Time to Move the Couch
For many people, Memorial Day Weekend marked the unofficial beginning of summer. Even though I’m a grown-up, I still feel that same “School’s out, summer’s here!” excitement as we head into June.
When I was young, I loved the summer rituals of bike rides, walks to the local ice cream shop for a sugar cone stacked with scoops of homemade chocolate ice cream, and our annual vacations to Cape Cod.
I still love a change of scenery when a new season comes. This might sound silly, but on Sunday I moved my desk to a new place in the office, updated my Zoom background, and bought fresh flowers for our house and our office. At home, I filled the once-empty flower boxes with summer blooms and put a colorful floral wreath on the front door. My environment looks totally refreshed and ready for the summer season.
I love all the elements that come with Summer: fresh cut grass, paddling on the lake in our kayaks, and the taste of fresh-picked strawberries. I can’t imagine ever living anywhere but New England, where there’s such a defined distinction among our four seasons.
Or maybe it’s because I love change…
I credit my mom for this. Throughout our early years, Mom would seasonally rearrange the furniture throughout our house. Several times a year, my sister and I would come home from school to find our bedrooms completely switched up, with our beds against the opposite wall and lamps and dressers in new locations. It felt like I was walking into brand new space. And I totally welcomed it. (Well, except for that one time when the fire alarm sounded in the middle of the night. It was a false alarm, but scary nevertheless. When it sounded, my sister screamed, jumped out of her bed, and ran to the door... but instead, she crashed into the wall. Mom had rearranged our rooms that very day, and Nicki’s recollection of where the door was turned out to be on the other side of the room.)
Besides that incident, the furniture rearranging was usually quite positive.
Do you ever feel compelled to switch up your environment once in a while? Are you someone who embraces change and loves the newness of it?
Or are you a creature of habit, and like to keep things exactly the way they’ve always been?
Some folks are so accustomed to things always being the same that any slight variation causes anxiety. They’d prefer to keep everything unchanged. The challenge is that life doesn’t stay constant or static. If you are someone that resists change, when change eventually shows up (and it always does), it can feel like a real problem.
Here’s the truth: Life is filled with change. If you’re someone who prefers things just the way they are, then practicing small, manageable changes might help build up your adaptability muscles before the big, unavoidable ones come knocking.
So this week, try a tiny change:
Move a lamp.
Hang a new piece of art.
Drive a different route to work.
Put fresh flowers on your kitchen counter.
Swap out your phone wallpaper for a picture that inspires you.
What would happen if you made one small shift? Would you feel a little more energized? A little more ready for whatever life throws your way?
I’m not suggesting you completely rearrange the furniture… but what might happen if you just moved the couch?
This Week’s Resources
Something Charming
Add a personal touch to your summer wardrobe with a necklace from Charmlry. Even better, customize it! If you send them the names of your family members, they’ll customize a “family charm” for you— all for an affordable price. These make great gifts! Charmlry offers a stylish way to keep what's important close to your heart!
Cube It
Got any summer traveling planned? Make sure you incorporate compression packing cubes into your routine! If you want an efficient, organized way to pack, you’ve got to check out packing cubes. Not sure which brand is the best? Good Housekeeping has already done the research for you on the top ten brands to buy— and Eagle Creek Cubes come out on top!
Packing for a Family Trip: Greatest Hack Ever
A friend just returned from a 2-week family trip to Europe, and she shared the most brilliant (and sanity-saving) strategy: instead of giving each of her five family members their own suitcase, she packed by destination. That’s right—each suitcase was labeled by city, not by person. So when they landed in Paris, they just open the “Paris” suitcase and voilà! Everyone’s outfits were ready to go for that city. She’s even using compression packing cubes to separate each day’s outfits—because chaos may be inevitable while traveling with three kids, but suitcase sprawl doesn’t have to be! It’s like meal-prepping, but for outfits. (Marie Kondo would jump for joy.)
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