Back in January, and just for fun, I chose a word and colour for 2019 and asked you to join the party. Six months down the line, and we’re checking in on how things have progressed.
Word: Relaxed
I chose “relaxed” because I need to be less tense, uptight and anxious about certain aspects of my life. I am often the cause of my own stress, which is something that I control and can therefore change. I want to stop worrying about things that are not important, because they take up precious time and energy that I could be investing elsewhere.
I took this to heart and I’m trying very hard to focus my energy where it can make the most difference. This requires little conversations with myself during the day. It has been an effort, but I have been disciplined about it and I’m beginning to reap the reward. I do feel more calm, despite 2019 being a stressful year for a variety of reasons.
Every time I feel stressed, I stop and ask myself the question: how important is this relative to the other things happening in my life? Many times, the answer is that it really isn’t that important. It’s extraordinary how well this simple little strategy has worked. If it is something important, I tackle things one step at a time. Taking the step back allows me to subdue the emotions and focus on the positive, not allowing myself to spiral into negativity. If there is someone else involved, I discuss it with them when I have something constructive to add.
I’ve also done some soul searching to pinpoint exactly what it is that causes stress and creates happiness. Of course, I can’t eliminate all the things that cause stress and simply do happy things because unfortunately life doesn’t work that way. But I am better at eliminating unnecessary stresses, getting my head right about them, and making a point of doing stress-relieving activities and happy things EACH DAY. For me that’s physical activity. I try to walk as many places as possible, and I practice yoga three times a week.
I am extremely relaxed about fashion, my own style, and my work with clients. Those areas of my life cause me no stress and give me lots of pleasure. I relax into every style analysis, closet edit, closet review, purchase, sale, hunt, shop, outfit creation session, and don’t let any of it boss me around. I spend time on fashion and style every day, and that is stress-relieving.
It’s also important that I create things from scratch each day, which might mean cooking a fabulous meal, writing a blog post, making something for our new home, or figuring out how to help a client with a wardrobe dilemma. The thing that makes me most happy is spending quality time with my boys Greg and Sam, and I am constantly trying to make more of that happen.
Colour: Red
I chose red for 2019 because I love the colour and all that it symbolizes. I want to be relaxed, but I also want to maintain my high levels of energy, energize those around me, show unconditional affection to my favourite people, be creative, go on exciting adventures, continue wearing my heart on my sleeve, and make a positive difference.
My progress is good. I added more red items to my wardrobe that spark great joy. The exact items are shown in the collection. Some of them became instant workhorses, like the red jeans, patterned blouse, linen shirt and Japanese micro-check wide cropped pants. Now that the weather has warmed, I’m sure I’ll wear the heck out of the dress too.
I continue to have high levels of energy for which I am very grateful because it allows me to do the things that make me feel I’ve accomplished something to my satisfaction in a day. That in itself is stress-relieving and creates happiness. We moved to an exciting new home, which means small but meaningful new adventures daily. As far as showing unconditional support to my favourite people and animals, you’ll have to ask Greg, Sam, and my family and friends about that.
Over to you. If you chose a word and colour for 2019, I’d like to hear your thoughts and progress.
