COVID turned my 2020 paper calendars and planners from organization into origami. 2021 finds me not optimistic enough to buy dated paper products, though. Optimism equals perspective plus patience and I’m practiced with both. I’m also wary, though, on the way back to normal, and I can’t help but whine are we there yet?

No! I will not come this far to falter this close to the pandemic finish line. I needed something to distract me during the waning impatient moments. Enter artist AdamJK.

How I discovered him is lost to the same ether that makes me forget why I entered a room sometimes. All I know is that I’m now a fan for life. Adam J. Kurtz is a graphic designer who makes and sells “honest, accessible work.” Last year, I bought a pin, a gold starburst-like shape that says “Good enough.” For those moments I may forget that lesson, from dad: if you try, even if you don’t win or get an ‘A,’ that’s good enough. Getting through difficult, disconnected days of a pandemic: good enough.

When contemplating paper products for the new year, I couldn’t bring myself to purchase calendars and planners (COVID-fool me once…). Still, I wanted something. Serendipity (and probably the behemoth website’s algorithms) brought to me a book by Adam called 1 Page at a Time: A Daily Creative Companion. I’m creative, and this volume has no dates, no plans to make then maybe have to cancel. THIS is something pandemic me can really get behind.

There are 365 pages with prompts for various types of creativity, including:

• Take a moment to observe something small today. What did you see?
• List 10 things you love to do.
• Use this page to plan the remainder of your life & its work. Just kidding! Who’s your celeb crush?

There are prompts to draw, to connect dots, to write things in HUGE text, to breathe, to fill a page with whatever you want in that moment. “Every day is a chance to create something new for yourself,” Adam says, and of course he’s right. I didn’t need his book to tell me that, but it’s nice to be reminded, especially during the time of COVID when all of the days look alike.

No matter what 2021 brings, or how fast or slow it delivers, I know I’ll have a creative playtime to look forward to every single day. If I had a planner, I’d write that as a To Do in each little box. Hmmm. Maybe I’ll get one after all.