We tend to hold ourselves to the rules that others have laid out for us. We think the end of the race can only be where the organizers drew the finish line. That the product is finished only when its contents are completely consumed. That the book is finished when we’ve read the whole thing. That’s true in principle, but not always in practice. Being a true completionist means giving ourselves the freedom to ...

  In our comparison-rife culture, it can be tempting to focus on what we aren’t doing. The goals we aren’t working towards, the flashcards we didn’t review with the kids, the steps we didn’t take to fulfill our purposes. And it can be easy, too, to get bogged down by the urgent responsibilities of Today. It is vital that we remind ourselves of all the times we’ve successfully navigated complex situations, or were bold enough ...

  Amidst the chaos and over-stimulation of life, there is a need for escape. For quiet delights. For having less to wade through to access the good stuff. For a place to feel safe and settled. In recent years, as the noise-level of the world has seemed to increase exponentially, I have felt people’s need for peaceful spaces grow, in tandem. Society is in opposition to nature. Your home is your opportunity to nurture yourself ...

  Most people are in the habit of massively over-estimating how much they can realistically accomplish. In the span of a single editing session, our average client will attempt to task themselves with a list that includes things like taking a pair of shoes in to be re-soled, sending a gift to a friend, taking a broken necklace into the jeweler, and on and on. Part of our work is helping people to re-write their ...

  If your life is stable, you generally see the same things in the same context day after day. The sight of your coffee maker on the counter. Of that pile in the corner of your bedroom. Your walls. When you first moved in, you noticed every detail–the scratches in the baseboards or the beauty of the tile floor. When you first bought that blouse, you paid attention to its stitching, to its certain hue. ...