ARCA PERSPECTIVES
WITH sandra

I like the Read recently Portal, well probably because I love to read. That’s why I’m here. Video essays feel like another form of literature personally. I use Substack the most, but I also enjoy reading and sometimes curating pieces from Aeon, The New Yorker, HuffPost, Medium, Psyche, and Scientific American.

I love diving into niche rabbit holes and exploring both the new and the familiar. Lately, I’ve been fascinated by how people design and collect items, whether it's something sentimental passed down through family or a random piece of décor that unexpectedly draws you in, inspiring you to merge it with other collections.

I currently don’t have my own space yet, so I daydream about how it would feel. I love spaces that create small worlds of color, whether muted or bright. Walls, rugs, and tiles with intricate patterns that feel both cozy and open captivate me. I’m not an interior designer by any means just a spectator and I love that. Observing is fun. We don’t need to know everything all the time, and that’s how I’ve been using the internet lately: as a space where I can explore without feeling overwhelmed by information overload.

I love being curious and seeking, but I also enjoy being unattached to areas of expertise that I appreciate yet know little about. As far as content the OGs of space design on YouTube are Architectural Digest and Apartment Therapy, but I’ve narrowed my focus to how people utilize smaller spaces. Never Too Small and Ola in a Million are two YouTube channels I follow. Lately, I’ve been especially drawn to blue; cobalt, lapis lazuli, and muted shades like the Goodie Bag nail polish. I enjoy The Jazz Estate, Saint Heron, and Archive Africa on Instagram when I decide to open the app every quarter. I am drawn and inspired to the scent of clove, citrus, ginger, cardamon, guaiacwood, Egyptian musk, and sandalwood.

I still don’t fully know what the word “creator” means specifically for me. I know we’re all creators in our own way maybe I’m a creator of curated things, which is why I am amused by Arca. I adore it. For me, balance means redirecting my attention to things I want to see instead of what the internet tries to show me. I have options, and I take advantage of that.

Never box yourself in. You are a duality of everything you have seen, tasted, and touched. Be open to unlearning what no longer fits you don’t have to be strict. You can always change your mind. And when you feel a strong pull toward something, keep it close.