Meet
Sophie!
One hundred challenges for
a new life. That could be
the title of a crazy project by this jack-of-all-trades journalist, creator of
a stationery brand designed to thrill curious souls.
“Nothing is set in stone, we can reinvent
ourselves at any moment.”
What has framed your own trail?
For my thirtieth birthday, I promised myself I would complete 100 challenges. Spiritual, sporting, or absurd goals — they were all parts of me that I needed to explore, to discover all the facets of my curiosity. Challenge 91 had a special flavour: to create my own business. I decided to launch a brand of conscious stationery designed to help people get to know themselves better and connect with others.
What do you believe in?
I believe fundamentally in surprise. Nothing is set in stone; the wheel turns, people evolve, and we can reinvent ourselves at any moment. That’s exactly what I’ve tried to convey with the Nouveau Départ notebook. Life is much richer than we think, and things happen that are even more beautiful than we could have imagined.
What’s the belief you’ve totally ditched?
In the need to always rationalize things. I tend to be much more attentive to any discrepancy between what I think and what I feel. I trust my intuition but don’t fall into the trap of personal development, which would always try to resolve a negative emotion before knowing why it’s there. Asking ourselves what a fear says about us also means accepting that we can make wrong choices, investments, or associations.
Got any hacks for a simpler life?
I’d love to meditate at dawn and religiously follow a set morning routine. But the reality is that my first impulse is to use my computer. With learning and creation as my driving forces, I want to do everything. But I constantly force myself to lighten my agenda, wondering if this event will have any importance at the end of my life. Keeping my friends close, yes, but a work party or a brand launch, definitely less so.
“Keep cooking, even if you burn it all.”
What belief have you rebooted along the way?
I’ve rebooted my belief about convictions making us superior moral beings. I used to think that having convictions made us superior moral beings. When I had friends who didn’t give a damn about politics or who didn’t have an ecological conscience, I judged them. Then I read the book “The Five Levels of Attachment” by Miguel Ruiz Jr. and realized that if our beliefs divide us, it’s because we’re missing the most important thing. Today, I have far fewer convictions on divisive societal issues.
Who’s flipping the script for you?
Sally Gabori recently blew my mind. This Aboriginal artist lived on Bentinck, a completely isolated island off the coast of Australia. But after several devastating weather episodes, she exiled herself to Mornington and began painting… at the age of 81! Far from traditional Aboriginal iconography, she draws her inspiration freely from the colors of her homeland, playing with her brushes while singing in her native tongue.
What makes life truly worth the ride?
A big question that entrepreneurship forced me to ask myself. Fulfilment and success, for me, means having a life that’s like me, in which I’m free to accept my dualities and paradoxes.
To be as solitary as I am social, as festive as I am meditative, as shallow as I am deep.
I cherish this authenticity, as well as having the latitude and space to dare.
Got any words for a “non-believer”?
To follow your joy. Identify all the things you want to achieve and organize your life around them. To draw, even if you draw badly; to cook, even if you burn everything. It can be chaotic, but you have to accept that life doesn’t always have a framework and give yourself the opportunity to experiment.
Meet Sophie Gauthier on Instagram or at an “À table avec…” dinner.
(all details available on Carnets Goguette’s website)
.svg)