Creating Beauty is Enough
A true story about beauty, the art of contentment, and what really matters
"Creativity takes courage." Henri Matisse (1869-1954)
I didn't understand this truly, until I left a very "legit" career as a Finance Exec behind and began building a wobbly bridge to what is now a life rooted in design and creativity.
Creating Beauty.
Not just decorating, but as a daily act of purpose. This takes a kind of courage I'm still learning to trust.
Rediscovering Creativity.
The belief that beauty and creativity are worth pursuing, even when they don't follow a linear path or come with a tidy ROI.
Over the past few years, I've found myself craving something slower, simpler, and more grounded. Not just in how I design homes and landscapes, but in how I live - each day.
Here on this porch, I’m exploring themes that keep showing up in my own life. Questions I’m sitting with, rhythms I’m learning to embrace, small ideas I’m trying to hold onto.
You might be feeling some of the same longings.
If so, maybe these will speak to you too. And you are in the right place!
More or Less
Reflections on what we’re making space for - and what we’re choosing to let go.
For you, if you feel overloaded by the weight of “more” and "bigger", and are slowly discovering that less might feel like freedom.
Lately, I’ve been noticing how much I hold onto simply out of habit. From overstuffed drawers to old beliefs about what a “real” life or career should look like. Making space, physically and emotionally, has become a sweet kind of liberation. It’s not about becoming a minimalist (promise!). It’s about finding room to breathe and let go.
Simple Pleasures
Honoring the small rituals and everyday joys that make life feel grounded, beautiful, and enough.
For you, if you are learning to notice and truly pay attention to the small things, and realizing that these are the moments most worth celebrating.
For me, it’s the first sip of hot tea in my favorite tea cup in the morning, and our daily porch sittin' routine to wind down each day. Now, I’m beginning to see them for what they are: little anchors in the day. Small pleasures that I am so grateful for. Worthy of my attention and effort.
Living with the Seasons
Noticing the sensory shifts of the seasons - light, scent, sky, and nature, as they shape the rhythm of our days.
For you, if you feel life change with the seasons, not just in the weather, but in how you cook, garden, gather, and live. And if you are wanting to live fully in the season we’re in, not the one being marketed to us.
I’m learning how to let the seasons guide how I live - from what I cook, to how I use space in my home, to what my garden needs from me. In summer, we expand outside. In winter, we cocoon. I’m no longer interested in chasing what’s next. The beauty is in being present to now, this moment in time.
Slow Moments
Moments that invite us to pause, rest, and ease into a gentler pace of being.
For you, if you’re tired of rushing, multitasking, and measuring your days by productivity. Craving the kind of moments that feel content, even if brief. A breath. A pause. A bit of space to simply be.
I’ve spent much of my life measuring my worth by output. Checklists. Rushing. I now know it's called "time anxiety". Even now, I catch myself trying to turn rest into something “useful.” But more and more, I’m learning to value unstructured time - lingering over tea with my pile of books, watching the birds in my garden, resisting the urge to fill every minute.
This is truly not easy for me! But these moments aren’t wasted. They’re what make the rest of it work.
Perfectly Imperfect
Celebrating the charm and soul of things that are handmade, quirky, or beautifully flawed. Including us!
For you, if you’re tired of the pressure to make everything Pinterest and Instagram perfect, and instead find comfort in handmade objects, weathered homes with history, and the organic beauty of nature.
I used to think that to be a designer, everything I touched had to be flawless and magazine-worthy. But the longer I do this work, and the more I live in my own space, the more I fall in love with what’s handmade, weathered, and a little off-center. These things tell stories. Things that aren’t symmetrical. And stories are always more interesting than perfection.
Garden Glimpses
Personal, seasonal peeks into the garden - what’s growing, changing, or calling us outside.
For you, if stepping outside resets your mood. If you notice what’s blooming before you check your phone each day, or if your garden feels more like a companion than a project.
My garden isn’t perfect or pristine, but it’s alive, always changing, and calling to me every day. I share glimpses of what’s in bloom, what’s struggling, and what feels magical in the moment. This isn’t about impressive before-and-afters. It’s about noticing what’s unfolding, and feeling connected to the details, colors, and natural beauty.
The Little Things
Small details and thoughtful touches that transform spaces, experiences, and moods.
For you, if you believe small details can change everything - a familiar scent, a favorite playlist, or the way dinner feels when served by candlelight.
