Tasks that Soothe

I’m back. It’s been a long time since I’ve posted…I think there has only been one blog post this summer.

Not what I had planned. Friends and colleagues had commented earlier in the year: “Wow, how are you able to write and post twice a week???” I would smugly answer, “Oh, it’s easy, and it doesn’t take long”….

Well. My day-job workload, as a health care interior designer, exploded late June and I found myself working on two huge projects. I loved them both, and they provided an opportunity to do the best work ever in my career…but they were all consuming. Add in a summer cold that seems to have lasted 8 weeks. Hmm…there go the ambitious writing plans…and most daily upkeep tasks! For the last three months I have pretty well worked 12-16 hour days, 7 days a week.

The projects finished last week, and I got away for Thanksgiving. I’m now at home, trying to unwind and wanting so much to get back to my favorite pursuits: finishing the book, blogging, getting healthy again.

I did sneak in a few books in between the chaos, and a special one was Marie Kondo’s “the life-changing magic of tidying up”. It was a quick, happy read and I really enjoyed it.

This young lady has a consulting business in Japan and guides people through her method of organizing their homes and possessions. I won’t go into great detail – you should read the book! – but I will note:

She believes that you must de-clutter and reduce your possessions before you can re-organize, otherwise you are just shuffling around what you have. (And she maintains we all have too much!)

Her one key suggestion to assist in the reducing and purging of superfluous possessions is:

KEEP ONLY THINGS THAT SPARK JOY.

She offers suggestions on how to tackle this: Don’t go room by room, but pick a type/group of items and purge that item throughout your complete space: (clothes, books, CD’s, mementos…) I think she’s spot on in saying you should start with the less precious or less rare items: clothes are easier to get rid of than family photos. Work your way up to the tough ones!

When I read the book in the middle of my crazy work time, I thought: I want to do this when I’m free again! So, the other morning, fresh from my weekend break, I tackled my clothes. If I didn’t love it, it went into a pile to offer to friends to pick through or one marked for donating. It didn’t matter if it was new, valuable or in good condition, if I didn’t love it, it was gone.

I got rid of 30% of my clothes and the closets can breathe again! That felt so good I moved on to my dresser drawers and the extra clothes in storage in the basement. I felt cleansed and renewed; tidier and more organized already. It was a wonderful soothing, re-grouping exercise.

Books are next week’s target….

Sew Happy

I grew up in a small town….but that didn’t stop me from wearing Vogue Paris Original designs to my school dances…because I could sew.

In the 1970’s, most young ladies and women sewed; at least the ones around me did. Yes, I took “Home Economics” in junior high – but I didn’t like the exacting methods and skills that were required. I branched out on my own, and stayed up till the wee hours sewing creations I would then wear to school. It was very satisfying to be able to do that! I didn’t care that the seams weren’t finished nicely inside…that came years later.

And where did the patterns and fabrics come from? First they came from a quiet, elegant fabric store on our town’s main street. I remember it having a solemn ambiance. We would quietly flip through the pages of the pattern catalogues, whispering and consulting with a friend or sister, and finally decide on “the one”, then find some fabric that was suitable, and take our treasure-to-be home with us and get busy.

Later, my good friend’s family bought a fabric store in the mall, (still a new-ish concept in 1974, in our town), and I worked with my friend at the store after school on Thursday and Friday nights. What fun we had, operating the store together. My pay cheques always went to fabric purchases. Many projects were always hovering in a queue, as I had the time to mull over all the options in the store when it was quiet. We also modeled our creations in occasional mall fashion shows. It was such an exciting time for a 16 year old….and it stoked the fire of my growing creative spirit.

It still comes in handy, this skill….mending and patching and altering clothes for myself and my son, extending their life with a little tweak here or there. It also partners nicely with vintage and thrift shop finds that are wonderful, but maybe not quite the right size or fit.  I’m lucky to have a little station set up in the basement at the ready, which makes it much easier to tackle these tasks.

I had a gala to go to the other weekend. The day before, I decided I didn’t feel comfortable in the gown I planned to wear. I went down to my favorite consignment store, found a fabulous gown for $25.00 and the morning of the gala I hemmed it up (it was a couple inches too long but otherwise perfect).

Very handy.

Ravishing

Had the pleasure of catching a fabulous exhibit at the Museum of Vancouver the other weekend. It was called “From Rationing to Ravishing” and exhibited women’s fashions from the 1930’s onward, through war time, and the impact that the war had on clothing styles and designs (think scarcity of materials as well as a paradigm shift regarding luxury and extravagance).  There were many lovely examples by haute couture designers from both North America and Europe.

   

It was sublime….and more so because I went with a lovely friend who works in costume design for television. We were throwing around terms about sewing and fabrics that may have had others scratching their heads, but we understood each other beautifully and had a blast reveling in the gorgeous examples, fabrics, colours.

What a wonderful day!

(one of my fav’s, a Balenciaga coat…)