Embrace Your Space!

Every day of our lives are influenced and inspired by our physical spaces. The way we move is determined by placement of walls, fences, walkways, the weight of doors, the availability of chairs. The way we see things changes depending on the quality of light. Our breathing may be inhibited by ventilation, odors, and clutter without us ever noticing. We have allergic reactions, we sweat, and we get cold in response to our physical spaces. Many of us also move through our daily lives tense and defensive, using up valuable energy just trying to tune out the environments we move through.

It always takes me a moment to process just how much of my reality is determined by energy, architecture, atmosphere, and material objects, and yet it’s something that I think about on a daily basis as I enter into the offices and homes of my clients and begin to imagine their specific spaces can become more effective, pleasant, and functional.

We don’t have any control over most of the spaces we enter into on a daily basis. I believe this is why I often feel exhausted when I get home after a day of moving through stores that play loud music, standing for too long on a crowded train car, or working for people who haven’t taken out the trash for a while. When I leave the house my defenses are up. Living in the city I am constantly battling a flux of information, stuff, sounds, smells, clutter. We are trained to tune these things out. I am trained to tune back in: it is my job to see these things, and change them for the better.

What makes a house different from a home? What makes an office a true workspace, as inspirational as an artist’s studio? It is actually possible for every aspect of the spaces where we spend the majority of our time to lift us up and sustain us, but it takes consciousness. Imagine if you looked around you right now and everything you saw fit your definition of beauty, reminded you of something wonderful, gave you room to dream, or invited you in the way your bed looks so perfectly delicious when you’re tired.

We created our environments in the first place. We chose our homes, and we spend vast sums of money to maintain or improve them. We received, created, found, or paid for everything that fills our homes. We are the ones in control. Take a moment to consider your highest goals. Where do you spend the most time each day? Do those spaces and places lift you up, and at least move you in the direction you want to be heading? Do you walk in the door of your office in the morning and smile with satisfaction? When you arrive home do you breathe it in? If you do, let me know. I’d love to hear your success story. But if your space is something you struggle against when you should be flourishing, don’t settle. You can embrace your perfect space, and I would love to help.