Prune to Bloom! Life Editing Services or My Dream Job

I'm going to jump right in here. In January's post I declared that I had found my purpose in life as an editor and then left my audience with a bit of a cliff hanger. You can let go now. I'll catch you :)

While searching for images I was reminded that there are different levels of pruning: superficial deadheading, surgical dead/diseased/crossing branches removal, and hard cutting back including suckers. 

In life deadheading is getting rid of the blooms that are spent after serving their purpose. You remove dead or diseased areas to maintain the overall health of the plant. Removing branches that are crossed and/or touching prevents harm to the plant. Suckers are offshoots from the roots that are non-producers and just take up resources. These freeloaders are also removed. And in the spring you cut back to the main stems to make ample room for new growth while maintaining a pleasing shape to the overall plant.

All of these pruning methods can be applied to life as well as rose bushes. You can think of any area but I find the easiest example (as well as my favorite) in the closet, literally.

Picture a wardrobe, perhaps your own. Imagine a very full closet with lots of items just waiting to be worn. But the space is packed to the brim which makes choosing an outfit a daunting task if what you really want to wear is anywhere beyond the first couple of layers of clean laundry. So you end up wearing the same things over and over simply because you can't reach the other options easily.

Or perhaps the closet isn't so tightly packed but you still feel overwhelmed by too many options so you still end up wearing the same things over and over again because that feels easy and safe.

And finally perhaps you have a curated closet of items that all are beautiful and waiting to be worn but you feel stymied when it comes to actually putting outfits together because you're afraid of "doing it wrong".

Do any of these feel like they are blooming?

No. To me blooming looks more like this: A well-organized space that is functional yet beautiful because everything is in harmony which also makes the process of dressing efficient and effortless. This space is full of confidence and purpose.

To achieve such a dream closet does not require more agonizing visits to a dressing room or more money spent on clothes that will only add to the mess rather than filling a void to answer the question of "what to wear".

So here's my pitch. If you dream of making the best use of your closet so that you can feel and look your best, then you simply need to follow my PRUNE method.

The idea is to take a mess, take it all out, do a hardcore sorting session, then reorganize in such a way that future maintenance should be effortless.

I'll be the first to admit that this process is not easy. You end up swimming through a mess for a while. It can take hours or days depending on your clothing volume and the time you have to commit to it. I can offer my expert services to help speed things along. I have a keen eye and a DYT background to help create an ideal wardrobe from the items already in your possession. Call me your personal Marie Kondo.

If you are familiar with Marie's work you know that any area can be organized. I'll go ahead and toot my horn to say that I can tackle just about anything. My main areas of work that I have already practiced in my own space are Wardrobes, Interior Design, Landscape Design, and Miscellaneous Organization.

Here on the blog I've already shown my hand in closets (Project 333, A Before and After, The Purge, ). My gardening exploits are here as well. To date I haven't done any interior posts but that's only because my ideas for my own home have been stuck in dream mode but I'm good on paper. It helps that I have taken design classes for interiors and landscapes. As for the misc. category, I've organized my friend's linen closet and junk drawers for fun.

So there's my credentials. This is my dream: to do one-on-one sessions with individuals at the end of their rope, ready for change, tired of dysfunction, needing a light in their tunnel. Granted, my scheduling is a bit limited since I am a mom of four small children with a hard-working teacher for a husband so available time is limited, but I can dream, can't I?

For now I can say that I can offer playdates of assistance, meaning I'll probably be bringing my posse with me but I can make the most of a couple of hours worth of time in the morning. If we're lucky I could throw in an occasional weekend naptime session too. It depends on the area being organized. Perhaps this will be a good summer job for me, but that also depends on my husband's conference schedule.

In the end, this is a dream in which I can fully use my talents as an organizer and life editor. If those skills could be of use to you then let me know and we can see how I can help. At least you have access to my method now.

I'm Beginning my Year with PURPOSE!

Here's my late Happy New Year's post. I spent 2019 making and having a baby. Mr. Sam joined us in August and he's a bundle of smiles.

That being said I've had a good excuse for not writing. I've come to terms with the fact that this is an "on-again, off-again" hobby for me. I've had my off year and now I'm ready for an on year.

The fun part is that each time I return to writing I find I've evolved so the blog does too. This year I'd like to introduce my (current) dream job.

I stumbled across an interesting Venn diagram on Pinterest a while back that is supposed to help you Find your Purpose.

This being circular you can fill it in at any starting point you choose.

What I get paid to do is easy because I already have my own small massage business. This is my chosen vocation because I found I had a talent for it at a young age. Being in my eighth year of business I can put more words to why/how I'm good at this job. My lower energy creates a very relaxing space for clients and my thoroughness inclines me to give an effective treatment to resolve physical issues of discomfort and decreased mobility. Basically, I can fix you as I put you to sleep.

What am I good at? Besides making really cute and fairly well-behaved babies, of course. Well, I fancy I'm really good at organizing and planning things. I like to clarify that I'm an organizer, not a cleaner, although I do enjoy some forms of deep cleaning. And then I am up late some nights because my brain goes into planning mode, somewhat unexpectedly, and I have a really hard time turning that off until I have some if not all the details of some project laid out in my mind.

These two aspects go into what I love doing. Recently my nighttime reveries were occupied with party planning, girls' nights specifically. I couldn't sleep until I had charted all the permutations that a social night for mommies could include. That may become a post of its own.

My organizing talents are generally aimed with the intention of creating beauty and efficiency out of chaos. My favorite example of this is creating capsule wardrobes. I find great satisfaction in using my keen eye for color and form to create an interchangeable set of outfits from overflowing closets. My intuition for composition also translates to interior and landscape design.

What does the world need that I feel that I can offer? A little bit of guidance to work toward harmony in any and all areas.

So to put my Purpose into a few words: I'm an editor.

I certainly don't feel qualified at this time to call myself a Life Coach, but I can offer my services and talents as a Life Editor. I can answer questions and help identify areas where changes may be needed and then follow through with the skills to make changes happen. It's easy to sell the more superficial tasks of tidying up but I feel that clearing things out can get to the roots of other issues as well.

So here's my dream business right now: "Prune to Bloom Life Editing". This hearkens to my skills using my green thumbs. My favorite gardening task is pruning in general but pruning roses specifically. My mother can vouch for me there ;) The idea with pruning is to remove dead or diseased parts and then to train the plant into the shape that best supports its growth. I feel this approach can be used for other areas in life, hence the name I've chosen. Bonus: I can make an acronym out of Prune that also handily describes my method.

But to see that acronym you'll need to tune in next month. I feel there is enough content in actually laying out a full description of this dream to fill another post. I'm already excited about this! Perhaps it's just the excitement of identifying my purpose in life which is something we all seek for. I hope that my enthusiasm will rub off. I'd love to hear if you've also Found Your Purpose.

Happy Blooming!