This is one of the most important favorite blogs I write. I get to reflect on the year that has passed by so quickly and stand in amazement at all the challenges and changes that have occurred. Going through 2023 at first glance I saw a lot of losses piling up. Several family members went to be with God in heaven, we closed our showroom and many other little things that led to big losses to me happened all throughout 2023. They felt like losses because that was my mindset. It was so easy to let life pile up on you and the weight of it push you down like a vise. Towards the end of the year, I had a mindset change and I had the biggest loss of all. The loss of control. It was through that loss that I could let surrender in. Surrender the pain, surrender the why of it all, and surrender the tears. When I allowed surrender in, it pushed loss out with all its negative thoughts. When that happened surrenders brought with it love, light, and peace. Love always wins!
As I was talking with a client and colleague about 2023 and how it felt so heavy. I told her about my unplugged vacation (see September’s blog) and why I was taking it. She smiled and said what a year you had, but not in the way I was thinking. She was joyful and positive about it. She said, “…look how much you have evolved, I cannot wait to see how high you soar now!” That discussion had such a profound effect on my mindset. It goes to show you that you never know how your words and actions can impact others. That got me thinking about our designs and how we impact our clients. Then taking that a step further, how our process affects our clients.
I met with five of our clients, current, past, and present to discuss our process and how we can do and be better as a company. They gave us honest feedback that I took to heart. I used this information to make one of the biggest changes to our company in 2023. We changed our process to clarify and streamline their process to elevate our client’s experience with Elizabeth Erin Designs. Another evolution would be that we do not have a showroom anymore. We are one hundred percent working out of virtual offices now. This decision was not easy, but being a nationwide company and having employees who prefer working virtually made it a natural choice for a win-win.
Personally, I loved FL when I was there. I have welcomed one of my cousins to Fort Walton Beach this year and my father just purchased a home near Orlando, FL. I like to think I started a trend! My favorite things to do is spend time with Scott, my daughter, my son-in-law, and my grandson Little Noodle, who turned one in September, doing all the family things. When I am in Iowa I got to spend time with my other daughter and all the rest of my family. In October I drove with my mom to AZ to get her all set up for the winter. Don’t laugh at me, but I got to drive a golf cart for the first time! I did so well that I graduated on day two to drive the side by side all over the trails and mountains. That was an amazing first. One look of fear came over my mom’s face and I told her it’s okay Mom surrender and let Jesus take the wheel!
I encourage you all to embrace the surrender of your interior design projects. Let love and light push out worry and stress in your life. If any of that stress stems from unfinished projects I know one of our experienced designers at Elizabeth Erin Designs can assist you in achieving your vision through our EED process. I look forward to meeting with you to discuss your projects and showing you how we have elevated our design experience for you!
If you don’t have any projects on the horizon and are like me tired of watching the saddest in the news. Please like and follow us on social media to stay on top of all the exciting things we have planned for 2024. We are going to be talking a lot about how to bring more light, love, calm, spa, and peace into your designs to get you inspired! I wish you all a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season with friends and family. Cheers to 2024!
Sincerely,
