08/08/2026
I was blessed this morning with some quiet alone time and the opportunity to reflect a bit as a I sat with my coffee. And that led me to a few things that I felt compelled to share this morning... come along with me if you'd like.
This morning, I found myself sipping my coffee from our spare bedroom... usually called "the green room" or "the apothecary." When we moved just over a year ago, this was the 6th bedroom in the new house and it wasn't needed for sleeping quarters...so it became "my space." We painted the walls and ceiling a deep green then filled it with beautiful hodge-podge furniture - the cedar chest my dad made for me when I turned 18, antique barrister bookcases, an old card catalog, a sewing table from my best friend's grandmother. Then a whole assortment of crystals, trinkets, candles, antique glassware, my grandma's shadow box, and a collection of dried herbs. Slowly, the room also filled with greenery and plants of all kinds.
It's a room where the energy just buzzes and it fills your soul with this beautiful calm..despite being floor to ceiling with just a touch of everything. It's my favorite place in the house and one that holds a truly special place in my heart.
For those that don't already know, our lives have changed a lot in the last few years... our family structure shifted completely and took on a much more unique composition pretty quickly. It hasn't been easy but it has absolutely been worth it ... and this little piece of tranquility in our house means more to me than I'm able to express sometimes.
To others, it can just look like a room full of stuff... but to me, it's about so much more than just the pieces and parts. It represents a partner who made this room a priority from the start, who spent countless hours beside me sanding and painting and rearranging and hanging shelves and dragging furniture up the stairs. A partner who enters the space with quiet reverence each time and respects it even if she hasn't always understood every bit of it. It represents a family who certainly thinks I may be losing it from time to time but will always indulge me when I get excited to show them some new trinket I've found. It represents memories from my 40 years of this life and even times beyond that.
It also represents the journey from reluctance to celebration... you see, I tried to thwart the existence of this room from the get-go...I argued that it wasn't necessary, that there were less selfish uses for the space, that I didn't deserve my own whole entire room. I dragged my feet on the preparations. But despite my protests, this room came into being and certainly represents patience and perseverance.
And perhaps most importantly, it represents my journey back to myself. This space tells the story of a woman who is finally learning that, despite her traumas, she can take up space in the world without apology, without shrinking, without being "too much," without hiding. This space, and everything it represents, is a physical manifestation of an internal expansion. As I have walked this journey of healing and growth and transformation, I have come to be at such peace with the experience of existing in my own authenticity. I have been able to surrender to the unfolding of this space and to realize that the reality of what it has become is so much greater than what my initial vision could have ever believed possible.
And I think that piece right there is what I felt so called to share with you all this morning... that once you allow yourself to commit to the unfolding of growth or expansion or change, you may just find that the beauty of that experience will surprise you and could forever change your outlook and experience.
A year ago, I sat in this same space wondering how in the world everything could ever possibly work out... worried that things would fail because I simply couldn't imagine how beautifully life would unfold in the meantime. So, if that's you right now too... maybe the reason you've read this far has nothing to do with my plants and my knick-knacks. Perhaps it is really just to provide you with a glimmer of hope that a year from now, you'll also be sitting and admiring the view of what you've created.
💜
