Passion

Hey friends! It’s Wednesday which means it’s time for One-Word Wednesday. Technically, this post should have been posted last night so that it would have shown up in your inbox this morning but, the past two days have been a bit cray between the Tahoe install and babysitting my cute nieces yesterday, the week has gotten away from me.

Can we talk about toddlers vs. teenagers for just a second? I have teens, my nieces are almost two. Teens are mentally exhausting. They are highly emotional/opinionated/self-absorbed/impulsive. Toddlers are physically demanding. They are also highly emotional/opinionated/self-absorbed/impulsive. Ha ha! Little ones require more hands-on assistance whereas teens require a lot of coaching and honestly, crossed fingers for good choices because they are no longer doing what you say or ask. As my counselor said, with teens you are looking for ‘compromise over compliance’.  You can put a toddler in time out whereas a teen won’t have a whole lot of patience for this type of discipline. The ability to keep a toddler safe feels way more attainable. Teens have cars. Enough said.

Today I wanted to speak about P A S S I O N. Passion is a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept. Lately, I’ve been doing some soul searching and trying to figure out where my path is leading me. I have been a blogger for a while now. I love it. I love writing and sharing. It’s therapeutic for me. I also love sharing things that I love. Sometimes I share recipes. Often times home decor. I’ve been trying to figure out how to create a business outside of the blog. Something that is more hands-on and incorporates something that I love. Two things have crossed my mind. Organizing and home design + decor. I recently updated my blog offering services for both. But then I started thinking, “Is that too much? Don’t I want to focus on one? Which do I love the most?”

Let me back up a bit, last October a friend of a friend reached out and asked if I’d be interested in helping a mutual friend with some design + decor advice for a home they were building in Tahoe. I’ve been decorating and redecorating my own home for years. I’ve received a lot of compliments and it’s been suggested that I help others beautify their homes. I got stuck though. The idea of taking that leap was so scary for me. The Tahoe project allowed me to flex my interior design skills outside of my own home and guess what? I LOVED it! I did the install of the project on Monday. It was months of planning, emails, face to face conversations, text messages and shopping. I loved all of it. I really loved creating a home for my clients to enjoy. I helped with some of the design choices but mostly I swooped in on the home decor portion of things. I could feel the stress dissipate off my client when I helped her find the perfect tile for her bathrooms. Those ‘little’ things are a big deal when it’s not your wheelhouse. I get that. There are several things that are not in my wheelhouse and I am happy to let someone else take the lead on such things.

I was listening to a Gretchen Rubin Podcast the other day and one of the quote’s that has now been on constant rotation in my head was, “Do what you love and your friends will hire you.” #boom So I love organizing but I love it in my own home. I feel like it’s a great thing for all homes to embrace but it doesn’t bring me as much joy as making a house pretty. Don’t get me wrong, I could easily do both but if I have to put my energy somewhere, I’d rather it be on my biggest passion. The one that I think about as I fall asleep at night. That would be redoing a space and giving it new life. Designing a space as I drift off to sleep is basically my grown-up version of counting sheep. Is that weird? #dontjudge

So my message today is about finding your passion. Listen to the little things that spark joy, that feed your soul, that make you feel alive. Follow your dreams. Know that things can change and that sometimes the visions can be fuzzy but if you keep talking about things out loud with other creatives + family + friends, listening to the podcasts, reading the books – something will start to click.

I’m feeling a little bit more alive this week. After feeling like I was in a bit of a rut wondering what I was supposed to be doing in this grown-up life. I owe a big thank you to my friend + client who helped me see what I am good at and how I can use my own creativity to give others the joy of a lovely home without the stress of pulling it together themselves. I think we all have our own lane and sometimes letting someone else take the wheel where they are comfortable and you are not, is a game changer.

Find your passion and run with that. Life moves pretty fast and if you can find the things that fill you up, it’ll be a life well lived.