Welcome to marble or dirt, or what I would describe as a place you can come to when you want design or life inspiration, a positive mindset shift, a weekend getaway itinerary or where you can catch up with a friend. Life can sometimes seem so complex and what I’ve learned is that it all comes back to mindset. I first learned about the law of attraction when I was in a confusing and toxic time of my life. It’s the idea that your beliefs become your actions.
However, I’ve realized it’s hard to retain information when your mind is so cloudy. The concept didn’t fully resonate with me until I was a clearer human.
Looking back, I know now that I had a burning passion inside of me since I was little. The good thing is, I listened to it. I’ve always been told since I was young that if I was determined to do something, no one could really stop me. Subconsciously, it was the law of attraction driving me to follow my passion of interior design. In a world that seemed so complex, interior design was the one thing that truly made me happy, that I was absolutely obsessed with and felt so simple in a world that felt so complex and confusing. It was my driving force where time could pass so quickly and I’d get lost in it. What’s that one thing for you?
I made one of the best decisions of my life and moved to Arizona after graduating from college in Pennsylvania. I knew that if I wanted to get into the interior design industry, I needed to move somewhere with more opportunities and get out of my bubble. Moving to Arizona, my eyes were opened to a completely different culture, aesthetic and what my future could be. I fell in love with the desert and modern architecture and continued to follow my passion of interiors and got my first job in the industry. For me, I believed so fully that I wanted to do interior design, that I would figure it out. The toxic and complex side of my life still existed and while I was growing my interior design skills, there was a huge external cloud over my head that told me I could never do this. Being young and immature, I thought my fate was decided and it was something I just needed to cope with, until you get so low, that you realize you have nothing to lose and there’s no longer a risk of making a change.
It’s that mindset, that mental shift, that changes everything. When you realize what has been sucking the life out of you and you cut it out, you become mentally invincible. I realized I had the power to control my own destiny and unless I wanted to be miserable for the rest of my life, I needed to make a change. This is absolutely when my life changed, almost overnight.
I met someone who would love and support me for who I am and help me discover myself and who I want to be along the way. Everything I ever dreamt about was right in front of me and that burning passion told me to stay. I knew I was on the right professional path, but it wasn’t until my personal life aligned too that everything changed. Just like a vegetable garden, if you only water part of the garden, your garden won’t flourish. I feel so lucky that I discovered this at such a young age and sometimes I feel like the happiness I feel now is truly to make up for the terrible experiences I encountered before and for me to share what I’ve learned.
So? Here we are.
The past 7 years (since I had this realization) have been a whirlwind, it’s been hard work, but it’s been a dedication and commitment to put myself first and build a life with someone so aligned that we can grow individually and together at the same time.
Along the way, I became an unstoppable entrepreneur, with goals so far ahead of me that I can somehow see so clearly — hence, watering the full garden. In the midst of this, scaling and maintaining a successful business is complex and scary. It’s not toxic, but it’s a responsibility and commitment. Because of this, I craved an outlet to keep my mind clear and to avoid burnout.
I always knew growing up that I loved nature, being active and spending time outside, but along this journey, I found out just how much this feeds my soul. It’s the best self-care that I’ve found. Disconnecting from technology and reconnecting with your own thoughts, your friends, your loved ones and see the most beautiful landscapes you could ever imagine, the world gets even simpler.
As I’m writing this, we’re at our 61st visited U.S. National Park, with just 2 left to get us to all 63 U.S. National Parks. This was a personal journey my husband and I decided to embark on, in the midst of being entrepreneurs and just — life. There will always be things to do, I know that I will never have that feeling of ‘I wish I took that trip’.
Now — why marble or dirt? It’s an intention that I can apply to almost anything in this life. It’s how you choose to spend your time, what foods you choose to consume, what content you watch and so much more. It’s the premise that the best thing for your mind and body are either the highest level of physical space, material or foods (such as high quality, hand crafted furniture, a farm-to-table meal, a highly designed hotel, etc.) or it’s so raw that it’s plucked from the earth in raw form (such as using a solid block of wood cut from a tree for a side table, eating berries off of a wild bush, or camping in nature). That’s the stuff that makes your soul feel whole and I’ve found that it’s the in-between stuff that isn't as fulfilling.
Do I follow this 100% of the time? No. Is life perfect? No. Are there things I wish I could change? Yes. But the things I wish I could change are things I have no control over and that’s how you make peace with it. You can’t sulk about something you have control over fixing or working on, and it’s pointless to stress over something that is out of your control. This mindset allows me to view life more simply.
So there you have it, with this blog, I hope to bring you life inspiration, design inspiration, travel inspiration, whether in an itinerary, brain dump or educational tip, I hope to see you here.
- Kaitlyn Wolfe