Introducing Life-Style-ist

It’s definitely been a journey from there to here.  

I started my professional life as an actress on the stage doing the classics.  

I’ll be honest, it felt like an extraordinary accomplishment to achieve a career in the arts.  It was sort of like doing the impossible.  There were some moments of glory and experiences I’ll never forget. But the actor’s life is notorious. The rejection took its toll.  Even more daunting was the feeling of not being in charge of my own life. The chaos constantly drove me to take impulsive action, to force and push, to try and get life to behave in a way that I wanted it to. It didn’t work.

And so I found myself moving into entertainment-related fields, mostly advertising, where creative people go to get regular paychecks.  As an actress, I had produced my own work, so it seemed natural that I would move into project management, helping creative advertising projects on their way out the door.  But frankly, I never really “got” advertising.  You see, I was raised without a TV.  Growing up, TV programming and the ads that surrounded it were things best to avoid: ugly, mercenary tripe, one of the great evils of life. And so, obviously, there was a disconnect between me and that work. There was always something lacking.  Let’s call it meaning. 

Yeah, meaning.

Is meaning something we deserve in life? I’m not sure.  There are certainly many people on this earth who don’t have the luxury of even considering that question. But I can tell you that, for me, the lack of it created a feeling of being lost. 

For many years, I just tried to make it work.  I let it be what it was.  I had different jobs, producing television commercials and casting television commercials, and project managing web ads and website builds, but, for better or for worse, I’m the kind of person who has to ask “Why?”  Why was I doing this?  The answer seemed to be that I was doing it because it’s what I had always done and so I didn’t have other options.  

Meanwhile, whenever someone came over to my house or into a space of mine, they would respond with “You’re so grown up.”  

What did they mean by that?!  (I’ve lived a pretty adventurous life, not very grown-up by some standards.) 

I believe what they saw was something that had been deeply considered:  uncluttered, aesthetic, and an expression of myself; a sanctuary space. 

Confession: 

I love to move apartments.  I’ve moved countless times in my life.  Why is this?  It’s because I feel most at home organizing my house. I get to pack everything up (organize), move it, and unpack it all again (organize)!  It’s rather insane actually.  I’m trying to stop. 

All the while, I’m constantly being complimented on my choice of wardrobe.  I dress very simply, and I do love clothes, but I am usually on a budget and deeply unimpressed with the fashion world, brands, and fads.  I do think being complimented on style is, again, about whether your authentic self is being expressed creatively (or subtly) through the considered items you wear. So style to me is not about impressing the world with your wealth or showing you’re part of some group or other but finding high-quality items that really feel good, speak to you, and will last.  That’s personal style.  It’s you knowing yourself and giving deeply to yourself. 

I really do not intend to blow my own horn here.  The point is, these are the things that I do naturally because they are an essential part of my basic functioning.  

Who cares?  

To tell you the truth, I never really thought these things had any real meaning.  I’ve spent a lifetime working on the aspects of life that have nothing to do with appearances: internal growth and healing, the development of real compassion, letting go, and allowing life to be what it actually is in the moment.  There’s a magical thing about releasing the ego and finding acceptance: the focus is taken off of the self, and helping other people becomes the bull’s eye.  

That’s where you come in. 

We all have different strengths and weaknesses, right?  It’s a beautiful thing if we can complement one another with our differences instead of pitting those differences against each other.  There are lots of things that I’m terrible at. (Did anyone say math, technology, volleyball?) It’s just that I’m in a position to help organize and beautify people’s lives, to help them find their flow from the outside in, manage details, and provide support.  There are plenty of people too busy or tired to do these things for themselves.  And I can help them.

That’s why I started Life-Style-ist: to say yes to my own life by helping you say yes to yours.  I want all of it to feel good.  I want you to feel good.   

So, hello!  That’s me.  Nice to meet you.