A collected lifestyle means gathering a mix of old and new to tell a deeper story of who you are and what you love. The beautiful thing about this approach to living, and one of the reasons why I have embraced it.
It’s the freedom you finally give your ancestors that did many of these traditions and rituals as chores and labor. To sew many of the garments I wear as a way of expression and creativity when my great grandmother's made their own clothes out of necessity is liberating. But it's also an invitation to revive the creative spirit within my women ancestors who may have been master seamstresses.
Reconnecting to a collected lifestyle is not restrictive or by any means a "do what you gotta do" lifestyle, but all about perfectly curating the skillsets of the women before us to live a more thoughtful and well lived and loved life, every day.
This collected lifestyle I speak of begins with being guided by my heritage and many others, a love of beauty, and respect for strength. As Alice Walker states in the profound In Search of Our Mother's Garden, this guidance is how we all find our own garden.
Starting with living creatively every day that I am blessed to wake up. Exploring ways to adorn myself with the gifts of nature, expressing love through making meals from food that I grow in my garden, sewing garments to wear from luxurious fabrics, decorating a collected home with family heirlooms and unique art pieces, and collecting the stories and ways of women who were masters of the art of living.
The vision for reconnecting to a more collected lifestyle ultimately is to find home. Home within myself and the four walls in which I find peace, comfort, and nurture my children. My home in the literal and metaphorical sense is both ever-evolving. Some things come and others have to go, while others become a collection. I am finding myself discovering all of the ways to treasure the old and design the new. This way of living is the inspiration behind the upcoming fall collection of stories, offerings, and experiences that will come to In Search of Our Garden.
I hope this inspires you to take reconnect to a lifestyle that is guided by the beauty of nature and the rituals of our ancestors. Cultivating a passion for the art of living that is rooted in culture and beauty. A collected lifestyle for me, as I continue searching for my garden, is falling in love with culture, homemaking, arts, gardening, travel, and storytelling. A collected lifestyle is a celebration of gathering old and new and making it your own.