Sometime something unexpected can expand your mind…
An unexpected item in the entryway can add a whole new feeling to your house. Choosing the path less traveled, or writing from the heart, even when no one is reading… these all come from the same rebellious spirit.
Do you travel to the top destinations, or do you deviate from the expected?
Of course, I adore Paris and San Sebastián, but some of my favorite places have been a little more off the beaten path. The spots where people have asked, What made you travel there?
When something is a little more unique, it can feel even more special.
I don’t have many friends who have seen the waterfalls at Plitvice Lakes, hiked or rafted in the Spanish Pyrenees, or swam in Les Gorges du Verdon’s crystal-blue waters in France…
Others may have these similar stories, but to me, they feel unique. And they live vibrantly in my memory.
Design and art are similar.
There is art and design that is considered beautiful, and then there is art and design that follows another path…
I’ve posted before about Wabi-Sabi, the art of imperfection, and the idea that beauty can be found in the imperfect.
And I recently read a great Substack about a similar French term, Jolie-Laide, and the idea that unconventional things can bring the most interest to a space.
The things that make a room memorable aren't always the things that make the most sense.
A few examples I’m loving…
I love marrying this idea of imperfection with the practice of Feng Shui.
I feel like many people see Shui as black and white. Perfection or nothing.
The way I see it is completely opposite.
There is room for the unexpected. For the unusual. For the thing that makes you smile for no reason.
In fact, sometimes that is exactly what a space needs.
Case in point…
Sometimes adding the unexpected can create the perfect Chi change.
And maybe our lives need a little more of that, too.
On a related note…
When did Substack Bestsellers become so boring?!
They used to be one of my favorite places to wander. A place to stumble onto someone new, writing about something you’d never thought about.
Someone a little weird.
But not now.
What used to be a place of discovery has become filled with celebrities, semi-celebrities, and people who already have an audience.
What’s the fun in that?
This is a space for creativity.
A place to find a unique voice before the rest of the world notices it...
I miss the hunt.
I want the weird stuff.
The person writing about something nobody else is. The designer with an odd obsession. Someone completely down a rabbit hole. Maybe cooking something I’ve never heard of, or looking at the world in a way you never have.
That’s what makes Substack interesting.
It’s a place where we can share the thing that is uniquely ours.
So don’t try to fit in the box.
I want to follow you and your weirdness.
So, let your freak flag fly…
In your home. In your work. In your writing. In your life.
Let’s make weird interesting again.
xo
Abby
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