When one door closes, another door opens. Despite how quickly time is moving, I am happy to welcome in a new chapter. I don’t often participate in the cliche ‘new year, new you’ song and dance, but this time it is perfectly fitting for where I am in my life. I let go of 2018 with so much gratitude and appreciation for my new home state, new home, new friends and the new experiences I’ve had.
This past year was most recognized by our move from California back to Arizona after being away for over 5 years. We bought a new home, renovated that home and, thankfully on schedule and pretty close to on-budget, moved into that home this past March. The first two months of the year were all about going with the flow, as we lived between three separate homes in that short time. We started off in our Scottsdale house, then two rentals as we awaited the completion of our new home. I am so glad we did it, but also so glad it is behind us. Renovations are not for the weak!
After relocating to Arizona, I found myself desperately in search of community- like-minded people that I could cultivate something bigger than myself with. For most of this year I have made it my job to find them, and I have. I have met so many great people here doing great things and I am excited for what the future holds.
For most of 2018 I have focused on settling into this new city and continuing to reinvent myself as an advocate for sustainable fashion and helping women empower themselves through their style. This time helped me bear witness to what truly feeds my soul, and how desperately I need to focus on being creative, with my writing, art, and fashion. I can no longer ignore the callings of what makes me feel alive and what makes me feel exhausted.
2018 helped me wake up to how much I enjoy working with clothes, talking about clothes, playing with clothes and shopping for clothes, most notably hunting for secondhand treasures (even more than I realized I had). I have started working with Goodwill AZ, Remake, AZ Eco Fashion Week, and AZ Sustainable Fashion to continue my advocacy work for what I consider fashion for a more sustainable future. I expect 2019 to be a growth spurt for these seeds I have planted, and I consider this work in complete alignment of my purpose.
Writing has also taken an even bigger space in my life, as it continues to serve as a powerful creative outlet for me. I began writing monthly fashion stories for Green Living Magazine this past summer, in addition to contributing to blogs, magazines, and of course this blog, my own.
When I relocated to California in 2016 I made a commitment to this blog, to create a place to stand up for what I believe in, to exercise my voice, and feed my soul by doing something that I genuinely enjoy. Today and moving forward, I recommit to that vision with the launch of a whole new website and blog (long overdue) and I’m even developing a new styling service I plan to offer in the coming months.
Moving on…
2019 is all about no compromise… who and what we fill our days with can have a powerful effect on the type of life we are creating. Especially when you move somewhere new and you are starting something new you tend to just try things out, to see if they stick. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t.
For this upcoming year, I commit to trusting my gut, listening to the little whispers within, and not compromising to any extent on my happiness.
Life happens when you’re busy making plans to do something else. It’s like you’re chugging along just fine, then up creeps an unexpected, uninvited change, and suddenly you find yourself on a completely different path than where you just were. It is true what they say, ‘the only constant in life is change.
As difficult as change may be, it comes baring gifts. The gifts of resiliency, adaptation, surprise, curiosity, wonder, the ability to pivot, persevere- and sometimes even really good fortune.
I am grateful to you for sticking around as I’ve evolved and pivoted once again. I’d invite you to share your thoughts on how I could improve and evolve some more- because for sure there are changes up ahead, and I’d love to know what you’d like to see more of here (or not).
Shown here:
Dress from Goodwill AZ from Guess Collection
Jewelry, collected vintage items
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Stay tune for what I expect to be a really exciting next chapter of my life, my work and this blog. Thank you for being here, reading, following and supporting something I love so much- to be an advocate and inspiration to others, merging style, sustainability and self-esteem for a modern girl in a material world! See you in 2019!
Photography by Emily Saunders