Creativity: Slow Down to Speed Up

Creativity

Sometimes you have to slow down to speed up.

Summertime offers us the urge to slow down.

Maybe you head off to your beach house or lake house for the weekend or maybe for the season. Now with Air B&B and remote work we can all indulge in a summer slow down getaway short or long.

Normally, I would be on the move, booking cool hotel rooms and beach front bungalows for various trips this summer. Looking to escape the oppressive heat and humidity of South Louisiana and of course to source stellar vintage for Raca Rara.

I always say… where to next?

As I continued to juggle my full time job, sourcing for Raca Rara, managing the website, and trying to fit in a regular yoga practice, travel, and feed my other creative projects, I felt worn thin…like I needed a moment to slow down.

Creativity… Sometimes you have to slow down to speed up.

And I did, I took a few days to slow down and catch up on the stack of new untouched books and magazines that had arrived over the last few months …and as I looked to the things that inspire me most, art, design, fashion, cool hotels, and the artists and writers of Bohemia… I felt the creative fire light up. A new notebook was purchased and I began to make lists of ideas and supplies needed to execute said ideas…and then I looked around and realized what I truly needed was space, a space that was functional, organized, and of course with my personal stamp and style.

So it began…what started as the urge for a quiet summer slow down has turned into one of my biggest projects yet…a full re-design of our four bedroom mid century modern home here in Louisiana… Style Card: Retro Lux… (more to come on this topic…for now we will just say this house was previously a bachelor pad and aesthetics and design were an after thought at best)

Creativity… Sometimes you have to slow down to speed up.

Does this mean this Yankee is here to stay?

While I will always long for the safe and familiar of my home town in NEPA, friends and family, the pink leaves in the fall, and living a stones throw from two amazing cities (New York and Philadelphia), and just a short road trip to the beaches of Cape Cod where I spent my childhood summers…

There is something freeing about embracing a new place and beginning to call it home… at least for the foreseeable future.

For now I leave you with this quote I came across while perusing interior design books for inspiration- I feel like this pretty much sums up my vibe…and I couldn’t agree with Robin more.

“…as a creative person it’s so essential to remain a little lawless and untamed, a little bit of wildness in you. It’s critical…” - Robin Standefer

This weekend I invite you to slow down and do something that inspires you…you never know what will new project will spark…

As always- enjoy the journey!

Annmarie