Nest & Bloom, Cinderella-style

Hi! I submitted a bonus post with a rundown of May last night! Go back and read that one first if you haven’t already. Also – as I began to write this Cinderella-style post, I realized that Cinderella has A LOT to say during this first week of this first themed month. Therefore, I’m going to post smaller bite-sizes throughout this week for Cinderella instead of one super long post today. I recently received some advice for the blog that these posts could be longer, but who has the time? I’d like you to be able to take this in and digest the material with small bites – to read each post within 5 minutes, tops. Okay – without further ado!

Nest: noun – a pocketlike structure formed to shelter and protect.

Bloom: verb – to flourish or thrive

This is a morning-time blog. I would like to imagine that you are snuggled into your bed (your nest) with a warm cup of something comforting to drink … and you open up the blog to read about the ways you can bring more joy into your home and your life (bloom). You feel a glimmer of inspiration. Then you take that inspiration and form a fun little plan for your week. You incorporate one of the action steps listed at the bottom of each blog to show your house (and to show You, and to show whatever Higher Power you call on) that you are serious about the items you’re calling in. Your actions, no matter how small, set into motion the string of events that bring your desires to you. The only rule is that you have fun with this! This is food for your soul, and you should incorporate it into whatever wellness routine you already have in place.

Since I imagine you snuggled into your bed as you read these words, I love that May’s theme begins with our nests: our beds. AND since I want this blog to fuel your inspiration, I love that May’s theme ends with a bloom.

As we set out to experience May in Cinderella fashion, we’ll be clearing cobwebs. First let’s address the cobwebs in our head: today we’ll organize our thoughts by setting an intention for the next 12 months. Later this week I’ll submit a second post about keeping an orderly nest.

Bloom

Organizing our thoughts is exponentially more important than organizing our environment. We can’t flourish and thrive if we’re not clear in our thoughts.

Step One: Get clear and set your intention for what you’re calling in to your home these next 12 months. This can be items, an experience, or simply a mood.

How do you need your home to support you this year? Ask for its help. Tell it what you need. Yes, I talk to my houses (lovingly) and you should too.

Grab a pen and a notebook and think through the next 12 months of your year. Write down each month, and how you’d like to experience your home. Do you need some quiet time in June? Do you need extra energy in September? Write it down.

Maybe this year you just want your home to help you stay safe and healthy. Maybe you’d like to bring in more money. Maybe you need your home to provide not only comfort but levity. How often do you laugh? Ask you home to help you laugh and smile more often. Are you hoping to host a party later this year? If so, what are you celebrating, and how can your home support the celebration? Are you hoping to welcome guests to your home? If so, how do you want them to feel while they’re there? Are you moving out of this home, or did you just move in? How can you and your home support eachother during this transition? Write it all down.

Now look over your list. Locate the 1-3 items that stand out. Write them down on a separate sheet of paper. Here’s mine:

1. Support the teenagers’ needs and bring fun, warmth, & inspiration to the older girls when they visit

2. Provide comfort and safety during the pandemic

3. Support clarity for our careers while increasing income

*** A note about setting an intention: Do you do this? Before you set out to do anything ever, do you set an intention? I think I learned this from Oprah. Oprah says, “Whatever you end up with is what you started with as an intention. Getting that principle changed the trajectory of my entire life.” You can find a lot on this topic if you google “oprah, gary zukov, setting intention”. Intention eases the ‘disease to please’. If you can set an intention, and then check your big and small decisions against your intention, you’ll only do what you intend to do. Setting your intention is a powerful act. Gary Zukov says that setting your intention defines the distance that you have to travel between where you are now and where you intend to land. The intention defines the curriculum you need to follow to bridge the gap and get to where you’re going. ***

I usually remember to set an intention before heading into tough conversations or big business meetings, and it helps me stay focused when my emotions or my nerves try to get the best of me. I’m also pretty good at setting intentions for big projects (the intention for this blog, for instance). But it’s easy to forget to set an intention for your normal day-to-day life. Being intentional about how we interact with our home and therefore our family, those we live with, and our common routines is also life altering. I started setting an intention for my home when my first husband and I separated. I had very specific needs for my homes (Five houses in five years to be exact) during that time. I needed my homes to bring us Peace, Comfort, and Inspiration. And then, when my then-fiancé / now-husband, moved in with us into my tiny little single-gal house you better believe I set an intention for that year of living in tight-quarters. I needed that home to bring us Joy. Setting the intention seemed to make everything easier, and I discovered that I wasn’t only surviving the hard circumstances, but I was thriving. So – I set a new intention when we blended our families into the home we live in today. I check in with the intention each year because it changes as our lives shift and evolve.

Your homework for today: Write your list. Think about how you want to experience each month and what you need from your home. Pull out the top two or three words that stand out to you. This is your intention for the feeling you want in your home this year. Congratulations! The big work is done! Now you can have fun watching as your life unfolds in this way over the next 12 months. We’ll put some work into it, but it’s fun work.

*** If you have any questions about this, or want to talk with me, don’t hesitate to send me a note. Go back to the home page of the website and scroll down to where it says ‘Contact’. My e-mail address is there. The ‘Get in Touch’ portal is a little glitchy – we'll fix that. So in the meantime, just shoot me an e-mail. I can help! *** (Also! I love your comments, thank you! Keep 'em coming, and remember to click on the Heart at the bottom of the post :) )

If you've just started following the blog now, click this link to head to my original post on Cinderella:

Introduction to Cinderella