Deep Winter
drinking tea and wearing bright blue
I made it almost all the way through the winter before getting the feeling of not wanting to leave my house. Last winter I got a particularly rough bout of winter laden depression, one that made all the colors in the world feel mute, and it was not pleasant. Today I am not in that place, but I am in the “it’s too cold to leave” place. Tonight I will put on multiple layers, and brave the freezing cold to go get stuff from Publix for fancy subs.
We’re trying hard to make the little things feel celebratory in our home, and it’s working. We’ve been doing a big consumption freeze and so every purchase feels like an intentional little moment to welcome something new into the house. This past weekend I stood in front of bamboo kitchen scrubbing brushes and decided to purchase two and it felt extravagant.
This has also extended to the acquisition of clothes. Both Tucker and I have taken the new year as a chance to refine our personal styles to be more personal, and with it we’ve both decided to take a step back from purchasing clothes. We thought we’d buy nothing and lean into our wardrobes, but what we did was very interesting and exciting.
We both got rid of a ton of things we haven’t worn in years. We cleared out a lot of space, and then had some extreme luck thrifting. I welcomed a pair of gold boots, some horsebit loafers, and an oversized aqua silk shirt into my closet.
It has felt extremely intentional, and extremely fun to get dressed this week.
More of this, please.
Yesterday I had a consulting call with a friend who is expanding her business, and it went wonderfully. It felt very aligned for both of us and at the end of it I wrote “more of this, please.” on a post-it note. 30 minutes later another friend who I greatly admire reached out for help on her newsletter. I told her about the post it and we both got chills.
More of this, please.
My self care practice has been sloppy at best for the past month. I was riding high until Christmas and since I’ve been just riding medium. About a week ago I realized that I can just ride medium, I can do my best and I can continue getting through. The winter is kind of hard, and that’s alright. Not everything we do has to be our best. This week has been me looking in the mirror and asking “What feels best right now? What feels comfortable? What might bring me some joy”. Lots of grace, lots of doing small things that bring big joy like making beaded necklaces and ordering seeds for spring, lots of British panel shows, lots of pinteresting. Turns out that sloppy self care can still get the job done.
More of this, please.
Crafting as a boredom buster. Making beaded necklaces for every outfit. Knitting hats for everyone. Coffee at my friends shop. Texting my best friend about how I’m really feeling. Big elaborate meals. Tucker smoking racks of ribs while I knit inside. Lighting every candle. Falling down Pinterest rabbit holes of dreamy offices. Tea with a little honey and cream. Skincare PR. Putting my phone in the other room. Not reading books that I know will make me sad. Smiling and meaning it. New Eastfork bowls (if you’ve never purchased from them, use my link and you get $20 off and I get $20 to buy more bowls. Had no clue they did this until now and absolutely thrilled about) Big cozy sweaters and putting clothes on because they feel great. Discovering new colors that I love through knitting. Taskmaster.
More of this, please.
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