As I sit listening to Christan Scott aTunde Adjuah and flip the pages of my tea table book "Us & Our Planet" (a gift from my nephew to me & his mom/my sister) I reflect on Inspiration & Sustainability - two concepts that motivate much of how I Live & Work.
To my sister/co-founder and I, living sustainably is a practice in many things, but above all it's about discovering joy & inspiration in nature & everyday life. She, a maximalist at heart turned minimalist, and me, a person who loves finding ways to simplify the complexities of life, recently combined our households (she & her son, me & my husband) as a true practice in sustainability.
Sustainability is about much more than recycling, being vegan, or following the "yellow mellow" toilet flush rule. It's about creating a life that can be LIVED, more easily, more simply, and more supported, with peace & joy.
Despite our somewhat different aesthetics, my sister and I both find inspiration in the tangible & the intangible. It's the plants that fill every room of our home, the rich colors of yellow, rust orange, blue and beige. It's the peppermint & tea tree essential oil in the burner, the hanging porch swing in the front yard, it's sitting in silence, laying in bed until 11am, choosing to go to the beach on a Tuesday (even when there's work to be done), shopping at the local farmer's market that we manage with a friend, and serving our tea to others.
All of these things inspire our living and are how we practice sustainability daily.
Now, think about your own life. What inspires you and brings you joy? How do you currently practice sustainability, and in what ways can you live more sustainably?
Lean into that! Give it more space. More time. More attention. Because, if we are going to do anything in excess we should be doing more of makes our souls happy. And from there, eliminating the excess; the "waste" becomes less of a chore and more of a pleasure.
To us, this is the true key to sustainable living.