The Beauty of Spontaneity, Slowing Down, and Collaborating

A couple weeks ago, I willingly woke up at 5am on a Saturday to embark on a day trip with two of my girlfriends, Linda and Mire. We were in search of the super bloom (eruption of wildflowers!) that has been covering Southern California (and hoping to snag a few pics along the way). We found the most beautiful flower fields. But what I took away from the day was discovering the beauty of spontaneity, slowing down, and collaborating.

The Beauty of Spontaneity, Slowing Down, and Collaborating

Being an incredibly structured person, the way the day unfolded was very different from my typical weekend.

To give you an idea of my psycho habits: I keep lists everywhere – on my phone, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Excel on my laptop. And if it’s trackable, I’m writing it down. This includes my hour-by-hour schedule, food diary, workout log, yearly goals, finances, etc. Bullet journaling has been a lifesaver. I typically plan everything out in advance and feel incredibly thrilled when I check off everything on my to-do list that day.

But I’m learning (trying) to be more open to spontaneity. To let things just come and not plan out every minute of my life.

In my experience, the best things happen when you least expect them. When you’re – surprise, surprise – spontaneous. 

The beauty of spontaneity.

There’s something to be said about packing up your bags, driving with no real end destination in mind, and stumbling upon exactly what you were looking for. Taking a moment to breathe in the beauty of your surroundings and not be rushed to run to the next thing or task on your checklist for the day. Typically when I shoot photos for the blog, I like to shoot as efficiently as possible.

But the purpose of this day was not to push out as many looks in an hour as possible – it was to slow down, enjoy good company, and capture moments when inspiration hit. A very different way of thinking for me.

The day wasn’t planned, there was no agenda or to-do list. Well, there was one – to find flowers.

We headed up to Carrizzo Plains (near San Luis Obispo) to see the super bloom, which was absolutely breathtaking. If you have time over the next week or two to visit, I highly recommend you do so – the fields are stunning and the super bloom is only expected to last a little while longer.

Lesson learned – it’s ok to not plan out your entire day or week. In fact, sometimes it might be encouraged. You don’t want your schedule to be so planned out and rigid that you don’t have any free time to say yes to rare and exciting experiences or opportunities that may present themselves. (I say this as I have my next week already blocked off on my Google calendar… need to work on this more).

The beauty of slowing down.

As with anything in life, there are pros and cons to operating at 100 mph. One of them being, sometimes you miss out on the little things. Slowing down my pace during this trip showed me how good it can feel to not be sprinting all the time. Especially when it comes to art and creativity. I’ll admit, I have a much greater appreciation for creativity than before (I blame my corporate background ; )).

Oh – and how gorgeous are these pieces? Linda and I are both wearing pieces from the upcoming spring collection from Flair the Label. I’m wearing the Emma dress and Linda is wearing the Marianne Lace Jumpsuit. I seriously want everything in this collection!

One thing I really want to be more conscious of is buying from fast fashion. It’s hard to resist the super on-trend pieces from Zara or Forever 21. But after learning about all of the hard work it goes into launching an independent brand and creating a single season’s collection, I am going to make a concerted effort to support more small, local designers – Flair being one of them.

The beauty of collaborations.

As a blogger, there is so much to learn from working with brands, big or small, and other individuals. Los Angeles is built upon Hollywood and the city has no shortage of creatives. For me, it’s truly such a treat to work with other brands and individuals and learn from them. It’s allowed me to develop and continue to hone a set of skills I haven’t been able to in the corporate world. I’m not always the most conceptual person. But I totally feed off of the creativity and energy of those around me. People that work in a creative space in their day to day have a lot to offer to those of us that tend to be more structured and by the books : ).

I can’t think of any careers where you can become successful by operating entirely on your own in a vacuum. Collaborations can often be the key to success – you know the phrase “it’s not about who you know, but what you know”? There’s a lot of truth in there. But collaborations should be viewed as more than a transaction. They’re opportunities to learn from one another and grow together. There’s so much we can do to work together and empower one another – and that’s why this trip was so fulfilling. Oh, and the super bloom was totally worth it!

xx, Amy

linda’s jumpsuit: flair the label | my dress: flair the label