I think often about how the smallest choices (how a room smells, how color makes me feel, or how lighting can transform a hard space) shape the experience of being home. These aren’t big reveals or sweeping changes. They’re small gestures, but intentional ones. I’ve come to believe that beauty lives in the details, and the more we notice them, the more they shape our experiences and moods.
Rooted
Design, traditions, or moments that help us feel grounded in place, history, and home.
For you, if you’ve ever felt the pull to belong somewhere. Not just to live in a place, but to feel connected to it. A true sense of home. Knowing the rhythms. Contentedness.
For a long time, I felt like I was floating - successful, busy, but slightly untethered. It wasn’t until I put my hands in this soil here at Juniper Hill Cottage, in this town, in this small-not-tiny house, that I began to feel rooted. It wasn’t just the garden or the views. It was learning the light, the hiking trails that surround us, the seasons, and the sense of sustainability that shapes our future. That’s when things started to feel like mine. Like home.
Embracing Contentment
Ways we make space for stillness, sufficiency, and simply embracing "enough."
For you, if you’re tired of striving, optimizing, or feeling like you always need to be doing or achieving more. If you're starting to believe that life can feel full, even without being packed. Maybe it’s a smaller home, fewer possessions, or even a simpler budget. But somehow, it feels richer.
I’ve spent so many years chasing better, faster, more - professionally and personally. It took a long time to realize that contentment isn’t a lack of ambition; it’s a shift in values. These days, I’m learning to notice what already feels good, what already works, and what already brings joy. It’s not always easy, and I still catch myself slipping into “shoulds” or "coulds," but more often now, I’m choosing to stay with enough.
Seeking Beauty
Finding unexpected or subtle beauty in the everyday - natural, handmade, or simply observed. Crafting beautiful spaces.
For you, if you feel pulled toward beauty. Not as decoration, but as something that feeds your spirit. If beauty isn't something you chase, but something you’re learning to notice - in the ordinary, the overlooked, the perfectly simple.
Beauty has always been my compass, though I didn’t always feel permission to say that out loud. For a long time, I tried to justify it, to make it useful, make it practical, make it pay. But beauty for its own sake is reason enough. Not the curated kind, but the kind I stumble across on a walk, or the way my home brings me visual joy. I share what catches my eye, and what makes me stop, because I think that noticing beauty changes how we move through the world.
These are the threads I’m trying to pay attention to. The questions I keep circling back to.
And at the heart of it all? A simple truth I’m finally learning to trust:
Creating Beauty is Enough. And Necessary.
My focus in this Substack space is about crafting a smaller, simpler, more beautiful life.
Does that land me in the “slow living” category? Probably. I’m not really sure. But recently, I came across a few posts from other writers in that category expressing frustration with the ideals often portrayed by influencers and content creators - that everything must be styled, curated, and perfect. The feeling that the pursuit of beauty is somehow shallow or less meaningful than experience or action.
I don’t dismiss that perspective. I get it. But for me, beauty is not only worthy -- it’s necessary.
Not because I’m trying to go viral or chase a thousand likes. Not because I think life should look like a magazine.
But because beauty makes me happy.
Beautiful spaces, art, and gardens speak to my soul. Beauty colors my outlook with joy. It grounds me in the present. Beauty gives me something to hold onto when the world feels chaotic. Beauty softens the hard edges and helps me live with more contentment, clarity, and grace.
And I love sharing that joy, and the spaces I create, with people I care about. Some of those spaces might even outlast me. And that idea feels deeply meaningful.
Because that feeling of joy, peace, and beauty is what makes this life feel worth living.
“I’m going to make everything around me beautiful — that will be my life.”
— Elsie de Wolfe (1865–1950)
If this speaks to you - if you also feel pulled toward a slower, more intentional life grounded in beauty, seasonality, and meaning - I hope you’ll subscribe and stay a while.
Not just follow. But really subscribe. That’s how my letters will reach you, and how we’ll begin to build something more connected here.
I invite you to share your thoughts in the comments. I’d love to hear what resonates with you, and what beauty means in your own life right now.
Let’s create something beautiful together.
With contentment & possibility,
P.S. If you're new here and curious about what this space is all about, or want to know a little more about me and The Whiskey Porch, you can read the [About Page here].
It’s a good place to start if you’re wondering what you'll find in this space, or how this little porch in Northern Arizona became the heart of my design work and writing.
Simply lovely.