My Current Favorites – [March 2026] – Rich Grandma Energy, Higher Self, Survival Mode
March brought lots of reunions, sunshine, and new concepts. Here are my favorites of the month:
My leather tote bag
After a year and a half of deliberation and procrastination, my tote bag has finally come to life. I was tired of shopping with fabric tote bags, so I set myself a deadline to make the tote bag of my dreams. Now my fingers are sore because I’ve never sewn so much by hand with so many layers, but the result is totally worth it. Not only does it have all the features I love, but it’s also super comfortable.
I just realized why bags with this kind of handle hurt me, and mine doesn’t: the secret is the material used to stuff those handles. When you use a leather cord (instead of plastic like all other industrial bags), the weight is distributed better. I went shopping and put several kilos of meat and fruit in it, and it didn’t hurt. You’ll get more photos and info on making this bag here.
Rich Grandma Energy
I talked at length about this little book and its author here, I even translated an excerpt from my favorite chapter. I think Shania Khan used to do the same job as me. And she manages to find words for concepts I can’t always articulate and explain. This book will appeal greatly to future entrepreneurs who are hesitant to take the plunge. And to all those who are close to burnout.
In one of the videos she posted online, she talked about the jealousy as an excellent way to know what you want. I found this idea very interesting, because the hardest part is knowing what you want. Many people apply the law of attraction and once they get what they wanted, they realize it wasn’t actually what they truly desired. So jealousy is the best way to know exactly what you want and how to get it. It’s very reassuring: if the other person can do it, then there’s a chance you can too.
However, in people with a limiting mindset (which I call “survival mode”), when they feel jealous, brain areas linked to fear and emotional regulation are activated. They defend themselves by resorting to the easiest solution: disparagement. By criticizing, they can never become the person they criticize, and they will never get what they want. Those who want financial ease won’t become rich by shouting “eat the riches” . You can’t become someone you despise.
People with an limiting mindset abundant mindset will treat it as information: “why can he/she do it and not me?”. Because they are in abundance, they don’t believe in limited resources. They understand that just because A gets 1 doesn’t mean there’s nothing left for them; on the contrary, they can get 10. They’ll be able to imitate the person they envy or even surpass them completely. You don’t even know they’re jealous because they don’t express it, and you only notice when they copy exactly what you do and do it even better because they now have an even more ambitious goal.
Disparagement
I’m selling a lot of things on secondhand sites right now, and as soon as something is a bit pricey, there’s an army of people making ridiculously low offers and justifying them by disparaging (criticizing the item’s condition, criticizing the asking price…). On the other hand, there are super decisive buyers who, seeing the price, ask no questions and buy immediately. No haggling, no hesitation: the listing is complete, the price suits them, it’s done.
What these people don’t realize is that if they find the price too high, it simply means they’re not my target audience. Luxury brands don’t lower their prices to convince Mrs. Michou who finds them too expensive! They don’t want Mrs. Michou in the first place.
In life, it’s the same. There are people who will try to diminish your light: making you believe you only deserve such a salary, such treatment, such a place. What they say is only a reflection of their own limitations. On the other hand, there will be others who know your worth without you having to justify yourself. And if someone finds you too expensive, too high maintenance, too… , it’s simply that they’re not your target. Why keep surrounding ourselves with people who disparage us when there are people who truly match us? On secondhand sites, you can block certain users; in real life, it’s the same.
Note: Insolent messages concern only creative tools (artistic, handicraft), meaning people who are supposed to create beauty are cheap in their mentality , and stuck in survival (in recent years, the cheap people I’ve met were all artisans). No wonder there’s less beauty in the world; creative trades need abundance to create beauty. It was while selling my tools on Le Bon Coin that I realized the investment (tools, raw materials, training) for each creative hobby! While to do a bullshit job, the investment is much cheaper.
The higher self
I recently babysat some kids, and I loved giving them little choices: two types of apples, crayons… In my house, everything is good quality, but between the two options, there’s often a subtle difference—in texture, finish, or price. What strikes me is that they invariably pick the higher-quality option. At that age, these distinctions are too subtle to be consciously perceived. It makes me think that the higher self (the higher self) of children is particularly present and naturally guides them toward the best.
As we grow up, we let biases, prejudices, and marketing get in the way. We gradually lose that connection to our deep intuition. Yet, this higher self never disappears : it keeps trying to guide us toward what truly suits us. I believe that meditation, or creating, makes it very easy for us to access this again, higher self and it can continue to guide us, even in the most insignificant choices. My favorite game is to have my friends touch different fabric samples and ask them to rank them from least to most expensive. A fun way to awaken that often-dormant intuition.
