Making Space
On paying attention to the life you already have…
And this is what it actually looks like.
It's a Sunday afternoon in my courtyard. There are gorgeous flowers…ranunculus and tulips - all my favorites in a pink vase. There's a cheese board. A magazine open to a garden in Scotland I'll probably never visit but still find completely wonderful. There's Archie and Amos…my constant companions, doing exactly what they always do.
No event. No occasion…just an ordinary afternoon I decided to pay attention to.
That's the whole practice!. You stop treating beauty like it needs a reason. You stop saving the good cheese and the fresh flowers for company. You stop waiting for life to get big enough to deserve your full presence because it already does!
This courtyard has been here the whole time. The dogs have been here. The light in the afternoon. All of it…just waiting to be noticed.
You don't find a beautiful life. You build the habit of seeing the one you have.
Joy isn't hiding in a bigger life. It's in the one you already have…right now and fully available.
The women who know that? You can feel it when you're around them…there's a certain peace. A settledness. Just this quiet, almost stubborn certainty that life is good.
Not perfect. Not finished. Just good.
And worth being present for.
But these moments don't just appear. You have to make space for them.
You have to buy the flowers, set out the cheese board and sit down long enough to actually read the magazine. You have to put the phone away and let the afternoon be what it is.
It's a small act of will, every single time and a decision to treat your own life like it's worth the effort.
Most people are waiting to feel motivated before they do any of that, but it works the other way. These moments don't just appear. You have to make space for them and making space starts on the inside. It's a certain willingness…a decision to stop holding your life at arm's length until it looks the way you think it should.
From that place, an ordinary afternoon becomes something worth remembering…not because anything extraordinary happened. But because you were actually there for it.
You don't really create the joy, you simply clear the path for it.
Start small…unreasonably small. Buy flowers, sit outside, put something beautiful on the table, just because. Make space for one moment that has no purpose other than being good, and see if it doesn't change everything else!
A quick note on what I'm wearing…my jeans are older ecru jeans from Mother (similar here) and when I say older…I mean at least 6 or 7 years and I still love them. The cashmere sweater is White & Warren (similar here) and I added a simple white crewneck underneath, such a good combination! The shoes are my new Roger Vivier leopard kitten heels and they are too fabulous. My bag is from Ulla Johnson (similar here) bought on major sale last year and it’s pure perfection! The jewelry is linked in the boutique below!
“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."
~Robert Brault
You can have beautiful things and a beautiful life and they're not separate. But the life has to come first…the presence, the intention, the willingness to show up for an ordinary Sunday like it counts…because it does! I love this post…even if I did write it!
Hope you all have a beautiful day!
~XOXO Suzanne