Week 1: The Dream Life vs. The Well-Designed Life
Welcome to the Well-Designed Life!
When I started Parenthetical, one of the first things I wrote down was: “I want this to feel like a good old-fashioned slumber party.”
I had an image, clear as day, in the back of my mind. Me at 13, surrounded by a half dozen of my best friends, our sleeping bags in a semi-circle, whispering our wildest dreams in the dark. What we wanted to be. Where we wanted to live. The kind of life we imagined for ourselves.
We didn’t qualify our dreams with “but that’s not realistic” or “I should probably be more practical.” Everything was possible; nothing was out of reach. We made no apologies for what we wanted.
Somewhere between then and now, we learned to stop doing that. We learned to narrow our ideas to fit into a neat little box, to align with the current trends and ad campaigns. To feel guilty for desiring more, or for not fitting into the cultural mainstream.
But here’s what I’ve discovered: your dream life isn’t something you achieve someday when everything aligns perfectly. It’s something you build, piece by piece, through small intentional choices.
It’s choosing the book that actually calls to you instead of the one you think you “should” read. It’s wearing the vintage cardigan that makes you feel like yourself, even if it doesn’t match the current aesthetic trends. It’s making your morning coffee a ritual instead of a transaction. It’s saying no to obligations that drain you and yes to quiet Saturday mornings.
This is what we’re doing over the next twelve months. We’re going back to that slumber party floor at 2 AM, but this time we’re bringing the tools, frameworks, and permission to actually build the life we’re talking about.
What We’re Building
Over the next year, we’re designing your well-designed life across four quarters:
Q1: Foundation (January-March) – Identity and clarity. We’re figuring out what you actually want, defining your aesthetic identity, and building your personal curriculum.
Q2: Cultivation (April-June) – Money, learning, and style. We’re aligning your spending with your values, curating your intellectual life, and developing your personal style.
Q3: Integration (July-September) – Rhythms and making. We’re learning to live seasonally, building a creative practice, and designing work that fits your life.
Q4: Sustainability (October-December) – Connection and systems. We’re practicing deeper connection, building documentation habits, and creating your annual review framework.
January is where we start: with clarity. Because you can’t curate a life until you know what you’re curating toward. Let’s get into it.
