HOME IS EVERYTHING
Several years ago I worked with a client in Pacific Palisades. Their home, perched on a hill overlooking an open vista, is idyllic. We embarked on an extensive Feng Shui and design process together. A deep dive led to all sorts of changes. New paint colors, wallpaper, lighting and furniture placements, along with cleared underground pipes and some landscaping, resulted in a prestigious new job offer and a much desired pregnancy for this family. It’s amazing how directing the energy in and around a home can effect positive change. Over the years their house has matured with their growing family and I have followed along as the people, space and property itself all flourished.
Lately home is at the forefront of my mind. Though several months have passed, I find myself still thinking about the recent fires in California. Friends, clients and members of my own family all live too close for comfort to the affected areas. Home is a precious gift. Things can be replaced, however, a place where you spent many years, or even a brief stint in your life, cannot. To lose that sense of sanctity is unfathomable.
Dusk paints the Pacific Palisades sky with rose and violet brushstrokes.
Homes hold us. Most notably, memories of moments shared and the intricacies of lives lived. A home is much more than a roof over your head: it is a sanctuary. It reflects who you are on the inside and offers itself to you in service. Though witness to your most vulnerable states, your home doesn’t judge. Its sole purpose to provide shelter and always have your back like a loyal dog or best friend, is paramount. I feel enormously grateful to be in the business of creating spaces for people to live their lives in, to love, feel nurtured and cradled in, to share joyous celebrations and mourn losses in: it is everything.
An interior shot overlooking the property.
I believe that spaces are as alive as we are, breathing and evolving over time. We forge deep relationships with them. Miraculously my client’s home survived the fire, however, most of their neighbors were not as fortunate. Even though their home is still standing, it will likely be years before they can go “home.” Life, as they knew it, is gone. The fire took everything in its path. Homes were not the only loss. People, animals, the land and everything upon it, were devastated. And all of it needs healing.
My client sent these photos and notes to me recently:
“As the fire was approaching, we thought the wind was blowing away from us and that we’d be back the next day. It did not. We did not.”
“I did hear there was a rainbow after the fires. But there were often rainbows at my house, spanning over the canyon, stretched across the sky. It was the Palisades and it was idyllic!”
I am heartened by the outpouring of love and support people have shown each other. We are at our best when helping others. The smallest act of kindness actually does make a difference.
I pray that the Palisades, and all the other areas affected by the fires, will be idyllic once again. In the interim, I’m sending love, healing and hope to all those still affected, as well as a HUGE THANK YOU to all the firefighters and emergency workers who risk their own lives to save others.