When I was 26 I moved to a new city all by myself. I packed up the apartment I shared with my sister in Charleston, South Carolina and move to a new city with nothing but a job and blind ambition.

One of my first work friends was Meredith. She was smart, ambitious, and she liked to laugh at my jokes (my favorite quality in a new friend.) I remember developing a fun repertoire with her at work, and I remember how our friendship deepened the first time I went to her house.

I recently watched a TedX talk by Ingrid Fetell Lee on creating joy through design. Ingrid suggested that there is a relationship between physical things and the emotional reaction we have to them. Bright pops of color, round shapes, multiples of the same object, and a sense of elevation tend to put us at ease. While sharp corners and dull colors bring about stress.