This year feels different. So often, the new year rolls around and I am exhausted enough from the holiday season that January feels like a great time to take a nap. A long one. But not this year.
This year I feel alive. Awake. Engaged. Ready to make s**t happen. I know I am not alone. Even the most cursory scan of Instagram this week produces all kinds of inspiration about women rising in their personal and collective power, taking a stand, and having a voice. One of my favorites is below. Thank you @elizabeth_gilbert_writer.
Regardless of your political views, it’s an opportune time for all of us to get really clear about who we are, what we stand for, and how we contribute to positive change.
We’re starting a new chapter. If you feel influenced by the energies around you (I believe we all are!) you might be interested to know that 2017 is a numerological universal year of 1. We completed a 9 year cycle in 2016, and now we start anew. It’s time to plant seeds and cultivate what we truly desire for ourselves, our families, our communities and beyond. I am not a numerology expert but I have noticed an amplified sense of newness, and not just on the US political front. If you’d like to read more about the energy in this year’s numbers, you can go here or here.
Interestingly, the Pantone color of 2017 is Greenery. This fresh green is reminiscent of spring buds on a tree. According to Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute, it “…symbolizes the reconnection we seek with nature, one another, and a larger purpose.” I could not agree more. It feels like we are, as a collective, in a budding phase and the beauty of the resulting leaves or flowers is dependent on our patience, concentration, collaboration, and care.
Lunar new year, also known as Chinese New Year, begins January 28th. To me, this is our second chance in 2017 to envision new beginnings and new adventures. I prefer living visions to resolutions and now is a perfect time to set lively and specific intentions for who we are being and becoming in our homes, our families, our work, and in the world.
When we combine even just the notions of starting afresh at the calendar year, the lunar calendar, the numerological cycle, and a new presidential era in the USA, it feels pretty intense. There is so much growth energy and opportunity. To me it feels exciting, daunting, and at times overwhelming. But there is also a sense of empowerment. I am not looking for a savior nor am I assigning too much power to any one individual. I am ready to collect all the aspects of myself that I have scattered around and consciously re-build who I am at my most potent.
To that end, is anyone else feeling an intense desire to clear away old stuff? Stuff is one of those words we are taught not to use in writing. It’s ambiguous. What stuff are we talking about anyway? Well, I am talking about all of it. I’d love to experience more of Marie Kondo’s particular life-changing magic and even take it further. I have this deep desire to evaluate and re-curate my entire sphere of influence–my beliefs, my behaviors, and my belongings. Interestingly enough, this year’s animal and element seem prime for providing just the right energy to do it.
The Chinese zodiac assigns an animal and an element to each year. On Saturday, January 28th, we begin the year of the Fire Rooster. Karen Alber Carrasco, an Essential Feng Shui practitioner and teacher, offers insights and inspiration about what the Fire Rooster symbolizes and how we could approach 2017. My key takeaway from her message is that it’s time to feather our nest and call forth a calm and confident command over our personal domaine. By clearing away excess and distilling down to our essence, we reveal what is most meaningful to us. From that “space” we make movement. From that firm foundation we become a powerful influence for the positive.
We hear that true transformation starts from within. This internal shift in perspective and awareness is greatly assisted by consciously curating our surroundings. Our physical environment and its contents influence us on every level. The spaces we inhabit reflect our internal state of being. They mirror for us how we are showing up in the world. AND we can use them as feedback loops to cultivate the states of consciousness we desire to experience (e.g. peace, joy, clarity, stewardship to the Earth, etc.) by arranging them intentionally.
Like many, I feel an urgency to be of more service in the world. Peace is my primary focus. I know peace lies within all of us, and yet, we’ve covered it up and we experience varying levels of distress. School age children are experiencing heightened anxiety at unprecedented levels. Large pockets of our world are at war. Many thousands of people have been uprooted and unsettled.
For those of us who do have a home and an abundance of blessings, perhaps our greatest gift to the world is becoming calm, clear, and collected. From this state of being, we can be of even greater assistance to those in despair. Change starts with us.
Synthesizing all the influences of new beginnings at this moment, it appears to me that the focus starts at home for each of us. This is important because we each play a unique role to the common good and we desire to offer that role the very best version of ourselves. 2017 may be primarily about “me, myself, and mine” so that next year we can cast the net of kindness and collaboration far and wide.
