You know that stuck feeling where you can’t imagine how you would even begin a project?

You want a space to be different, you want a part of your life to be different, but you’re nowhere near inspired.

That’s how my office has felt this month. It functions relatively well, but was beginning to fill up again with all the things that needed to be done, fixed, sent (those things seem to attract themselves to this space!). 

And yet, here we are, in February, a month of focusing on the Self Knowledge & Wisdom area of home and life and--you guessed it--that’s exactly where my office falls. I wanted the space to feel & function even better. I wanted more clarity around my inner work. But I just couldn't get started. 

We all yearn for (and benefit from), that work-space that inspires us, that lends us focus and productivity--that all powerful ability to be in the zone.

And last weekend I had an opening.

There is one room in your home that hands down has the greatest impact on your well being... 

You'll also find out one thing you can do to begin to improve this space in a way that will impact your health, your relationships, your work life, your home life, you name it. 

Still wondering what room that is?! Watch the short video below!

Today's video log is a glimpse into how you can find and look to the Self Knowledge & Wisdom area of your home in a way that can inspire you afresh and help you appreciate where you are right now.

Creating a space (however small) that accurately reflects YOU--the growth you continue to make and the aspirations you have in life--is incredibly helpful for those days when your inspiration flags.

As we come squarely into the month of February, love is in the air. 

I've never been one to place much import in Valentine's Day, but I think that was because the marketers got to me and I thought the holiday was all about buying things for your loved ones. Don't get me wrong, flowers and dark chocolate are fabulous, but if you know me, you know that stuff is not always my cup of tea. 

Now the holiday makes me think about all the depth there is to the notion of love, all the ways to shower love and attention and show your appreciation for your loved ones. 

And so, in this month where our focus is on Self Knowledge & Wisdom, I have a short little video log for you where I share alternative ways to shower love and appreciation on your loved ones (and yes, of course, it has to do with your space :)). 

This month we are shifting our focus to the next area of the Bagua: Self Knowledge & Wisdom. 

In honor of that shift, I have a brief video for you, that shares the easiest way to transform your life and gives you one small step you can take TODAY to create more love and appreciation in your world. 

I also highlight why this area of the Bagua is my very favorite one to focus on.

Check it out--enjoy the video. It's gonna be a great month!

As a part of this month long focus on Career & Journey, I was thrilled to have an excuse to put a magnifying glass up to that area of my own home & life.

My spaces devolve and stagnate, just like anyone’s (even though, in my line of work, I spend a good deal of time thinking about and improving the feel of my spaces). That is the natural way of things, dust settles, random things end up in random places, life fills up with more important things that demand attention.

Creating flow and function in your space is a work in progress, not something you achieve once and check off your list. So my spaces had plenty of opportunity for a refresh!

Knowing that I was going to refresh my Journey & Career area, I began to focus my attention, my energy on that area of my life & what I wanted it to look like. As I did so, amazing things began to happen… before I’d even lifted a finger to refresh my space.

But before I tell you about that, I lay out for you 6 clear steps to follow in order to refresh your Career & Journey Gua of your home to attract what you desire into your life. Without those steps, it is easy to feel unsatisfied with life, with no clear plan around how to get where you want to go. 

In addition to these steps, at the bottom of the post, you’ll find a great new Tip Sheet: How to Clean & Clear Your Home With Intention. It lays out the most powerfully important pieces to remember.

Today, I share with you specific ways to enhance and support the Career & Journey area of your home (and thus your Career & Journey) through the use of appropriate colors, materials, images, textures. 

One of my favorite parts of Feng Shui is the way in which it narrows down your choices so decisions about your home decor are EASY. Want to paint the walls? Planning to purchase a new couch/lamp/rug/table? Have no idea what colors or materials to choose? Today, I clearly outline how to make these decisions for the Career & Journey area of your home.

Is there something about your work-life (or lack of work-life) that you struggle with? Do you have dreams you'd like to achieve but feel like you aren't making progress on?

In this month of focus on Career & Journey, we are also laying some really important groundwork for the rest of the year, for the rest of your life really. 

• You got clear on what you want in life. 
• I introduced you to the Bagua Map, a basic and powerful Feng Shui tool that allows you to reflect the life you want in your space. 
• And today I have my newest VLOG for you (video log) with a Mind Hack around how to become aware of the limiting beliefs that keep you from living that life you desire (the desires you journaled on shortly after the New Year).

One of the most basic and powerful diagnostic tools in Feng Shui is called the Bagua Map. This map outlines the 9 areas (or guas) of life and how they correspond to your physical space. You place this map over a floorplan of your home (or over a room, or a desk, a property, etc).

