I was surprised at the outcome of this model, and was riding the high of feeling better all day yesterday. Yay! The unintentional model remained a little messy due to multiple thoughts/emotions that were interconnected. However, I was able to move on to two intentional models that really helped.

Just a little background – I spent time this weekend organizing the kids toys and moving furniture so that now we have more seating in the living room and a new spaces for things. However, the decor is still what some might call “early childhood aesthetic” – IKEA cube shelving, couches with broken frames, chairs with cat scratches. We moved 2 years ago but the house doesn’t yet feel like a settled home where I feel proud and peaceful.

Unintentional:
C: Rearranged living room
T: “I don’t even like it that much.” [Other thoughts were “It still looks cheap.” “We should be more grown-up by now.” “People will judge us for having this type of furniture.” “Being grown-up means having a set-up that is more “real estate showing-ready”. “I would be happier if the furniture were different.”
F: Embarrassed
A: Continue negative thoughts about furniture/setup, don’t commit to other furniture/decor, apologize when friends over, don’t generate excitement to “fix up” rest of house
R: Room remains as is now, don’t follow through on adding decor/personalization that I love, still feel negative about room and rest of house

And then, for my intentional model, I started with the goal of finding a thought that would motivate me find pieces that I imagined for my L.R. and commit to an arrangement that I love. However, with the thought work I got to what is below… It has more feelings involved in the A line than perhaps ideal, but it worked for me. The result was unexpected… and mind blown!

Intentional #1:
C: Rearranged living room
T: “There are things out there that I would love in this space.”
F: Positive [also, patient]
A: Look at L.R. with patience and forgiveness, live life in the room as is, do not feel pressured to “fix” other rooms
R: Accept (love?) space as is

Intentional #2:
C: Rearranged living room
T: “Other people may actually like it.”
F: Open-minded
A: Invite people over, keep room (relatively) neat, focus on positives, attempt to see through other’s eyes, find things of value
R: Appreciate and value space as is