Hope springs eternal.

​Here we are, halfway through January, and I am knee deep in thoughts of spring and the predictably busy spring market. I do need to pause and reflect a bit as I look back on 2022, because I already feel like I am carrying the year’s positive lessons forward with me into 2023. These are lessons I learned from growth, change, adapting, and the turmoil that’s hard to avoid when one listens to the news. 
 
After our whirlwind January wedding in Italy, COVID extended our honeymoon. The kids flew home, while we were forced into a simple domestic situation in a tiny Italian village. We ate and drank like one should in Italy. We went on picnics. I leaned out the window and hung clothes on the clothesline like I was born to do so. And I vowed I’d never use our clothes dryer again – if, and when we ever got home.
 
Home has always been important to me, and perhaps the ongoing pandemic taught us all the importance of having a safe place to call your own. I continued to do a lot of DIY projects – discovering a new love of wallpaper, and an obsession with perfect pantries, so far from my own. And, I finally began turning my kids’ art into a precious gallery wall.
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Women really inspired me in 2022. The girls, women, students, and mothers who stood up to their oppressors – in Iran, Brazil, and the Ukraine. Incredible. I became fascinated with entrepreneur and businesswoman, Zita Cobb after our bucket list trip to Newfoundland’s Fogo Island. Cobb’s vision and passion for her home, and the respectful revitalization of Fogo Island is something to behold. I honestly left Fogo a changed, and better person.
 
2022 was filled with images of hope – even stories of hope coming out of the atrocities of a senseless war. The strength of humanity against all odds in something to behold. Far from a hardship, being “stuck” in Italy turned into one of the biggest lessons of my life. Choosing to find the joy at home, in our community, and the world – it’s how I want to move through 2023.
 
2022 was also a year for the record books, and my career. Perhaps it was looking at life through a lens of hope that attracted more like-minded clients and opportunities. Almost all of my business comes from referrals, and for that I am totally appreciative. I have a beautiful community of friends, colleagues, and clients who support, refer, cheerlead, and believe in me.  After receiving my Private Office designation, I am also now surrounded by an international network of professionals who also have my back. (Receiving my designation in Las Vegas with my fun colleagues is a whole other story.)
 
Finally, 2022 made me even more grateful for my family, and their unwavering support. They are why my heart beats. 
 
 So, here we go, 2023. Buckle up! I will continue to drive for excellence and higher levels of customer satisfaction while pushing for solutions that will assist the underhoused and homeless.    
Hope, joy, and compassion are like bulbs we plant in the fall in anticipation of a beautiful spring. Put the effort and vision into everything you do, and the results will be spectacular. At least I hope so. And if they aren’t – dust yourself off and get back to work.

And speaking of back to work – I have a spring market to get ready for!

Meghan