When you are experiencing difficulty in any particular area of life (health concerns, relationships woes, lack of direction in career, trouble parenting, etc), you can look to the corresponding area of your home and make adjustments in order to add energy into the area of life where you are suffering.

So how do you place this Bagua Map over a floorplan of your home?

The state of your home and the things you surround yourself with can weigh you down or uplift you... can overwhelm you or inspire joy. You choose. You have ultimate control over your surroundings. Is it always easy to remember to choose your own joy? Nope. 

That's why I'm sharing with you 5 easy ways to choose joy and inspiration TODAY--5 practices you can use to rid your life of the weight and the overwhelm. Check them out and start off the New Year with more lightness, clarity and joy!

Happy New Year!

I love this time of new beginnings--where you inherently feel more optimistic (despite the fact that you may have over-indulged over the past few weeks :)).

The New Year brings a lightness, a feeling of releasing the past 12 months and embracing the future that lays before you: unmarked, untracked, fresh powder (which, when you live up in the mountains, is a glorious sight!).

In the weeks after the New Year, that enthusiasm can wane. Resolutions don’t automatically incorporate themselves into your daily rituals. The shift you desire isn’t as easy as you first thought.

But never fear, I’ve got you covered. In this season of new beginnings, I am introducing a revitalized rhythm to my content, a theme for each month, corresponding to a particular area of your life.

This focus will enable you to dive deep into the areas of your life you may very well be interested in improving… allowing you greater clarity and renewal--which is what we all yearn for, what feels within our grasp in these optimistic first days of the year.

Last year, we went through Christmas ornaments and culled the ones that didn’t inspire of joy. That meant that we thanked and released our two Christmas tree toppers because they didn't make us feel happy when we held them. 

One was the angel from some point in my later childhood. She was quilted and sweet but also dirty and not well cared for. Generally, that doesn’t deter me. I immediately began thinking of how I could fix her hair and her crown and clean her up to be more presentable. However, as my mind churned, I remembered to stop, hold the angel and pay attention to how she made me feel. Turns out, the response was less than joyful. I happily thanked her and sent her along to be loved by another (joyful in knowing I’d also freed up some of my crafting time to make gifts!).

Our second topper was the one my best friend had picked out when she came to visit me in an early apartment of mine. She was pregnant with her first child and I had no kids yet. It was just the two of us, creating ornaments for the very first tree of my own (I’m tearing up--overflowing with joy--just thinking about that sweet time).

Do you know where everything in your home lives? I mean really, take a moment, be honest with yourself. Three years ago, before I’d heard of KonMari, before I’d touched all of my possessions and kept only those that inspire joy, I probably would have told you I basically knew where everything was, but let me tell you, I would have been deceiving myself.

We had long lost items hiding in all kinds of places, things I didn’t even remember we owned. Whole categories sprouted up after I thought I was done: hidden areas that had not seen the light of day since we’d moved into our home.

Now, after the fact, our home is easy to maintain and it feels great, but I’d kind of forgotten how it feels to live in a space where, half the time, you really can’t find what you’re looking for. Living like subtly raises your daily stress levels so that the littlest things can tip you over the edge into full blown overwhelm and anxiety.

As we enter the fullness of the holiday season, we tend to have more plans, stay up later than we are accustomed to with friends, and perhaps drink more than we may otherwise. I am fully in support of the festivities that bring joy to the winter season. They lend such jolliness to what could otherwise be a dark and isolating time of year (at least where I live!).

These moments of gathering and laughter and good times can occasionally throw you off your game. You get less sleep than your body yearns for, you feel the effects of that last glass of wine well into the following day.

Because of the many gatherings, the kids who will soon be home from school, the vacation time--either at home or away--I find that I occasionally lose my rhythm, forget to prioritize my morning rituals (the ones that help me to feel aligned and full of innate resources & support).

We had the joy and the fortune to spend Thanksgiving week living in a home away from home. My aunt & uncle’s neighbors, who were away for the holiday, graciously offered up their home to us while we were in town visiting. Thus, we spent the week in this lovely modern style home with clean lines and fantastic amounts of light filtering into the 14' wall-to-ceiling windows facing southeast (with new light from each day filtering in).

It is a funny experience to spend time in someone else’s home--someone you don’t know--and to be surrounded by all the stuff of life that tells a story about what life is like for their family.

I love my space, I love making my space easy to live in, relaxing to spend time in, rejuvenating from full days of work and play. And it’s so darn comfortable that often, I don’t totally want to go anywhere else. At heart, I'm really a homebody. Can you tell!? 

Transitioning back into life at home came in fits and starts. Want to hear what made it easier?! Read on...