superficial AND profound

Dearest blog,

Hello, old friend. It’s been a while. Let me turn on the lights, and dust off those cobwebs. I apologize for being so distant over the last few months. Admittedly, I’ve thought about you on and off, but as we both know, I have yet to put in the effort required to maintain a healthy relationship (although in all fairness, you haven’t either, but I guess technology hasn’t quite reached the point where blogs literally opine back to us – at least not yet – so for now the onus is solely on me). Anyway, as we well know, relationships take work. Hard work. Like [sometimes] really, REALLY hard work. But when we put in the effort, regardless of outcome, there is one thing that we are always guaranteed: the satisfaction of knowing that we gave ourselves in our entirety. That’s kind of a big deal. Truly. And definitely worth more discussion, but in an effort not to get too far off track, I’m choosing to simply leave it at that with the offering for you to contemplate at will. 

So, with the inspiration and support of my friends/family/peers/teachers, I have made the conscious decision to step into the current and genuinely give my all in every aspect of my life. To that I am dedicated and committed. Writing those words down and publishing them in this blog may seem insignificant, but to me it helps carve it in stone. I guess it’s kind of like signing a contract in the digital age. There’s no turning back, as I am now accountable [to all of you who stumbled upon this] should I fail to honor my commitment. Keep me honest.

“What does any of this have to do with kitchen design?” you might ask if you are among the select few who dared read this posting. Well, in short: everything. Design is design. Period. And that stands true for both the superficial (and I don’t mean superficial in any negative connotation) and for the profound. We design our own image everyday through the clothes we choose to wear, the shoes we put on, how we style our hair, etc… We design our homes as reflections of ourselves. Whether you surround yourself with neutral color palettes or bold ones, says a lot about your personality. Do you like the idea of stepping off the beaten path and opting for concrete counters? Or does the mere idea of concrete counters simply make you cringe? Just as we are the designers of our superficial image/surroundings, so we are the designers (or to take it even a step further, the architects) of our lives, in a very profound and real way. It’s both as simple and as complex as that.

So as has been offered to me, I offer this forward to you: Are you in alignment with the design of your life? In other words, does the image you present to the outside world match the vision you have for yourself on the inside? If the two worlds are out of sync, which is the one that needs to change? And most importantly, what are you willing to do about it?

And finally, dearest blog, I leave you with this one last promise:

“I will write a weekly entry about something/someone that I find inspirational and how that is translated into my design (since this is a Kitchen Design blog, after all).”

Xo,

J.

ps- more on kitchens next time… I swear ;)

pps- and most of all, to my dear friend and teacher (you most certainly know who you are should you happen to be reading this, but I will respect your anonymity unless you give me the green light in which case I will give you shameless plugs to no end), I want to say “thank you” for your unfettered strength, clarity, poise and grace in communicating your thoughts and translating them into action. You, my friend, are true inspiration!!!