Fear can also dull our intuition. I invite you to read my article on fear. It’s no coincidence that the Bene Gesserit in Dune had as a mantra “fear is the mind killer”. Besides, the more I think about the saga Dune, the more I find the author visionary. I recently learned that he and his wife had prophetic gifts.
The boot economy
I discovered the concept of the boot economy and I think it aligns quite well with the idea of buying little but well, to escape a survival mindset.
The boots theory, or Sam Vimes’ theory of boots, lays out a simple principle: being poor often costs more than being well-off. The phrase comes from the novel Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett, where Captain Vimes, a modestly paid policeman, explains he can only afford $10 boots that last a year or two. A wealthier man buys a $50 pair that lasts ten years while keeping his feet dry. Over a decade, the poor man will have spent $100 replacing cheap boots multiple times; the rich man will have spent only $50 for better protection throughout.
The core mechanism is this: lack of capital forces choices that are very short-sighted. You buy what you can afford immediately, even if it’s less durable and therefore more expensive in the long run.
This metaphor sheds light on a broader structural injustice. Without a financial cushion, you end up paying more overall for the basics: clothes that wear out quickly, appliances that need frequent replacement, poorly insulated homes, pricier prepaid energy plans, renting cars and clothes instead of buying. Poverty then perpetuates itself not just through low income, but through a choice structure that condemns the less fortunate to spend more (accumulating small amounts regularly) for less.
Today, the secondhand market offers a partial way out: access to better-quality products without paying full price. Not necessarily the latest trend or the newest iPhone, but enough to somewhat mitigate this injustice where those with the least paradoxically end up paying the most.
Dressing better
I wrote an article about the 10 things that elevated daily life and alterations are part of the top 10. I do some sewing myself, so I handle easy alterations (hems, repairs…), but when they’re too challenging, I pass them on to a professional tailor. It costs me between €10 and €20 per garment, but when a piece fits perfectly, it completely changes the silhouette.
Before, I’d throw away clothes at the first stain, but I’ve learned that dry cleaners are meant for that. I’ve managed to save a lot of clothes thanks to the dry cleaner. You just need to specify the type of stain (sweat, food, oil…) and they’ll find a solution 80% of the time. As soon as you stain a garment, don’t touch it—bring it straight to the cleaner, because a bad wash might set the stain permanently.
I came across a Facebook page that translated the best styling tips from Chinese social media into Vietnamese. You don’t even need to alter clothes—just buttoning or unbuttoning your shirt changes the silhouette. The advice is: if you don’t know how to coordinate outfits yet, just take screenshots of looks you like and recreate them. This page offers tons of looks with just one shirt or one cardigan. Thanks to that, I’ve been able to create outfits that are much less boring.
I also did a haul of summer clothes here. I found some really nice new and secondhand pieces recently, including two brands I’m discovering for the first time. After years on the road, I was short on clothes, but I think I’ve finally completed my wardrobe to be minimal enough without creating frustration.
On TikTok, a young woman explained that her sister was the very embodiment of beauty—she was always well-dressed, well-groomed, etc. And she realized that this beauty was the result of years and years of research. If her sister chose a certain hairstyle, it’s because she had studied it and concluded it was the best. Same for clothes, colors… so beauty is reproducibleand like all things, it requires a lot of time, passion, research, energy, and money. Thus, the young woman became less envious of beautiful women because she understood that she simply didn’t have as much energy to beautify herself.
The Tale of Rose
I’ve seen many clips from this Chinese series on Facebook (it’s a TV adaptation of a novel) and people say they watch it again and again every year. I was curious and watched a few episodes. The series tells the love life of a very beautiful young woman named Rose, from her 20s to her 40s. The men who crossed her life have different profiles (so the audience can relate) and one bad choice—just one, the choice of a husband—completely ruined her career and made her life miserable for decades. Viewers fight in the comments to pick their favorite suitor and analyze the young woman’s behavior.
I don’t know if it’s different in Europe, but in Asia, a woman’s life is heavily influenced by her choice of husband; there’s even a Vietnamese expression for it. I have two Vietnamese girlfriends with very similar backgrounds, and it’s the choice of husband that ultimately defined their current lives. From a karmic perspective, when you marry someone, you share their karma, so marrying someone with too heavy karma is no trivial matter. From a vibrational standpoint, it’s not because you avoid a red flag that you can later fall for a green flag. No, it’s the vibration you have at that moment that attracts such men. And if you don’t want red flagsanymore, you have to change yourself, and naturally, the new vibration will attract green flags.
Anyway, the series The Tale of Rose, the movie Materialists, the series Love Story, the series Sex and the City… make me reflect a lot on why good women choose losers, why they choose chaos instead of peace.