We are each like a spring bud on a tree. As we unfold, our individual beauty is magnified by the collective unfolding. What if we start with ourselves, our stuff, and our spaces to cultivate peace? What if feathering our nest helps us take even more powerful and inspired action?
In honor of Chinese New Year, I will sign off with this Chinese Proverb:
If there is light in the soul,
There will be beauty in the person.
If there is beauty in the person,
There will be harmony in the house.
If there is harmony in the house,
There will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
There will be peace in the world.
What more could we ask for?
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In the spirit of new beginnings, I’m refreshing my business. Would you help me pick a name?
The choices so far are:
- ConsciousCurating.com
- CalmClearCollected.com
- CuratingInteriors.com (what it is now)
Thanks for leaving a comment below or on the FB or Instagram post.
I stand for quality over quantity and living a fuller life with fewer things.
I believe beauty is a huge attractor and surrounding ourselves with beauty both calms and inspires us.
My passion project is to infuse more consciousness into our consumption on every level: body, mind, spirit, and home.
We can uncover and re-discover peace in our hearts, homes, and the world one consciously curated space at a time.
Love and thanks!
Ann
This is so inspiring! I’m looking around at my space and see that it reflects a heaviness I don’t want. Thanks to you and the fire rooster, I’m going to read this again and again. I like the currenct name but Calm Cool and Collected is pure genius
Thanks Annabel! I appreciate your feedback more than you know. Have fun feathering your nest.
Ann, I had no idea that you had a blog. Please sign me up! This is so beautifully written and poignant.
With love and gratitude,
Theresa
Theresa, thank you so much and you have not missed much. This is my year to start writing more. As soon as I have the tools in place for subscriptions you will be signed up. Love, Ann
Wonderful. I highly recommend downsizing/decluttering/clearing out! It’s freeing!
I like your current name: true confession, I wasn’t clear on what you did until reading this post. I thought interior designer. Second choice : calmclearcollected
Best wishes!
Thanks Beppie, Interior deisgn is part of the equation, but clearing through the clutter, the stuff and the stories attached to them is important–and anyone can do it!
Calm cool and collects gets my vote!
Thanks Amy!
Hi Ann
I like Calm, Cool and Collected as well.
Thanks Joyce!
Hi Annie!
I love your writing/blog! Fantastic! Regarding the name, I thought about it all day. I like “calm, clear, collected – but I am afraid it will constantly be confused with “calm, cool, collected”. I was also afraid it didn’t state clearly enough what you do. This made me start thinking about your “brand” and what it should be….something that is clear, brings up emotion, and is flexible enough to cover all of your work. The king of branding is Trap. Are you connected with him? If you sent this to him, he would definitely have some great feedback for you. Tell him I sent ya! (He has presented “branding” to multiple companies around the country. He might have an incredibly interesting perspective that could affect your whole mission.) After reading more of your (wonderful) posts, I started thinking of things like: ConsciouslyCuratedHomes (this sounds warmer and makes me want to find out what this might mean for my home BUT it might not be flexible enough for you – or a big enough umbrella for what else you might want to do under your company name) or InspiringSpaces (this sounds uplifting and makes me curious. Once someone went to your website – they could find out what kind of inspiration you do (clearing things out, identifying what is really important, etc) and what kind of spaces (homes, office, mind, spirit…) – BUT – it might be already taken and it might sound too “home design-ish”. Wish we could sit around the kitchen table and hash this out some more! I love your fresh perspective on the new year and I am with you! xoxo
Hi Ann,
Great ideas and energy in your blog. I like Calm, Clear, and Collected because of your emphasis on peace and calm. And “collected” catches the idea of collecting fabrics and furnishings that reflect a fresh start, calm, and peace. Brilliant idea. xo, Mom
Ann,
I love this and it does make me sit back and think about not only our home but cultivating myself to better cast my net in the world! I do like your current name but it may not tell the whole story about what you do…Calm Clear Collected makes me want to find out more and delve deeper. xoxo
Ann – Another inspiring post! You know how much I share the passion for “sparking joy” in my home and beyond … you said it all so well! I love Calm Clear Collected; Calm Cool Collected; Calm Cool and Curated; but I think Mary’s suggestion of Consciously Curated Homes is my favorite. xoxo Carrie