This past month has been (hmmm, searching for the right word) a SURPRISING one. I can’t say challenging, or devastating, or any of the common words used when you get an unexpected, unplanned change, because in this house, we understand the true meaning of all of those words. So, SURPRISING is what I’ll go with. So, here it goes… I was *gulp* “let go” from my new job, no warning, completely blind sided on a friday evening. For a girl who works her ass off, and loves what she does, this is a hard pill to swallow. But, that is not what this post is about. Like I said, we here in the French (and extended) family get what life is about. We have loved hard, lost the ones we have loved the most, and because of this love we have had the privilege to experience, we are able to pull ourselves up, and we keep going. We have perspective. Did I freak out when I was fired… you bet. Did it take me a few days to get that perspective… you bet! Was I pissed… YOU BET! But, as one of my family members said when I told her the news… “f* em’, their loss… and I wish I had your problem” (I so wish she did have my tiny, in comparison, problem). Best advice I have ever received, simple and so true (Thanks, M)!
So, we opened our own firm and haven’t looked back. Instead of making a “living”, we are making a “life”! Thank you “life” for this minor “surprise”, it has been a great one! We are (of course) scared, and slowly but steadily growing our beloved clientele. It’s hard, hard work. Up all night kind of work, and I’m loving it.
Passion has taken over, and the work doesn’t seem like work anymore. It seems like reality, and IT IS! My head is full of lists, and so are my notebooks! So, the lesson for me, and one I have learned over and over and over, is that when thrown a ball, instead of being hit or struck out, catch that damn ball, and throw a hard and fast one right back!
I’m leaning hard in to my reality that any company (or decision) founded on necessity, passion, and pure drive, will be successful. For us, that’s what a home is about. It isn’t about the pretty, or the things. It’s about the feelings, the memories created and the fun had.
Home IS my favorite place to be, and it’s an honor and a privilege to help create the same feeling for the families I work with. We built our home from the foundation up, in phases, and every inch holds meaning. That deck over there… that was built when our little girl started crawling because rattle snakes are a reality where we live!
That bathroom, well, I don’t think I can walk into the space without thinking of the reaction and pure joy that our girl experienced when her Daddy finished it, and hung her pink ruffled shower curtain.
It’s about the growth chart measurements on our wall, that have been reserved for the most special little beings in our life… ours has the height mark of one little one who left this world far too early. We can’t look at those marks without thinking of summer cousin performances and silly underwear dances, but most of all, how grateful we are to have had these experiences.
For us, this is what it’s about. It’s about F-A-M-I-L-Y. I’m going to end this 1st F&F post the way I end every night with my daughter. I ask her, without fail, “what are you most grateful for today?” For me, today, I’m grateful for this perspective and the chance to breath this air and be on this path, so here… we… go…
What are you most grateful for?
The person who leaves a comment with the best “gratefulness” story gets 1hr of a complimentary design consultation! Contest winner will be announced on Thursday, June 12th!
xo,
mrs. french
