Do you feel like you're stuck in a decorating rut? Like you've been Pottery Barned to death and can't escape the Restoration Hardware? It's easy to fall victim. Why do you think they're wildly successful? These two companies alone have cornered the market on the marginally inventive, incredibly bland interior aesthetic devoured by the public from the pages of slick catalogs. Open brain. Insert idea here. Trust me. You're not alone.
  

 Meet Evelyn -- no doubt trapped by the ideas of a society that set forth certain expectations of women in her generation. Luckily, she fought back. Choosing not to pay attention. Instead, thumbing her nose at the establishment and bucking a tradition that would have sentenced her to a lifetime of June Cleaver dresses if she allowed it. For what? 

The chance to be original. The opportunity to think outside the box. Or wrestle inside it. 

What does this have to do with decorating? Everything. 

Don't be afraid to take chances. Don't let anyone put you in a box without permission. Or prize money. Not society, certainly not a PB or RH catalog. (Dear PB and RH -- Love you, mean it!)

And if you find yourself in a box, decorating or otherwise -- fight your way out. Evelyn did. Ruts suck. In life AND in decorating!

Consider this: Evelyn and her friends make interesting wall art. Not to mention excellent conversation pieces. Entertaining is easy when you have walls that speak for you. Think about your own collection of photographs and memorabillia and how you can incorporate them into your decor for an interior that is both interesting and original. And not availabe in a catalog. 
 

The lead editorial in this week's Sunday Review section of the New York Times really struck a chord with me. Anyone who knows me knows I have a hard time putting myself out there. My brief stint in real estate fell flat in part due to my inability to shamelessly advertise without a certain amount of cheesy guilt. There is an art, however, to self promotion. Mastering it often means success. But are we a society of too many successes? Are we taking the entrepreneurial spirit out to the proverbial pasture, so to speak? On Sunday, November 13, 2011, William Deresiewicz weighed in on what he calls "Generation Sell -- The new zeitgeist: we're all peddling ourselves and managing our own brands." 

This coming on the heels of my very own year long attempt to cultivate a brand and somehow package it in an (in)effective (dare I say successful) manner. 

Part of the challenge for me has been this crazy idea that I have to do it all myself. Without any particular training or skill, say in the areas of web design or graphics, or even marketing or public relations to capitalize on what it is I'm trying to accomplish (do I even know what that is?) But I am attempting it anyway. A true novice. All while smugly comforting my creative psyche that insists on originality in every sense of the word. 

Why the extra effort? When it's clear I could just farm it all out. Pay someone to do it for me. Everything -- and everyone, it seems -- is for sale. Are you buying? Am I original? Or just one of many pushing the product of ME? With, or without, shame.

One young reader offered his rebuttal in a Letter to the Editor called  "Generation Do"  -- I like his spirit. In my opinion, both of them are right. And I fall, comfortably, somewhere between "Doing" and "Selling."

October 2011 has come and gone. Trick??? Or Treat! Well, both. Trick because it came and went without a piece of candy in my basket (no, we didn't get to celebrate Halloween this year) or even so much as a mention on this Blog -- until now. Along with some other not so good reasons that suffice it to say, sucked. Boo! (As in bad, not scary.) 

Treat because I was busy! Working on the house, exploring opportunities for myself and The Community Arts Project -- the awesome non-profit I support, and generally enjoying the weather that goes along with being back in the Carolinas...

AND (drum roll, please) FIGHTING BREAST CANCER! At least, supporting Susan G Komen in the FIGHT AGAINST BREAST CANCER. Never have I been more in tune to the fact that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Having experienced the disease personally this year -- my Partner was diagnosed in February and is now a Survivor -- October will forever be about all things Pink and Boo-bies! (As in bad AND scary.) 

I'm not the least bit upset about the amount of Pink on display last month. If you ask me, it isn't enough. It's good to see NFL players run around with Pink shoes and towels. Why not? I'm proof the message is slippery. It only sticks to those affected. I had to be personally tackled before I noticed. Last October, it was a treat to be oblivious. This October, I was tricked into paying attention. So march on Pink Warriors! Saturate the market. Impact those who aren't impacted. Because they are the ones who need to see more of it before the message scores.  

Then we can return October to it's original color Orange -- for Halloween.