalize every feeling before you’ve had the chance to feel it.
Make things you don’t necessarily want anyone to see. Not everything beautiful needs an audience.
If you need ten hours to paint, take ten hours. Inspiration doesn’t care about your calendar.
Steal your sister’s clothes. And occasionally her mug. With affection, obviously.
Dress like someone who knows herself, even if you’re still figuring out who that is.
Let art embarrass you a little. Crying in front of a Kandinsky at twelve sounds like a perfectly good beginning.
Never force yourself to admire something. Art isn’t an exam, and neither is taste.
Ask people who they’d trust to remember their life. Their answer will tell you almost everything about love.
Share a bottle of wine when the conversation deserves one. The best evenings rarely follow the original plan.
Don’t confuse being lost with being uninteresting. Sometimes uncertainty is where everything begins.
Allow yourself a little ridiculousness. Purple sequins, fictional women, pickle martinis. Whatever works.
Stay curious enough to admit how little you know. There’s always another book, another painting, another person to understand.
Keep a little ecstasy in your vocabulary. Not every feeling needs to be reasonable.
lessons from a girl who drinks pickle juice
on imagination, borrowed personalities, making mistakes, and the importance of a really good burger.
