With travel still limited and restricted around the world and with weekends blurring and losing their traditional feel and purpose, many of us are opting this summer for a series of multiple mini staycations. Being as close to family and friends as we can be feels comforting and already, we have begun adapting our homes to fit our newly discovered needs and newly defined desires.
While normally my husband, our three children, and I go to the Hamptons every Memorial Day weekend to enjoy the beach and barbeque with friends, this year we will maintain the spirit of the holiday at home. Instead of the usual hustle of actively launching ourselves full blast into summer, we will kick up our feet, chill out, and listen to the birds sing as they tend to their nests. We’ll nourish our bodies with fresh fruits and vegetables of the season.
We will take a breather.
The value in taking a pause from the norm has never been more apparent. Turning all devices off and releasing oneself from the expectations of the world is restorative. Boosting our wellbeing by bowing out of one extra demand or another is essential. We cannot continue to go with the flow, remain productive, and contribute to newly-emerging conversations and acts of kindness if we are not first actively kind to ourselves.
We need to create more soft landings in our homes as well as in our psyches. Giving ourselves permission to relax and have no agenda some days—or some hours—is the ultimate gift and practice of self-care. Personally, after I take even just thirty minutes alone to meditate , practice yoga , take a walk or tend to my garden, I am renewed and more hopeful.
Those of us who own small businesses have always known that taking a regular “time-out” results in better focus and enhanced creativity. I know, thanks to my mentors and tight-knit circle of eco-and forward-thinking designers, brands, invaluable contacts and industry leaders, how to walk the thin line between mindfully moving forward, taking growth-promoting risks, and managing resources. These past few months have presented all of us with challenges we could not have foreseen at the dawn of 2020, and I am grateful in these times to know that so many innovators and creators are all on my side.
Laurence Carr Design has always leaned into the cutting edge and been keen on responsible design practices and innovation. We are located in New York City. We have heard the sirens and have felt the innumerable losses. We have also witnessed the courage, support, and dedication of our essential workers and our healthcare workers. My children’s teachers and faculty are heroes, as is anyone who is waking up to make plans and design dreams when everything is up in the air.
There are “silver linings” in this global pandemic, which I think involve new beginnings, and I, at Laurence Carr Design, am thinking about new directions and new initiatives. Stay tuned.
Thank you to all first responders, doctors, truck drivers, food services, all the people who continue to put their life at risk and continue to serve so we continue to have our cultures and societies alive. I look forward to a new future, new beginnings and to celebrate once we can start socializing in a more fashionable way again.
The unknown is full of promise and possibility. The more we replenish ourselves now and approach each new day with intention, the more we will rise and shine in the future. We humans are resourceful and wise, and solutions are now being developed globally to bring us all back together again one day soon. Until that day, I remind you I am 110% committed to designing beautiful and restorative spaces for you. We are not looking for perfection but comfort, cozy, calm and eco friendly interiors for your health and wellness. Reach out for a start-of-summer consult here, any time.
