Gratitude and slowing down - that’s what I’m practising this year. I’ve always kept the thank you cards I’ve received from the brands and businesses I’ve worked with, but they just go into a little box and live there. Yesterday I moved a few things around in the office and pulled them all out and read through them, and it was such a beautiful reminder of the power of gratitude. It was also a really nice moment just to stop and read handwritten notes and take five minutes out to reflect.
I’m grateful for a tonne of things in my life but like most people, sometimes I get caught up in the ‘busy’ and forget to slow down and appreciate the small stuff, the things that really matter. This year I’m changing that, because 2020 changed a lot for me. I finished 2019 utterly exhausted, and after six years in business, I still hadn’t learnt the art of balance. I’m an ‘all-in or nothin’ kind of gal and if I’m going to do something, I do it 3000%. I went into 2020 the same way.
When COVID hit and I was forced to close the shop I’d only just opened, I was also forced to slow down. I couldn’t do what I planned to do, but for the first time in a long time, I had time to breathe, to think, and to practice balance. I had time to think about myself instead of thinking about everyone else. I had time to exercise instead of putting my health at the bottom of the to-do list. I had time to call family for hours instead of screening their calls because I had ‘too much to do’. I had time to read, to make things, to cook, to actually enjoy downtime instead of answering ‘just one more email’. And oddly enough, despite COVID, The Fashion Advocate had one of its best years ever - because I had the headspace to do things differently.
2020 was a doozy of a year for some, but it wasn’t a ‘bad’ year - it was exactly what it was meant to be, and there’s always something to be grateful for if you look for it.
Here’s to another year of slow fashion, to fighting the good fight, and to changing the world for the better - but with a little more gratitude at a slightly slower pace.
The Fashion Advocate x
