In late 2021, in the early points of conceiving of AUSKLEIDEN, I came across Sandy’s TikTok and was instantly enamored with her ability to capture the mundane in a way that made her surroundings truly magical. It was a type of world-building that was clearly focused on capturing memories exactly as they are: detail oriented, specific, and simple. Knowing what I did about her content creating, it came as no surprise to me that Sandy’s writing was just as tender and thoughtful.
My first introduction to her work was through her newsletter Small Pleasures in which she captures moments – specific day in her life or a season. From the conceptual to digital journal-keeping, Sandy makes the act of note-taking feel seamless, natural, even aspirational. But more than that, in her multimedia record keeping, she unintentionally opens up a dialogue amongst readers and community members about the different ways that creativity can look. That was a part of what made her such an interesting creative person to me, even if I couldn’t put my finger on it at the time.
During our conversation, there was a moment in the middle of an exchange about journaling that stuck out to me: her remark that journaling or documenting one’s life, emotions, and experiences can look like anything we want or need them to be. For Sandy this looks like keeping a daily journal, writing for pleasure, and keeping a digital journal through her social media which lives as an extension of her journalistic subconscious; for me, this looks like capturing memories and curating them in such a way that tells a story or denotes an emotion, often times something that isn’t quite tangible, but carries resonance.
"The main reason why I write is to just to mark that moment. I think it just makes it last. That's what I really like about books or paintings or movies: there are these things that you can go back to and look at or listen to. I feel the same way about writing. It'll live on forever if it's written down."
That’s what makes these conversations so important to me: creativity doesn’t always look like or even begin the way we think it will. For Sandy, becoming a writer didn’t come from an idea that stuck her like lightning one day in high school or college. It came from realizing that the way she chose to capture memories, those that may find themselves fleeting or lost in the wind without preservation, was in itself an act of creativity that demanded acknowledgement and merit. It was something she wanted to be able to consistently ask of herself, and the way to do that has come telling her story through different platforms like Newsletter or the collaborative zine Groundcycle that she worked on with Seedlin and Groundcycle (two incredible organizations that make sustainability an accessible and engaging conversation).
"I was six or seven years old, and I was visiting family in El Salvador and one of my cousins gave me a little journal. I remember just writing about that trip the entire time that I was there. I always felt this desire to make sure that a certain feeling or a certain memory was written down so that I wouldn't forget about it. I don't want certain things to be forgotten, whether it's in my personal life or something that has happened around me”
In addition to being a wonderful writer and content creator, Sandy also has an incredible eye that comes through in her personal style just as much as her work. Its also reflected in her tastes. After our conversation, Sandy sent me a note about jewelry designer and metalsmith Julyssa Rose, whose work and ethos really resonated with her. Her work possesses a quality of sentimentality and careful detail that makes it clear that passion for creating little treasures is something that is never compromised or forgotten – similar to the way Sandy captures memory. As is probably obvious from my poetic waxing, I also really admire Julyssa’s beautiful pieces and am proud to own one.In addition to Julyssa’s beautiful jewelry, Sandy’s five essentials are:
1. Chocolate brown leatherbound journal from Florence (her Small Pleasures journal)
2. A great black loafer paired with a fun sock
3. Peppermint tea
4. Colored pencils
5. Burning incense (specifically green tea and one that she smelled at and reminds her of a hotel in Florence)
Sandy’s insights on the way creativity should be approached and the nuance behind a creative identity was such a fascinating conversation for me to be a part of and I cannot wait for you to listen. You can find her on Instagram, TikTok, and her wonderful newsletter Small Pleasures
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Love this and Sandy!!