When imagination matters most

+ some recommendations for how to approach your project ideas

Hello, friends—

Before anything else, I’m sorry for the tone of the newsletter I sent this weekend. I had written and scheduled it the week before, and I should have paused or rescheduled it. I didn’t think to because my mind and heart were elsewhere.

If you felt the dissonance of a cheery “let’s make art, friends!” landing in the middle of everything that’s happening right now, I did too.

It does not feel like business as usual. And yet—it is. We live under the threat of violence all the time. Not only the violence of force, but the violence of not having enough: not enough money, food, safety, rest, care. The threat of what will be taken next.

When I share something like this, I know I’ll hear from people who want me to “keep politics out of it.” If that’s you, you are welcome to send it—it will not hurt my feelings—but you will not change my mind. Instead, consider that maybe you are here because you know that where art sees possibility, truth, interconnectedness, and the inherent beauty and value of all living things, fascism depends on conformity, constraint, obedience, and fear. It narrows what’s thinkable. It limits who gets to belong. It insists there is only one right way to be, to live, to see the world.

Artists know better.

“So much of the work of oppression is policing the imagination.”
— Saidiya Hartman

So we keep going. And if you need a break or this doesn’t land, I wish you well. You can come back any time.

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In case you missed it, last week we announced the start date: the next round of The 100 Day Project starts February 22, 2026.

If you’re starting to think about your project, you might notice that the hardest part isn’t a lack of ideas—it’s usually the opposite. Too many ideas, or uncertainty about which one is “right.” Here are some recommendations.

1. Choose something small and simple.

Make it doable in 10–20 minutes (or less), and easy to set up, clean up, or carry with you.

2. Choose something you’re actually excited to do.

Not the project you think you should do. Not the one that sounds impressive. The one you’d genuinely look forward to returning to.

3. Choose your constraint(s).

Constraints lower decision fatigue and help you get straight to the making. This could be a specific prompt, palette, tool, format, subject, or rule that limits your choices.

4. Choose something that fits the life you’re living right now.

Are you tired? Busy? Going through something big? (Yes. Obviously.) Pick a project that works with where you are, not against it.

5. Choose something you want to explore for 100 days.

The project should feel like a place you want to return to—a container for curiosity, play, experimentation, or practice.

For now, just start paying attention to the ideas that keep tapping you on the shoulder. Write them down—in a notebook, a document, a note on your phone. You don’t have to decide yet. Collecting ideas always makes the choosing easier, in my experience. Writing them down gives you permission to come back to them later.

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Next up

Join us Substack Live here with Emily McDowell on Wednesday, January 28, at noon Pacific.

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⭐️ Community Wisdom

I’d love to include your voice here next.

What helped you choose your project?

You can reply to this email or leave a comment with your best insight, trick, or lesson from past years.

XO,
Lindsay

P.S. On what counts:

@dothe100dayproject

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