5 things that make a happier human

Sorry, but it does involve detaching from that damn phone

Welcome to apartamento 710, a newsletter about many things, but mainly about living a creative life outside of the walls of the Internet.

If you are new here, I invite you to explore my interview series, Sobremesa, or my most recent corner, Reference Library. If you enjoy this space, the best way to support my work is to upgrade to a paid subscription or share this piece with someone who you think might find value too!

The garden that keeps giving 🍅

A few weeks ago, I published my rules for making, and it resonated with so many of you. The comment section of that piece is something I am proud to have enabled.

I decided to create a downloadable version of my rules for making so you can print it, put it on your fridge, inside your wallet, or gift it to a friend in need of a creative push. It is included when you upgrade to a paid subscription or available for purchase via apartamento710.com. Thanks for all the support, always.

Let’s dive in with today’s letter!

Every summer, a loved one comes to spend time with me in Vancouver, and I get to play tour guide. This year, it was my mom’s turn to visit. The best part is not that I get to spend lots of quality time together, or that she spoils me with my favorite childhood food, but really that she is here to fulfill her long life dream of going to school and studying English. I feel very proud and grateful to see her accomplish her dreams and get to know her as a person, not just like my mother. That, my friends, is a story for another letter.

A ferry ride to an island in the Pacific Northwest is all you need

Photo by me, taken with a Nikon Coolpix S6200 digital camera

A couple of weeks ago, my mom and I embarked on a trip to Vancouver Island to spend the day with my good friend Andrea. We picked berries at a farm, yapped for hours at a family-owned cider house, and went home with 4 pounds of organic berries. It was a very wholesome and perfect Summer day.

During our 1-hour ferry ride to the island though, we were surprised to see that despite having reception, passengers were engaged in many different offline activities. Not only elders as you might expect, but also children and teenagers were focused on activities like coloring, table games, knitting, and some other cool things that didn’t involve being online.

The bravest thing I did on the ferry was asking this small group of teenagers on the left if it was ok to take a photo of their table for my newsletter. They didn’t know what a newsletter was.

I write a lot about finding ways to find inspiration outside of the Internet in this newsletter, so this time at the ferry, I felt like an anthropologist observing people around me engage in these offline activities so naturally. It always gives me hope seeing people choose to stay present, sharing a moment with other humans instead of scrolling through videos on an app, ignoring everything and everyone around them.

I don’t think this is unique to this ferry though, and you probably have sensed the shift in society where you live too. We crave going back to basics and decentralizing our lives from our phones in some capacity. The exhaustion of social media algorithms is real, and we can no longer ignore how tech companies have done everything but create online spaces with decency and responsibility.

I firmly believe that we are in the middle of a big shift, realizing that we have agency over how we can live our lives. For me, it means choosing to spend the hours I can feeling and experiencing things in the real world. Choosing wisely where my energy and attention go.

As always, I write this hoping to spark something in you. To motivate you to take action and find out how you can be more present and connected to yourself and the planet.

5 things that have impacted my creativity and overall sense of well-being.

1. Community: Going to my local pool, finishing my swimming session, and heading to the sauna and jacuzzi. Time passes differently when you are in the water. No phones are allowed inside, which makes the experience even more enjoyable. Being surrounded by people from different generations, specifically elders, has also been so good for my soul this summer. I am always inspired by how comfortable they feel in their own skin and how open and curious they are in conversations. We all need to spend more time sharing spaces intergenerationally.

2. Boundaries: I started leaving my phone in our living room before going to bed, and stopped bringing it when I go to the bathroom. How come we can’t even pee without our freaking phones in our hands?! It’s been only a few weeks, but I already feel the benefits of less screen time (+ mental clarity, expanded capacity to deal with difficult situations at work, and motivation to engage in creative activities).

3. Simplicity: I downgraded my phone to a smaller version with a more basic camera. I left only my banking apps, communications apps like WhatsApp, and I am planning my strategy to leave my personal Instagram in the next few months, which will be another letter. I know leaving social media is not the answer, but rather finding balance… but honestly, the app is not serving me at this point in life, so I think I am ready to say bye, even for a temporary period. Interesting because this Summer marks my 1st anniversary since I left TikTok.

4. Creativity: I have found joy in coloring again, specifically since

   Valeria
   released a new coloring book this week. I am obsessed, and coloring is one of my favorite ways to decompress after being on my computer working for 8+ hours. You can use the discount code wuwucolor to get your coloring book via wuwuuu.com.

5. Leisure: Sometimes it’s nice (and vital for our sanity!?) to lie under the sun and just do nothing. But if you are like me, and doing nothing is hard sometimes…word search and crossword puzzles are a simple but superior activity when you want to let yourself flow.

How does taking care of yourself look these days? I want to know! Let me know in the comments or hit reply if you are reading this via email ❤️

Thanks so much for reading, I hope the rest of the Summer is so sweet to you!

-Florencia

Stay in touch:

More of apartamento 710:

The apartamento 710 ebook: A compilation of more than 20 ideas to feel inspired again. Available when you upgrade to a paid subscription or for purchase via apartamento710.com

Some of my favorite pages of my ebook, also known as a zine

As promised, find the downloadable version of my rules for making below, which also contains a preview of a new drawing series I will be releasing this Fall :-) Access this and more perks by upgrading to a paid subscription.