THE PRACTICE | when is it enough?

When I was post-op and lying in bed, I started getting the itch to organize.

My closet. My bathroom. My studio.

Not surface-level organizing, either. I wanted to really go through things. Clean, sort, throw things out, and create systems that fit my life now.

I think part of it was wanting to regain a little control over the mess that had piled up over the past few years. But I also realized I wanted to stop organizing the way I thought I was supposed to and start organizing in a way that actually worked for me.

On the surface, I knew it would be a big job. But once I started, I quickly realized this was not something I could finish in one afternoon. Or even one week.

There was going to be some trial and error.

Some of the systems I created seemed like they would work, until I actually lived with them and realized they didn’t. So I changed direction. I moved things again. I tried something else.

And somewhere along the way, I realized I wasn’t organizing for the sake of having an organized house.

I was organizing for my mental health, too.

Making my spaces feel simpler made my brain feel less cluttered. Knowing where things belonged made everyday life feel a little easier. The physical mess had been carrying more weight than I realized.

I started this project over a month ago, and I still have little piles of things I haven’t figured out what to do with.

Every day I see them and think I should just put them somewhere. Shove them in a drawer. Get them out of sight so I can finally say I’m done.

But another part of me knows how that goes.

Out of sight. Out of mind. Until the drawer fills up and I have to deal with it all over again.

So I keep wondering:
     When am I done organizing?
     When has it been enough?
Will there always be a drawer full of things I don’t know what to do with? Will there always be a little pile somewhere waiting for me?

As I’ve moved through this process, I’ve realized how much it reminds me of living with a word.

We begin excited. We have ideas about what the word will mean and the changes we’re going to make because of it.

Then life happens.

We forget. We come back. We forget again and come back a little differently.

Something that worked at the beginning stops working. We try another way. Something happens that makes us realize our word has a different job than we first thought.

And eventually, we can find ourselves asking the same question:

When is it enough?

I’m starting to think there may not be a moment when everything is neatly finished.

Maybe there are moments when we simply decide: this is working. This is enough for now.

That doesn’t mean the work didn’t matter or that we’re giving up on it. It means we can stop pushing for a minute and look at what has already changed.

     We can let ourselves plateau.
     We can work on something else that needs our attention.
     We can leave a few loose ends alone.

And if something stops working, or life changes, or our word starts asking something new of us, we can come back.

Maybe being done doesn’t always mean complete.

Maybe sometimes it means this is enough for now.

Satisfaction is not something we earn,
it's something we develop.
It is not something we can buy, receive or achieve,
it's a mindset that we have to master.
Brianna wiest

what I'm loving

I have had hereditary eye bags my entire life. Like, literally out of the womb.

I have tried just about everything within a reasonable price range to make them less noticeable: eye creams, concealers, masks, caffeine serums. Most things help with the dark circles, but the actual puffiness? Not much.

Then I got influenced by a Molly Sims Instagram ad for a peptide serum and decided to try it. It’s about $68 a bottle, which is more than I usually want to spend on something I’m not sure will work, but I figured if I saw a real difference, it would be worth it.

And y’all, I was genuinely surprised.

I’ve been using it for about a month, and while it is definitely not some permanent fix, this is the first thing I’ve used where I can actually see a difference in my under-eye bags.

I did a story on instagram and while rewatching I thought, wait... where did they go?

in the studio

I’m five weeks into teaching weekly classes and one-day workshops, and I’m having such a wonderful time.

I expected to love sharing the skills I’ve learned over the years, but I didn’t expect how much teaching would inspire me creatively, too. Being around people who are learning, experimenting, and figuring things out has sparked new ideas in my own work.

But the best part is the people.

There is something so fun about watching someone learn a new skill, try something they weren’t sure they could do, and start to feel that little spark of creativity for themselves.

The fall classes at Spruill have just opened for registration, and if you’re in the Atlanta area, I’d love to have you join me. I’m teaching classes for all experience levels, whether you’ve never picked up a jewelry tool before or you’re ready to add something new to your skills.

A while back, I came across a journal prompt that really stayed with me:

What is enough for you?

I expected the answer to be complicated. I thought I would have to really work at it.

But once I stripped away all the things I thought I was supposed to want, the answer was surprisingly simple.

To feel fulfilled by my work. To have open and honest relationships. To feel comfortable in my own skin.

What struck me most was that none of those answers were things.

So I’ll leave you with the same question this week:

     What is enough for you?