I love that word. Lovely. It’s actually one of my favorite words.
That’s an interesting word to attach oneself to, isn’t it?
I used to use variations of this word throughout all of my social media accounts. Actually, up until recently, the name of this blog was “ColorMeLovelyy”. The name was a branch off of the name of my Instagram page, Staylovelyy. It’s a simple command to me from myself reminding myself to stay lovely.
Life is…weird. As you grow older you see things that can and do change the way you see the world around you. You hear about the awful things happening all over the world and you experience awful things in your own life that have the potential to leave you scarred and a bit hesitant to embrace the world as openly as you did when you were younger. Growing up definitely did some of those things to me. I was the one hesitant to open myself up to anything or anyone new in fear of being hurt or experiencing something unpleasant. In hiding myself from the possibility of negative experiences, I inadvertently tucked myself so far away, that I became unable to experience the abundance of beautiful things this world has to offer. My personality changed and I became very closed off. I was a shell of myself. I learned over time, that you need to be willing to experience the bad so that you can also experience the good. I also learned that you can’t control or escape the bad, but that you can control how you react to it. I made a decision that I wanted to walk with grace, with my head held high no matter what I was experiencing. I wanted to stay true to my personality, stay optimistic, stay seeing the best in others and to stay looking at the silver lining in difficult situations. I wanted to stay lovely. No matter what life threw at me.
Now, color me lovely, what in the world does that mean? Well, sometimes you need to help yourself out. Sometimes you need to make an effort to find and gather all that is beautiful in your world so that you can find it all in one place. Sort of like how an artist arranges their paints on their canvas. They gather their supplies; paint, water, brushes etc., and they take their time adding a bit of green here, yellow there and red over there. They mix their paints to create the color that matches the vision in their head and place it on their canvas in precise strokes that eventually transforms a dull canvas into a masterpiece. When they’re done, they gaze. They soak it all in and enjoy it. They made something lovely. Added color and created something that brings them joy. That is my goal with this blog. To find the beautiful things, gather them all in one space and let it bring me, and hopefully you, joy.
Now, I find a lot of things to be beautiful, and not always in the most conventional ways. While interior design, fashion, travel & beauty are my aesthetic passions, I also find beauty in the human experience. In hearing and sharing stories of how people overcome and cope with obstacles such as trauma, mental health issues, stereotypes & self acceptance. As a sociologist I enjoy articles and discussions about social issues of all kinds. As a Christian I enjoy discussing things I’ve learned, overcome, experienced and things I’ve been inspired by. I hope to create a space where all types of beauty, struggle, accomplishments and journeys can be celebrated. I will post articles, thoughts, adventures, creative journeys, reviews and whatever else comes to mind. Hopefully you will enjoy the ride.
Stay Lovely,
Nicole.
Nicole Eva 