Since launching this website, I’ve grappled with the question of what I’m writing this whole Rosy Blu blog about; or more precisely, how to communicate the answer in my head to everyone else. Because in my mind, there is a strong common thread running through the posts I write about, the two shops I launched and the way I live my life.
The thread has emerged more clearly over the last year; in truth, writing this blog has helped me be more concise about what is and isn’t working with my lifestyle. It’s helping to give me a place to document my journey towards exactly what I want, and how I can use that to help other people.
Putting it in words is a tall order, though. I’ve started (and abandoned) many blog posts about The Point Of All This. Turns out trying to put into words this whole big thing I’ve developed in my brain is not easy. But I’ve figured out a piece of it today that I’m ready to share.
I’m pretty sure it’s about whittling.
Not that I’m going to actually start whittling. It’s a metaphor, see.
I have in my mind a picture of an old man on a porch with a block of wood. It’s a block of wood just like any other, but he’s got a plan for it. He sees what it could be, that it could be better. He slices away big sections to start with, then refines it and chips away more and more pieces. To uncover the Thing he wanted to create. Perhaps he made a toy for his grandchild. It has more value than the block of wood, and more potential to make people happy.
Whittling is the best metaphor I have to explain what ties all of the pieces of Rosy Blu together. The experiences I write about here are common for many others too, I think. When we organize and declutter our homes and our habits, and attempt to avoid toxic stuff in the food we eat and the products we use, we’re clearing away things that weren’t meant to be there in the first place. Those things don’t fulfill us and just take up our time, energy, money and health without making our lives better.
But just as important as the things that are taken away is what remains after all the extra stuff is cleared out.
What remains is the essence of what we want our lives to be.
The beautiful, loved and useful things.
What ties my blog and my business together is that I try to take this approach to my home, my possessions, my food, my habits and all of the things that are truly important to me. Removing the extra stuff makes space for the good stuff, the essence, to breathe and really fill you up, to move you and change your life in a new and better direction.
So in place of an eloquent, precise explanation about the meaning behind Rosy Blu, I leave you with whittling. What do you think?
