The Day I Dated Myself by The Lake
- Julie Quizon
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
PROJECT 180
Wellness Wednesday
The Day I Dated Myself by the Lake
Today felt like a movie.
Not because something dramatic happened —but because for the first time in a long time, I fully allowed myself to enjoy my own life without guilt, pressure, or overplanning.
And maybe that is the real luxury: feeling free enough to follow joy.
It was Wednesday.
And in my world now, Wednesdays are sacred.
Pink and purple day. Dress day.
Wellness Wednesday. Women’s Wednesday.
My day off. My feminine reset. My “date myself” day.
After dropping my little girl off at school, I decided to spend the day with the woman I am becoming.
No pressure.
No rigid schedule. No forcing productivity.
Just flow.
That is one thing I am learning through PROJECT 180:I don’t need to wait for a perfect date, a perfect month, or permission to start living again.
I originally planned to begin in June.
But the truth is…the moment I decided to change my life, PROJECT 180 had already begun.
So today, I followed my mood like a compass.
And my compass said:walk by the lake.
Living near Lake Huron is something I never want to take for granted.
The scenery.The breeze.
The beach energy.
The softness of the water.
The calmness it brings to the nervous system.
It feels healing without trying.
So I walked.
And while walking, I felt something shifting inside me again.
I wasn’t rushing. I wasn’t mentally carrying the world. I wasn’t trying to solve everything.
I was simply existing.
And it felt beautiful.
After my walk, I drove around listening to fun music with all the windows open, smiling the entire drive like I was inside my own little coming-of-age film.
The good vibes were flowing naturally.
And maybe that was because something else incredibly special happened this week too:
I released my new album.
The album is called Nonna’s Table — inspired by my trip to Europe and the deep love I felt for the culture, femininity, beauty, art, food, architecture, music, softness, and romantic way of living I experienced there.
The album carries that European summer energy.
Warm evenings. Italian cooking.
Vintage charm. Wine-country femininity.
Slow living. Beautiful dresses.
Open windows.
Music playing while dinner is cooking.
And while driving today, listening to my own music, I realized:
I don’t want to leave that energy behind in Europe.
I want to embody it here in Canada too.
Because even though I live in Canada now, I also carry European roots through Spanish ancestry, and I realized something deeply personal:
femininity, artistry, culture, warmth, and beauty live in my DNA too.
And maybe PROJECT 180 is about reclaiming that part of myself again.
So naturally, my day led me somewhere unexpected but meaningful:
the museum.
Since we are helping form the new women’s branch, Ladies of Saugeen Shores, I felt inspired to visit the historical space connected to the Women’s Institute movement and the lives of women who came before us.
And honestly?
It was fascinating.
Seeing the lives of women from past centuries…their resilience,their creativity,their domestic artistry, their community-building,their beauty, their traditions,their homemaking, their strength.
It made me feel connected to something bigger.
Women have always created culture. Always created warmth.
Always created community.
And suddenly my creative soul clicked into alignment.
I started filming TikToks for my album using the museum scenery and vintage-inspired spaces.
Little cinematic clips. European summer vibes.
Soft feminine energy. Historical visuals. Music-led storytelling.
And I realized something important:
I don’t need to overshare everything online.
I can let the music, visuals, creativity, movement, and emotion speak for themselves.
That realization felt freeing.
Because this project is not about explaining myself constantly.
It is about expressing myself.
And today, my creativity felt fully alive.
This is my mojo.
My rhythm.
My joy.
My art.
I called today :Arts & Archives.
A super fun girl day. feminine energy day. A laughter day. A creative sync day.
And then something unexpectedly beautiful happened.
As I was about to leave after filming, I saw a friend of mine who works at the museum.
Normally she is warm, kind, sweet, and full of light toward me and Vela.
But today, I could instantly feel something was off.
She had just returned from vacation and looked rushed, emotionally overwhelmed, and disconnected from herself.
The old version of me might have absorbed her energy immediately.
But because I had spent the entire day protecting my peace and nourishing my own energy first, I was able to remain grounded in joy.
So instead of becoming heavy, I stayed playful.
I gently teased her and laughed:
“You’re in your ‘I don’t have time to be happy today, so I have to go’ mode.”
And we both laughed.
But suddenly, her eyes almost filled with tears.
And she said:
“Oh my God… I needed to hear that.”
She apologized for seeming rude, but I told her it was okay.
We all have days like that.
And in that moment, I realized something powerful:
energy really is contagious.
Not fake positivity.
Not toxic happiness.
But genuine grounded joy.
She asked if we could spend a little time together.
So we went to a charming little café with a beautiful patio and lovely lunch dishes, and we just sat there talking in the sunshine.
No pressure. No fixing. No deep therapy.
Just presence.
Conversation
Warmth.
Laughter.
Good energy.
And slowly, I watched her soften.
By the end of lunch, she was laughing again.
Smiling again.
Breathing differently.
And she told me she was grateful we bumped into each other today.
That moment stayed with me deeply.
Because I realized: when I genuinely nourish myself first, my energy naturally becomes nourishing to others too.
Not through sacrifice.
Not through depletion.
Not through abandoning myself.
But through overflow.
And maybe that is the lesson PROJECT 180 is teaching me now:
feeling good is not selfish.
It is life force.
My mood became my compass today.
Joy became my direction
.And good energy became the medicine.
And honestly?
I want to keep living like this.
Comments