Do It Anyway
And My First Puzzle With eeBoo
On My Mind
Last year my friend Louise, aka
, introduced me to the concept of delulu. It was her word for the year.The term, which originated in the k-pop community and has a decidedly Anna Delvey ring, is derived from the word delusion and has come to mean something akin to fake it ‘til you make it.
Its advocates range from those who follow the “laws of attraction” model—vibrate at a high enough frequency (whatever that means) and the universe will grant all your wishes—to those who subscribe to a practical, action-oriented model. Louise is very much in the latter camp, and it was a joy to see how much she accomplished in 2024 by setting aside her doubts and taking action.
Case in point: Not only did Louise surpass her goals for the number of art markets she wanted to sell at in 2024, but she also established a whole new market in her city. She was nervous about it, and I’m sure some part of her tried to convince herself that she wasn’t yet qualified to develop a market, promote it, find vendors, and then manage the entire thing. But it was her “year of delulu,” so she set aside her doubts and did it anyway.
It went well, and the people who own the venue where it took place have already asked if she’d add an additional market this year. If she wasn’t qualified before, she certainly is now!
It seems like everyone is benefitting from adopting a word or theme for the year, and after seeing Louise’s success I decided to jump on ye olde bandwagon. I considered going delulu, too. After all it’s a little freeing, a little rebellious to acknowledge that you may be deluding yourself and go after your dreams anyway. It’s a good counter to the trap we often find ourselves in where we don’t apply to the job/grant/residency/whatever because we’re (god forbid) only 90% qualified.
But I’ve arrived at another option. It’s the anyway part that really resonates with me. Because my brain is noisy, very noisy. And if there’s one thing I can count on, it’s that it will show up to the goals party with zero snacks and plenty of reasons why it’d rather be doing literally anything else.
I know I’m not alone. Have you ever thought, I can do anything as long as there’s a deadline and people counting on me? And yet transferring that energy to your own goals is sooo hard sometimes.
Well not this year. This is my year. Because my motto is Do It Anyway. There will be noise. There will be chaos. There will be a thousand attempts to redirect my attention to the next shiny thing. But I know what I plan to accomplish this year, and it doesn’t matter which excuses my brain throws at me.
I’m going to do it anyway.
On My Desk
My first puzzle with eeBoo is out!
Making puzzles is pretty fascinating. I’m working on a post to share some of the things I learned while making this one, so if that’s something you’re interested in adding to your repertoire, keep an eye out.
Every year my dear friend Tanja Stephani sends me the most wonderful calendar of art she made throughout the year. It’s such a joy to receive, and although part of me wants to be surprised, I can’t help but go through and pick my favorite months out ahead of time.
This year, I’ll be looking forward to May, August, September, and November most of all. Since I’ve set November as a deadline for most of my 2025 goals, I know those festive felines (center, top) will mean crunch time!
And doesn’t May (bottom, right) make you want to draw nothing but cats with fully bellies and tiny heads now? So charming!
Delulu is the solulu!! 🤣❤️
I was so excited to see a new post! You never disappoint. I love your take on delulu. It feels more grounded to me and less Anna Delvey, as you said, hahaha. Stepping into the unknown is terrifying, and doing it alone is another level. (I also have a noisy brain.) I try to remember that the worst that could happen is usually just a bruised ego. It's not nothing, but with time and a bucket of ice cream, I eventually recover and am ready to put myself through it all again because it's so worth it when it works out.