Checking In... A Personal Note

TOP: SHOP LILYANNE (C/O) | SKIRT: SHOP LILYANNE (C/O) | SHOES: CASTANER | BAG: YUZEFI | WATCH: MICHELE (C/O) | NECKLACES: ROBERTO COIN | EARRINGS: VIVIAN DREW (C/O)

As I sat down to write today’s post… I thought I might change things up a little bit. I was getting ready to write a new “Monday Q&A” post, but I think I will postpone that post til next week.

Before moving another day forward, I wanted to just sit down and chat and hear from you.

How are you?

I think these days we are facing are completely unprecedented, and I didn’t want to rush into another day of chatting about fashion and (dreaming of) travels without checking in. This time feels heavy, and while I am choosing to focus on all the light and bright things… I never want it to come across as frivolous or thoughtless.

Everyone has so many big questions and serious wonders right now. And I just want to pause and check in with each of you! How are you doing with everything around us? What are you feeling?

I’ll go first, and I’d love to hear from you in the comments below, on IG, or even via DM. It makes my day to hear from you!

If I had to sum up how I’m feeling today… I’d say grateful, a little overwhelmed, concerned but content.

The Lord has brought my days of taking on new projects, exploring Palm Beach, and jumping from one place to the next to a screeching halt. All of a sudden I have found myself in stillness.

It’s a kind of stillness I have not felt or experienced in a long time.

For the first few days, I’m going to be honest, I was extremely uncomfortable with it. It was kind of like coming down for landing in a plane. I had been up in the air but suddenly had lots of clouds and a bunch of bumps to get through until the plane made it safely to its arrival gate. I could feel the friction so tangibly- packing up my things in Palm Beach [to head back to Alabama where I would spend my time in self-quarantine with family] not knowing when I would return, establishing a new daily routine, figuring out how I would continue to run my business, balancing family time and work time, and preparing for the months ahead.

As I figured out this new rhythm, day by day, I started adjusting and settling in to this “new normal” with a bit more peace. Much of which I believe was by God’s grace.

Over the past few weeks of quarantine, I have had lots of flashbacks to the beginning days of my blog- when I was working day and night on my blog while also balancing my online college courses. During this time a few years ago, I was putting so much time and energy into my blog/ IG but really didn’t have a ton of opportunities with my blog just yet. I think it was a year or two before I ever had any opportunity to travel with my blog, which was actually such a blessing.

While I am sure I sat in my bed at night dreaming of the day I may get to take this all to another level and visit new places or the day I would get to attend fashion week in person instead of just stalking the shows online, that time of stillness was so valuable. Even more valuable than I realized.

It was the stillness that allowed me to focus, be intentional, and lay the foundation for what was to come. I may not be doing a single thing I’m doing today if it wasn’t for those long, long months of stillness and “foundational work.”

As years passed, and I began to travel and take on more opportunities, life continued to speed up. Almost to the point where I forgot to blog or share some of my favorite experiences here with you! It seems so backwards, but it’s almost as if I either had time to blog or time to explore but struggled to make time for both. When I didn’t have as many opportunities a few years ago, I had all the time in the world to blog… but less to blog about. Then once things began picking up, I had so much to blog about but rarely found the time to sit still long enough to write a post.

I guess where I am going with this is that… I am looking at this time of stillness as foundational time once again. As uncomfortable as it was to bring myself to an abrupt stop, I believe there is good to come out of this- for all of us.

I hope that I can let go of the mindset of “missing out” on things that would have been and focus on what I am truly gaining during this time of stillness.

While yes, I am sad to see trips, shoots, events, projects, and new opportunities put on hold or cancelled, I cannot begin to express how grateful I am for the time gained with my five siblings and parents. This time is so rare.

There was a moment last Monday morning where I was upstairs getting ready (to ya know, go to the living room), and I could hear my sister and brother downstairs chatting over breakfast … and I just had a moment where it hit me how rare this time was. I don’t think we have all been home and under the same roof on a Monday morning like this since high school. Anyone who knows me personally knows that my family is everything to me (which may be kind of funny to you, because I rarely share anything about them here … they prefer to stay behind the lens most of the time 😉)… so amidst it all, this time with my whole family is one of the greatest, most precious gifts.

And obviously, it is heartbreaking to know that Covid-19 is the reason behind this, but I am grateful for the light and joys amidst all the darkness.

All things considered, I hope that I can continue to count the gifts of this still and strange season while focusing on building the foundation for the months and years to come.

Maybe this foundation for you looks like pure rest. Or maybe it looks like taking that hobby or passion project to the next level. Whatever it is, I believe this stillness will prepare us and equip us for the next season.

And above all, remembering that amidst all things, God is with us. He is for us. He goes before us, behind us, beneath us, and besides us. His love is never changing. And no earthly event, plague, or illness will ever take Him by surprise. He is the beginning and the end.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
-Revelation 1:8

While Covid-19 continues to remind us we are not in control, I am thankful that the Lord is. And I believe with all my heart that amidst that darkness, the heartbreak, the mourning, the loss, the illness, and the fear, He is holding us and will work all things together for good.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
-Romans 8:28

“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.” -Ephesians 1:11

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