Is it possible to create your own luck? Turns out, it is. Years ago, I remember learning about a psychology study from Dr. Richard Wiseman, who wrote The Luck Factor, concluding that luck is not purely random chance but can actually be influenced by your own attitude and behavior. People who consider themselves “lucky” tend to be more open to opportunities, more resilient, and more optimistic. A lot of it has to do with noticing the unexpected things around you—being observant and seeing the world as it is, not as you want it to be. When I learned about this, I felt so empowered that we can all create our own luck and improve our outlook on life. I must have logged this research study in the back of my mind, because clearly, it helped inform the themes of my latest picture book, SKY LUCK.
In my story, the character of the boy has a narrow and limited concept of shooting stars as being the only form of “sky luck”—an elusive feeling that he is eager to capture. His uncle helps him see that there are many other types of natural wonders besides shooting stars that are just as auspicious. The uncle embodies the traits of abundant thinking, a mindset that focuses on possibilities and opportunities, rather than scarcity and limitations. He tells the boy to “Pay attention to what’s already here, not what’s missing.” I was inspired to write that line only after seeing the initial character sketches by our illustrator Dagmar Smith, who imagined the uncle as an amputee, making his glass-half-full perspective feel especially poignant. The uncle helps his nephew see that there is always enough luck for everyone, because luck is actually infinite and expanding, if only you are willing to notice it.
I wrote SKY LUCK during a transformative and healing time in my own life, after I had recently experienced a pregnancy loss. After many weeks of feeling depressed and betrayed by my own body, I eventually felt a shift in my emotions. I discovered that the antidote to my hopelessness was gratitude. Thank you, Universe, for my health; it’s still in tact. Thank you, Universe, for my husband, who weathered this storm with me. Thank you, Universe, for my friends, who got me laughing again. My traumatic experience was just a setback, not a defeat. I still had a long journey ahead, but at least I was still moving in the right direction.
The idea for a children’s picture book came during a weekend getaway with friends to the desert landscape of Joshua Tree, California. It was the first time in a long while that I felt carefree, without fretting about infertility and pregnancy and health scares. We were all so excited to see shooting stars streaking across the night sky, except for one of our friends, who had a hard time catching a meteor in action. My husband Nader kept teasing him, saying that he had “run out of sky luck.” It gave us a good chuckle, and it also got me thinking: can you really run out of luck?
I want my readers to believe that, no, luck is all around us, even if we don’t see it. Even in times of hopelessness or desperation, we can find ways to be grateful for at least one thing. We can re-frame our negative life experiences as lessons, not losses. We can leave the past in the past, the future in the future, and just focus on the fulfillment of the present moment.
I do think it’s important to acknowledge when times are actually tough and not immediately jump to toxic positivity. Authentic joy is often born out of an understanding grief or hardship first. In the story, I think it’s necessary for the boy to feel the harsh sting of comparison—“Everyone else has better sky luck than me”—before eventually finding his own internal peace.
There are no shortcuts to creating luck. Mindfulness always takes practice—noticing, accepting, and cultivating thoughts that help you, rather than hurt you. I hope my little picture book helps young readers develop this practice early, so that they’re set up for a life of possibilities as they grow up and evolve.
In a serendipitous twist of fate, I got pregnant again while this picture book was in development. Our baby boy is due any day now…and I am feeling so full, so grateful, so abundant. How’s that for some luck?
Erica Lee Schlaikjer grew up in cities around the world as a mixed-race “Third Culture Kid.” She’s lived in twelve cities on three continents—a true citizen of the world. She writes stories about the joy of belonging, the beauty of fleeting moments, and the wonders of nature. Her debut book, Wild Greens, Beautiful Girl, won the 2022 Own Voices, Own Stories Award. You can find her in Los Angeles with her husband, Nader, and (since the writing of this post) her son, Dahoud.