Erika Larissa

Do you remember back in November 2024 I said that I wanted to retire by the time I was 55? Did I do it? ABSOLUTELY NOT *Insert [FACE PALM]* What I did do was continue to be frustrated with my situation by writing and rewriting what I WANTED to do but NEVER really doing anything. 

I'm not saying that to shame myself, but what I am saying is that I learned that it's okay to not achieve a goal that I was passionate about. In hindsight I needed a bit more lead time and to be more grounded (and realistic) with my approach. 

I didn't take into account my energy levels and how they've changed in the last two years. Grieving is a hell of a thing, you think you're in the clear and BAM something happens to derail you. It could be little and nonsensical but it still can derail you nonetheless. 

So when I made the declaration that I was going to retire at 55 I was working not one but TWO full time jobs! Yes two. Plus I decided in December 2025 that I was going to return to school. Yeah I know insane right?! Well I was beyond burnt out (still am) but it was the first time in my adult life that I got my finances in order! Yay me! 

Buuuuuttt... that ultimately was short lived because this past February 2026 I truly hit a brick wall. I could no longer sustain working two full time jobs (and going to school)so I went on leave through May and then had to end up quitting job #2. I've been working one job ever since and yes my credit card bills have piled up but that's okay. 

I'm now working 30 hours a week at only one job and I'm done with taking classes (for now). I realized today that I went from working almost 80 hours a week to only 30 and I've been able to sustain my expenses (aside from the cc bills) with just working only 30 hours! Wow!

Honestly while I am still working for someone else in a W2 job I'm working only 30 hours, so to me I've gotten 10 hours of my week or I should really say MY LIFE back! Yay!

Now the goal is to continue reducing my weekly W2 work hours until I have all that time back for me to use at my discretion and not a boss to tell me what I can do with that time. 

I'll have alot more to report soon (I hope) I'm not very good at keeping this blog up. I'm going to do my best to keep you updated. I've been toying with the idea of starting a Youtube channel. Actually I've been "toying" with the idea for 14 year now. 

Yeah I know, don't come at me. Social media is exhausting most days but because I want to document my life in a different way than just journaling or this blog I thought I'd start a video journal. You can follow my channel here. I'm on the TikTok as well as Instagram if you wanted to take a peek or follow. *hint hint*

See you soon! 

One thing I've struggled with is the type of content I wanted to share on this blog. I personally love blogs with anecdotal stories as well as informative blogs. I struggle between whether I want to share my personal story with you or whether I just want to help you with your journaling practice. I'm still going back and forth and thought I would share my struggles. 

I will do my best to make this blog a resource for the reader who is just starting out. I also want to share my love of stationery and paper goods as well as planning and productivity. 

I'm grateful that you're here taking the time to visit the blog.

Welcome to my new series called Studio Notes. I had the idea this morning when I woke up to document how my week went so I can keep an account of my progress.

I hadn't officially made the announcement that I plan to retire at 55 that's in two years. Actually a year and a half at this point and I wanted to document that journey here on the blog.

Let me explain my version of retirement. I don't have any money saved for retirement. What I have in my 401k would last me about a month. I have over $130k in student loan debt and about $8k in credit card debt. I'm not a home owner and I don't have a car payment. I know you're probably thinking how in the world can you retire with all of that debt and no nest egg? Here's how...

I took a long hard look at my future and not going to lie it seemed bleak. I was so discouraged at the thought of having to work for someone for the rest of my life. I was hard wired to believe I needed to get a "good job" save for retirement, own a home and live a nice life. 

All while believing that a creative or an artist was what I truly desired to be, but believed that starving artist trope so I never ventured down that path. The ironic thing is my ENTIRE adult working life I've been under employed. I have a bachelor's and an associates degrees, yet I work at a call center. 

Don't get me wrong there is absolutely nothing wrong with working at a call center but that wasn't the path I wanted for myself. 

