When All Else Fails, Remember... Less is More
A message that hit home for me this week.
So.
Last week was a little crazy. And if I’m being honest, the past two months have been a bit crazy, but that’s another story.
So let’s stick with last week. It started out pretty normal - my schedule was filled with the usual items… morning workouts, writing projects, a list of pitches, a little golf, and other normal activities in my daily.
Monday and Tuesday flew by with no hiccups.
Then came Wednesday morning, again, starting out pretty normal. I woke up at my regular ungodly hour of 4:30 and started my routine of prepping supplements, coffee, and a smoothie bowl. Then I sat down with it all and started to go through emails. The only difference that morning was the addition of a few new supplements, and I was sipping a new tea lemon balm tea I’d purchased at the grocery store the day before. (I mention the grocery store to point out it wasn’t some loose leaf tea I’d bought on Amazon. That would’ve added another question mark to the case.)
Well, halfway through that tea, my face started to itch - a familiar feeling, as a month prior, in the heat of our bathroom demo, I had experienced a reaction to all of the dust in the air resulting in a days-long itchy face. My face hadn’t blown up or anything, it had just felt bumpy and itchy. Very itchy.
This past Wednesday started out that way, so as I sipped my tea, I wondered if I was getting “demo face” again.
Then I looked in the mirror.
I’m not even posting pics, because it was horrifying. I waited a few minutes, assessing my breathing the whole time, and expected the redness to go away.
Nope.
I probably just could’ve popped a Benadryl and called it a day, but I don’t know about you, but when your face is blowing up and you wonder if it’s going to affect your breathing… you seek medical attention.
So I went to urgent care where the nice nurse practitioner resassured me I wasn’t going to drop over in her office. She suggested I take Claritin by day, Benadryl by night, and told me, “If you feel like you can’t breathe, call 911.”
Alrighty.
Needless to say I spent the rest of the day wondering if and when I’d croak, and also googling skin flares.
I get into it a bit more in the links… but the bottom line is that my reaction seems to be the result of the perfect storm - stress, a diet high in histamine foods (spinach, bananas, tomatoes, chocolate, and every other high histamine food on the list) coupled with a tweak in supplements and then the addition of the seemingly harmless lemon balm tea. Not having that again, and I’ve also since ditched lemons in general. Just to be safe. Plus, sidenote… lemon balm is in a lot of supplements, fyi.
Something had to give. And it did.
Through the pores of my face.
Turns out I was doing too many things and probably taking too many things - all in the name of health - and finally, my body was like…
Well, as we all know, it truly #takesavillage, so I visited my naturopath and accupuncturist. They confirmed the perfect storm theory and we came to the conclusion that while supplements serve a purpose, sometimes less is more. Obviously, this was a case for that, so I’m currently backing off supplements, eating a low histamine diet, and feeling better.
That said, I could stop right there with the Less is More theory, but my sister Patty (an interior designer) brought it up again this weekend when she was at my house helping me organize and spiff it up a bit, design-wise.
And wouldn’t you know, the time with my sister and the design advice she gave me, happen to be What I’d Rather Be Talking About this week:
As she set out to change things up a bit, my sister started by taking out the things that weren’t working in each room. Next she assessed the accessories we already had and how they could be best used.
While she was doing this she reminded me one of her guiding principles…
Design is a Subtractive Process.
She explained, “The key is to look at everything you own, and look at it so it harmoniously flows throughout the space. It’s a process of curation, where you figure out what goes with what, and the energy of one object plays off the other.”
This goes against the natural inclination to immediately buy new things, make sweeping changes, or pile more stuff on when you’re unhappy with a space.
Instead, start by taking out what’s not working so you can see what ~ if anything ~ needs to be added.
Sometimes simply removing an offending item or two is all a space needs.
Kind of a genius principle, if you ask me.
And that genius principle doesn’t have to be isolated to design… we can apply it to our lives.
Take out the things/people/situations that aren’t working, don’t sit well, don’t fit… and then take a beat.
Do you need to fill that space again right away, or can you just let things be for a bit and see what naturally falls into place?
While you ponder that, here’s a pic of one of the spaces Patty brought her magic to…she rearranged our sectional, took the pillows off that were always slipping off the sofa and placed them in baskets, and then grouped like-items together. It’s a new room.
And with that, I’ve put together a few links for you… not a ton, because as you know less is more.
living well & random things to watch & listen to
Environment is huge when it comes to living our best lives. How do the top ten cities for longevity compare to your zip code? Even if you can’t move, you can still latch onto their healthy habits.
Speaking of longevity and looking younger… have you seen the Netflix show called Younger? It’s about a forty something divorcee who poses as a 26-year-old to restart her career. In other binge news, I’m still mourning the fact we completed watching all seasons of SUITS. (I miss Harvey.) My brother recommended the show The Residence - a Netflix hit about a murder in the White House. Haven’t tried that one yet, as my husband and I are totally hooked on the show Your Friends & Neighbors on Apple.
the intersection of home & health
I remember the time I discovered the dryer had a lint filter. 🤦♀️ I’d like to say it was when I was nine, but embarassingly it was much later. Since then, I’ve been accutely aware of how unaware I often am. So, as a public service, sharing these Appliance Maintenance Tasks You Probably Don’t Do Enough.
In other household news, one of the ways we’re trying to make our kitchen a toxic-free environment is to use stainless steel or cast iron pans instead of the no-bueno Teflon. But the thing about cast iron pans is… cleaning them is sort of a pain, right? Not any longer with this cast iron natural cleaning hack.
Bobby Parrish tells us 10 New (healthy and delicious) Items to buy in May at Costco and if you can tolerate the Deal Guy’s voice, he has even more May Costco deals. Hot tip - the fly fan really works, we have one.
let’s eat well & take care of ourselves
From the what not to eat series…these foods have the highest levels of plastics, and here are five foods you should never buy at the grocery store. (#5 may surprise you.)
More on food. After my red face ordeal this past week, I’m