Hello, hello! I'm back from my holiday break but oh no! Please forgive me! I'm not feeling very motivated to get back to work though I've heard I'm not alone... You too? Hopefully with this first post I'll be feelin' my flow again. I need to get back into the game!

It's like anything... Mind over body. I want to feel the groove but my body is a bit like "bleh". So first thing I did on Monday morning was to make small but positive changes. I decided to drink more green tea and water, eat mostly salads and go on daily walks (Currently I'm doing 3.1 miles/5km). It's time to get that energy back, focus and start planning ahead because this is going to be a very big year since I'm going on another book tour in May to North America hitting more cities this time and extending certain parts of my journey to teach a workshop, visit family and work on my next book when I'm out on the west coast. Must. Reboot. Mojo.

So! Did you have a nice holiday? What did you do? I didn't really DO anything but that was sort of the point. It was healing to go into a fox hole and hideaway for three weeks. It allowed me time to think which sounds silly but stopping to really THINK isn't something we find ourselves doing often, is it? I believe that is why topics like Slow Living and Mindfulness have become more and more a part of daily conversations happening around the world. We need to be asking ourselves questions like, "Do I want to be doing what I'm doing today by this time next year?" and "What changes do I need to make in my life now?" along with "Am I really happy and if not, what do I need to change to get more HAPPINESS into my life". Oh yeah and of course the most important thing to ask is, "Ryan Gosling?".

Okay maybe that one isn't a question but it most certainly is always the answer (smile). I saw Drive over the holidays and though it's one of those revenge action flicks (not really my thing), Ryan was so charming and authentic in his performance that I finally GOT why so many women are lured in. It's not just the abs, really. If you've seen Drive, you will immediately know what I mean - the boy can act. You know what really struck me though about Mr. Gosling in that film? He comes across like the real deal and aren't we all so much more attracted to people who are authentic? I think sincerity really goes the distance.

You don't have to be perfect to succeed but wow, being genuine can make or break so many of us. In a funny way, watching Drive really highlighted that fact to me because his character was flawed but real and it made me think that all of us are flawed but often that's what attracts us to one another so much. Flaws, imperfection, not being 100%. It's relatable and we want relatable don't we? It's often that slowing down that we do mentally around the holidays that allows us room to think and for me, I have been thinking so much about the importance of being sincere, standing up for what we believe in, owning up to every piece of ourselves (even the flawed bits) and embracing imperfection, individuality and love for self.

I digress...

I'd like to welcome you back to a new year of decor8 and wish you all a very happy new year. I'll be back in a moment with a post showing products photographed in the home of one of my favorite bloggers featuring newly designed products not shared yet online - in fact the photo above is a glimpse of what is to come. Stay tuned!

- Holly