I looked back at my life and saw a girl who was stifled to believe that her creativity would amount to nothing. A girl whose creative ideas flowed like water falling from Niagara Falls. Decades I've perpetuated that belief that all my gifts didn't matter. Working for companies and people who didn't value my gifts. Feeling like a failure most days because I wanted more with my life and didn't want how my life was playing out. 

One day I thought to myself, wouldn't it be ironic if I lived life as a creative and DIDN'T starve but actually THRIVED? That's when I vowed to myself that moving forward I would live the 2nd half of my life the way I wanted.

That was when the idea came to me to "retire" at 55. Retirement to me looked like having to work but now I made the decision to work on my own terms and that means for myself!

Yes, I'm retiring from working for someone else! I am going to lean in to my strengths and capitalize off of it. Why not live a life that I can enjoy while making money? So that's what I'm going to do!

Studio Notes will be the documentation of my journey to retiring at 55! I'm so glad that you're here on the journey with me!

I'm not sure if Guinness Book of World Records would issue an award for journaling, but if they did I think I would get it. I'm not trying to brag but I've been journaling for over 47 years! I started when I was around 6 years old.

Journaling for me is a way to express my feelings without being judged or interrupted or having my feelings trivialized. I’m pretty sure it was a way for kid year old Erika to express how she feels without being reprimanded for expressing how she felt. It was my haven and safe space. It’s been my therapist, best friend, and autobiography.

Anyone can journal about anything

Journaling is a practice I believe anyone can learn to do. So I’m here to share how you can start your journaling practice today!

Over the years I’ve read comments on social media of the difficulty people have starting their journaling practice. I never understood what was so hard about journaling because to me you just…start. I get it though, if it’s new territory for you then you may be overwhelmed as to where to start. I’m here to tell you that you start where you are. That’s it nothing more.

The great thing about journaling is that no one will critique you about your handwriting, content, or grammar. You can write to your heart’s content about what is weighing on your heart.

Did you have a bad day? Write it down? Did you see something that caught your eye? Write it down. It doesn’t have to be fancy or elaborate or anything. Just a thought or a feeling you may be experiencing in that moment.

I can’t even begin to tell you how many journal entries I’ve had where I wrote absolutely nothing or entries that I’ve started where I start off saying “I can’t believe…” WHAT ERIKA? WHAT? Don’t leave me hanging? Haha! But I do…I mean I did. And you know what? I just start a new sentence saying “ I have no idea what I was going to write about” Clearly I don’t take myself too seriously because my journal is my safe space and anything goes.

Starting your journaling practice

Journaling is what you make it. Be as descriptive as you like or not. Your journal entry can be one sentence in your planner. Or it can be pages long in notebook. It doesn’t matter. What matters is what you make of it.

There are various ways you can start journaling. In a calendar, planner, notebook, it can even be a google doc, the notes app, or even the voice memo app on your phone. Just choose something that resonates with you.

I have to confess. I journal about 4 different ways at any given time. Yes FOUR! This year when I became an empty nester I started voice journaling. I didn’t realize how much I needed to talk to someone so I started voice journaling with the voice memo app on my iphone. I also have a Stalogy B6 notebook, a google doc, and a digital planner. Excessive? Possibly…but it’s who I am and I can keep up so that’s all that matters.

All that being said, how would you like to start? Pen and paper, digital calendar, voice memo? Take a look at the list below to get you started.

Here’s a list of ways you can journal:

• Pen and paper
• Notebook
• Planner
• Calendar
• Digital
• Planner
• Notebook
• Calendar
• Audio
• Voice Journal
• Visual
• Art work
• Photos
• Videos/Vlogs

I’ll go into depth in later posts on how to explore those various journaling styles. I will also post journaling prompts for those days you don’t know what to write about.

Let’s give it a shot right now…shall we?

What makes you want to start journaling?

What are you grateful for today?

What made you happy today?

Did you see something interesting today?

Did someone tell you something and you were unable to respond in the moment? What would you say now if you had the chance to say something?

What did you have for lunch?

What has been on your mind today?

What did you say you needed to get at the grocery store?

So you see journaling allows you to start where you are! Now that you’re armed with some prompts will you take a moment today to document your day?