Cultivate Beautiful Spaces
Today I’m pondering the benefits of simple, beautiful spaces. This past Father’s Day my wife bought me a table and umbrella, and a few plants, for our back deck. Our previous deck furniture was pretty cheap and rotted out the year before, so the deck has been barren. There was no functional space for us to enjoy, so we didn’t spend any time out there.
Once the table and flowers were in place, it created a simple, beautiful setting for us to hang out. I’ve been out on the deck every morning when it hasn’t been raining. I love it. Today, it has me thinking about the benefits of creating simple, beautiful spaces. It didn’t take much to add a little life and color to our deck. We didn’t break the bank. A little effort and voila - a place that once had no life, is suddenly lived in constantly.
I wonder if we take this for granted in our day to day lives. A little attention to color, design and functionality can make a world of difference to our mental wellbeing.
The Danish speak of Hygge. The Chinese have the ancient tradition of Feng Shui. Most of us have walked into a space for the first time and felt a distinct welcoming vibe.
Everything has energy, even the spaces we live in. So, if you find yourself in an unwanted headspace, of course it’s reasonable to look to your inner world and explore what might be going on. But it might also be helpful to assess the external environment around you.
If you Google “Hospital Recovery and Plants Research” you’ll be led to all kinds of articles about how the mere presence of plants helps patients in the hospital recover faster, affecting things like blood pressure, pain intensity, less need for medication, lowered anxiety, fatigue, etc.
The no-duh of the century, but still worthy of reminder, is that caring for your external environment positively impacts your mental and physical wellbeing.
You may think it’s no big deal to leave the dishes in the sink, have laundry piled up everywhere, the trash bin overflowing, your bed unmade, and your living space drab and uninviting, but it matters. Your space doesn't need to look like something in Better Homes & Gardens, but you must tend to it.
Some days it just feels hard to get out of bed. Hard to adult. Hard to make decisions. It might feel like you’ll never be able to access, fix, or heal your internal stuckness. I get it. Doing the inner work is vital, but when you need a life hack, tackling your external environment can sometimes feel more doable, more practical, more concrete.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve started cleaning my house thinking Ugh, this sucks. This is the last thing I want to be doing. Only to finish and think Dang, this feels so nice! I forgot that I actually like this place.
It won’t fix everything, but cultivating simple, beautiful spaces can go a long way in supporting your overall wellbeing.
Here’s to paying just as much attention to our external environment as our internal environment. Have a great week!
Happy to be in your corner,
Tom
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