HUMAN + HOME: THE BOOK ABOUT US

I wanted my journal subscribers to be the first to know…I am writing the book, the one so many of you have been asking for. During this vulnerable season of my life I feel a call, more than ever, to share my heart and insights with you. 

In design, I’ve always approached my renovation projects starting first by writing the story behind the place.  Then the scraping and tearing away begins and the revelations that this process bring are the texturing and layering to every written line. 

I’ve never been attracted to perfect homes. My call is to bring neglected places back to life. It’s ironic to me now, even providential, that my body, my Sanctuary, is experiencing a thorough transformation of its own.

On my Instagram profile I share that I am a designer of interiors, both Human+Home…in that order. The work always and foremost begins with what is going on inside of my clients, because who we really are [as individuals and families], in any given season, is what is reflected in our spaces. 

I have written thousands of articles and journal entries, social media posts and renovation project proposals on the process of Sanctuary Living. 

Sanctuary Living is not some woo-woo concept that is ethereal and unattainable, but a bearing of the soul that dips into the innermost house of our humanity— to uncover what is both sacred and necessary, to coax the best of who we are [inside ourselves] and manifest that essence in our homes, in our communities, and in the world. I believe with all my heart that the secret to life’s challenges begins with [literally] what is right under our nose. 

To give you an intimate and organized glimpse into this book-writing journey, I’ve created a new Category on the website which assembles the most-recent entries focused on this season—the new section is aptly called, Kicking and Screaming, named after the first journal entry of this transformational time in my life.

In that entry, I shared what consistently resides within my heart—My kicking and screaming may be necessary for a moment, but how fast I choose to lean into what is intended determines the pace at which I reach my own personal victory. Kicking and screaming is the natural response to the cart that has been pushed over. Our bounty, the one we have been so careful to assemble, sometimes spills and scatters to the ground. But do not waste those precious first moments attempting to gather all the pieces of what has been lost. Instead, let these words resonate, “Behold, I am doing a new thing."

This new thing—the one that has you craving to swing a hammer or rushing to buy ’stuff' to fill your rooms—is the very one that should have you pausing and breathing instead. 

Because the thing you yearn for can’t be uncovered in any store, but must be unearthed at the center of your core.  Do you know who that really is? 

As a lover of words, I never imagined that my up-close, daily vocabulary would include:  chemotherapy, cancer, cranial prosthesis, biopsy and more. Yet, if I am to be a believer in all things transformational, then let it begin with and in me and flow out to you as a resource of encouragement and applied inspiration. 

This is precisely the reason why my journey could never remain private. And why there has never been a better time than now to write the book.

Because our Sanctuaries are not something to be gazed upon and admired but deeply personal extensions of who we are, what we’ve experienced, been through, and who and what we love. Through every season, our Sanctuaries should inspire us to transform, and nurture us through this sometimes emotional and physically-challenging process.

As with every home renovation project, the tearing down and stripping away is not about walls and windows but the very essence of who we are. The transformation begins with us. Where we reside [our bodies, minds and spirits] is the first Sanctuary. Everything else—everything endearing and enduring—comes next. 

WAYS YOU CAN BE PART OF THIS IMPORTANT BOOK

Read the journal entries [all of them if you dare] and use the comment section to tell me what resonates with you.

Tell me what absolutely must be contained in this book for you to be inspired to read it. 

Share with me if you have gone through a personal transformation that has dramatically changed the way you live and see the world.