Wake Up to Wonder: Our First 4 Days

A Video | Tiny squares with a big impact

Hi friends,

Today is already day 4. I felt like I blinked. Anyone else?

The tech was “tech-ing” yesterday and I couldn’t get the video to load, so we are sliding in here the next day after all uploads have been completed.

But good news- I added day 4 of painting as well.

I’ve heard from so many of you about how you are finding joy in this adventure already.

I am thrilled to see your creations online and hear how this practice is impacting you.

Y’all, I know these are teeny tiny squares. But I believe they can have a huge impact.

It’s like the oxygen mask principle… Putting our oxygen masks on first so we have the capacity we need.

Because we cannot give to others what we don’t have ourselves.

Also, I know not everyone is a reader, so I plan on creating a variety of content here this year so there is a little something for all of us.

Today, I’m sharing my progress and thoughts by way of a video. We cover:

• How I use a monthly calendar in conjunction with my squares, especially when time is tight.

• We paint through Days 1-4

• I show you the kind of information I’m adding to the backs.

• And there is a good bit of encouragement as we chat.

If you like to read the content, just below is an autogenerated (and therefore slightly imperfect) transcript of the video.

I’ve included linked section timestamps in the subheaders in case there is a specific part you’d like to watch.

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Intro & Using a Monthly Calendar— 0:00

Hello everyone, this is Michele Perry. This is The Wonder Habit, and I wanted to do my first four days of Wake Up to Wonder painting with you and also show you a couple of options.

I know not everybody is necessarily a big reader, so Substack is amazing. It allows you to do video and audio content as well, so we're going to be doing some of that as we go.

I just wanted to do this with you all.

My last couple of days have been slightly crazy—like many of my days will be. I don’t always have the chance to paint these every single day, but that doesn’t mean I don’t track my wonder and know what it is that I want to go on them. I have a little handheld calendar—this is a Hobonichi, fancy schmancy—but you don’t need one that’s expensive or fancy like this one. Just even the little free month calendars, like the ones you get at the bank (in America at least), they work really well.

If you don’t want to do the literal "inchies," you can also do this.

I just wrote mine in because I know I want to paint them, but if you didn’t want to do inchies or you were traveling, and it just felt too much, you can always paint or sketch with color pencils and what not in a calendar that has a monthly format like this.

That is another way to do Wake Up to Wonder all year long, and you have kind of a book format.

What I’m going to do with this is go ahead and record all of my little points of wonder in the month. I haven’t done this yet—I’m just getting into the swing of things. I’ll be back in the studio full time on Monday, kind of easing into the year, getting all the stuff done that needs to be done, working on writing a book, yeah.

This particular Hobonichi is on the pricey end, so not exactly budget-friendly. But you can get equivalents of this—I think Moleskine has one that is a good bit less. There are a lot of options if you just go to an office supply store or stationery shop.

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Painting Day 01 - Reaching 100K on Instagram — 3:00

I did write down my first four days, so let’s get painting!

I want to show you how simple this can be because sometimes, it’s so easy to overthink it.

Day 1 is 100K on New Year’s Day (on IG)—oh, that rhymed, very fun—I’m just going to pick up whatever is on my palette. I don’t even know what color this is. A purple of some kind, uh, looks like a neutral tint maybe.

I turn lots of things into paint palettes. Here’s my hedgehog. I’m not sure where I got it—might have been Michaels, might have been online. It was years ago, so I’m not sure where it came from, but she’s been very faithful in holding my paint for me.

We are going to put—I think I need a little bit more paint color than that; I can’t see it. All right, let’s try that. There we go. I have talked a lot about how your numbers don’t define you, especially on social, and they don’t.

I still believe that with all of my heart, but this is a huge milestone, and I think as much as they don’t define you, when cool things happen, it’s really important to recognize them and celebrate them so we’re not always just running toward the next goal.

I didn’t hand-draw this out, so it’s not going to be super exact lettering.

This particular watercolor paper is really rough textured. It’s gorgeous to use, but it’s not the easiest to letter on because it’s bumpy. 100K on Instagram, yay!

I want to put some fun little other embellishments on it. When I say that you can do this in five minutes a day, you can do this in five minutes a day—much less than that actually. But you can also spend longer if you want to, or if you have a day where you aren’t as busy and you have more space to paint or create or record your journey, then that’s awesome.

There are other days you may barely have 30 seconds, and it isn’t about being perfect. It isn’t about creating the perfect painting or the perfect art project. It’s literally about showing up for the things that are important, that light you up, and that are beautiful, and recognizing those.

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Painting Days 2-4 — 7:17

[Music and happy painting montage]

What does it say that like half of mine are hot beverages? Actually, I think I might do a little bit more definition just up here. Not everything has to be defined, but sometimes it’s just fun.

Here’s my 100K, and I’m going to put this as 01-01-2025. I’ll write on it: 100K on IG. This is 001 of 365. I’ll also include Candy Cane Lane Mini World. I’ll mark them with 01-02-2025, 03-25, and so on.

If you’re wondering, this is a Windsor and Newton gray-tone fineliner in .3. I’ll try to tell you as much about my supplies as I can. I won’t always know where they came from because I’ve been doing this a long time and have a lot of supplies I’ve had for years.

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Conclusion — 13:00

And there we have it—here’s Days 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Wake Up to Wonder. I can’t wait to see what you guys are going to do!

Please, please, please share your experiences—what was your wonder?

Share your wonder in the comments, and let’s all celebrate together. I’m so, so grateful you’re here.

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If you haven’t downloaded our free guide ⬇️

Wake Up To Wonder 2025 Guide

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This PDF guide contains everything you need to know to jump in and join us!

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Tomorrow evening January 5, I’ll be sending out our first monthly creative deep dive to our paid subscribers.

But I plan to include a sneak peek of the first part for everyone.

One day I hope to be a morning person. But it has been a rough go with symptoms from primary hyperparathyroidism and elevated blood calcium levels these last months. I’m planning to get the enlarged glands out later this month or early next. We are just wading through insurance waters.

So I’m having to somewhat pace myself. And practice what I preach about self-kindness. 😉

Hyperparathyroidism makes me feel like I have deep joint and bone pain, the flu, extreme fatigue, brain fog, memory issues, no appetite, and a smidge of depression.

But I’m told these symptoms clear up within a few weeks for many as levels of out-of-whack minerals equalize post-surgery.

You’ve been seeing me go at less than half my usual stamina these last few weeks. Thank you for your patience and your grace as I navigate this season.

A season that is all the more beautiful because you are in it. 🥰