“You don’t need to have a home that’s like anybody else’s. Take the ideas that speak to you. Use your imagination. Create something wonderful…” ~Oprah
I was recently asked if I would write for the Home section of the site. I admit, at first I hesitated. I’m not a very homey person. I don’t know the ins-and-outs of decorating, entertaining, or gardening. And, to be completely honest, I worried about writing on a topic that I don’t feel as confident in.
Then I realized something… a lot of people don’t feel confident in these areas. A lot of people are unsure how to decorate, that’s why professional decorators exist; a lot of people are inept at entertaining, that’s why you can find websites that tell you how to plan a party; plenty of people don’t know much about gardening and landscaping, and that is why you have landscaping companies and kids who make money offering to mow their neighbors lawns.
Here’s what I do have going for me, when it comes to the blogging side of this… I am very open and honest, and I am willing to come here and tell you, “hey, I don’t know what I’m doing, but would you be interested in learning with me?”
I never considered myself a writer before, but even before I started to write for this site anytime I would write anything, be it a journal, or a blog, or even just a letter (or an email) to someone, people would tell me that I am very relatable, that they appreciate how open and honest and personal I am. So I’m starting to realize, maybe that’s a strength I can draw upon, maybe that is something I should be keeping in focus.
Admitting that we don’t know how to hang pictures on our walls or that we can’t figure out the best placement for an area rug, or that we don’t understand what that thing is that is sticking up from the counter next to our sink… well… it’s okay. Maybe we can solve those mysteries together.
I get daily emails from Oprah.com. I usually just trash these. But, the other day I got one that I held onto for a while. Each of these emails has a quote in it, and the quote in this email was what got my attention. It’s the quote at the top of this blog…
“You don’t need to have a home that’s like anybody else’s. Take the ideas that speak to you. Use your imagination. Create something wonderful…”
I love this quote. It says that it is okay for me to do what I like, what I want, what makes me happy and comfortable in my own home. My home does not have to be picture perfect, and there are no rules I have to follow. It just has to reflect us, who we are, what we like.
We are the only people who have to actually live in our home, everyone else just comes and goes, and if they don’t like it, then they don’t have to mimic what we have done in their own home.
I found it more than a bit ironic that the main article in this email was “4 Steps to Perfectly Decorated Walls”… seemed a bit contradictory… to me, at least.