Lately, I’ve been feeling pulled to be more creative in my life…with my home and wardrobe as well as the food that I make. This also spills over into relationships…how can I imagine them to be better, different, or sometimes…over? What can I give of myself that I have been holding back and what relationships matter most?

The question becomes - How am I expressing myself in this world? Does this expression come from an authentic place, or from a place of fear and not enoughness. This has strongly influenced me over the past several weeks and I plan to elaborate on this question because it seems very important!

The woods beside our home have always fascinated me (stay with me here). They are a little pocket of the wild inside the confinement of an old suburban neighborhood. They have never been built on and at night, it sounds as if we live deep inside the forest, when in reality, we live 2 minutes from our downtown.

Just recently, as the weather has gotten colder and I’ve taken fewer walks with Amos, I’ve begun to take him out and let him run free…supervised of course. He normally stays pretty close by…sniffing and doing all the doggy things and while he’s sniffing, I look around. I look up at the sky and down at the leaves on the ground. There are so many birds as well as other creatures that I can’t see but I know they’re there and I wonder if they’re watching me!

I had the idea to take these pictures in my woods the other day and the phrase that I kept thinking about was “reality winks” (from the poem in last weeks post). Miracles occur when reality winks and the woods seem to be a perfect place for reality to wink…full of wonder and possibility. I wanted to wear something that felt just a little unexpected and contrasting for these pictures and I think I nailed it.

I’m wearing a suit and sweater from Cabi that I purchased last season and loved but haven’t worn often. I added my Prada Chelsea boots and a long black coat from Zara. I’m really in love with this outfit as it feels festive but also unexpected. As is often the case, it came to me suddenly as I was holding the coat thinking “what would be just a little out of the box to wear with this?”

I’m consciously trying to curate my life. To envision what I want my days, weeks and years to look like and slowing down to take the time to imagine and then act.

When it comes to my wardrobe, I have a “uniform” that I could pick out with my eyes closed but I don’t want to do that anymore. I have certain foods that I reach for almost daily and I also don’t want to do that anymore. Why, when there are so many other options everywhere would I keep going back to the familiar?

I’ve also been choosing some new items for our home that really reflect more the way I want it to feel as our family all come together in this big, old, quirky house. I’m rethinking how I want to spend my days…how important is social media to me (even though it’s a large part of what I do). Could I fit in another workout because it’s the best thing for my bones and my health. Do I want to watch Netflix, or would I rather sit outside by the fire? Should we have takeout, or could I put something in the slow cooker in the morning so that the house smells good and we have leftovers for another delicious meal?

Living intentionally and purposefully choosing to bring beauty into the every day is important and so many people have few options about this, and even if they did have options, they wouldn’t understand how because they weren’t brought up with any kind of beauty. The truth is, there is beauty everywhere, but you have to look for it, and/or create it. It could simply be putting your coffee into a mug instead of a paper cup, or really noticing and being grateful for a beautiful tree. This is one reason I feel that public art is so important!

Elevating the everyday, so that our lives are also elevated takes a little more effort but is so worth it. Our days and our memories are made in the small moments, so why not make those moments as special as possible. I hope you’ll consider this as we enter into the holiday season. It’s so difficult to slow down when there is so much to accomplish, but at least, in your mind, decide what is most important and as you go about your day, make your decisions based on what is important to you and create a holiday full of beautiful memories! You may just look back and see that in fact…reality winked!

I’ll be updating the holiday gift guides tonight so be sure to check back for new items that you’ll love for yourself and others! I hope you’re having the best weekend!