Hello Reader,

Recently, I picked up ink sketching and watercolor painting, because apparently, I don't have enough challenges just trying to keep my houseplants alive and remembering to wear pants on Zoom calls. No, I had to add 'master the unpredictable whims of pigment and water' to my daily existential crisis checklist. Here's one of my early attempts (this is one of the better ones... I'm not sure I'm willing to show some of the others).

What I didn't understand when I started is that watercolor requires layers. Layers mean waiting. Waiting for paint to dry.

This isn't how I roll. Usually, when I start a project, I'm a freight train without brakes until it's done. But watercolor? It's forcing me to think differently. It's challenging, but also illuminating.

Right now, I'm re-creating my entire approach to ∞actualinfinity and business in general. It's not all coming together in one go. It's feeling more like watercolor - a masterpiece (or an absolute train wreck) building in layers, over time. And it's revealing how urgent I feel in my nervous system - causing anxiety, stress, tightness, and a restless, buzzing energy that makes my fingers twitch for completion.

Every. Damn. Day. It's reminding me to relax into the unfinished, the unpolished, the incomplete. It's teaching me to surrender with love to the process.

Where in your life are you rushing to finish the painting before the first layer has even dried? What masterpiece might emerge if you allowed each stroke its moment to settle?

With kindness, Steve Mattus

​

P.S.: I’m starting to write a lot more… and my first piece is about breaking up with capitalism. You can find it at the link below.

​Dear Capitalism,
I'm breaking up with you.
It's not me, it's definitely you.​

​P.S.: I'm keeping the dog and my soul.​