I see it every day: People trying to create a home that somebody else tells them they should have. I don't care if it's a magazine or a bossy friend - when somebody says, 'This is what's elegant, this is what's trendy,' if it doesn't represent you, you're not going to be happy.
Interpretation
True happiness comes from creating a home that reflects your own identity, not one dictated by external influences.
In this quote, Nate Berkus highlights the importance of personal authenticity in creating a space that genuinely represents who you are, rather than conforming to the often arbitrary standards set by others. He emphasizes that when people follow trends or advice that do not resonate with their true selves, they are likely to feel unfulfilled and unhappy in their own environment.
In practice
In a talk about interior design, you could share this quote to emphasize the importance of personal style.
About 80 percent of the stuff I live with is old. I like letting things take on the character they’re meant to have by really being used. … when you own things that have the imperfections they deserve, that they’ve earned from a well-lived life, it frees you from feeling as though they’re untouchable.
I believe your home tells a story about who you are and who you aspire to be. We represent ourselves through the things we own. I don't believe in trends. I believe in collecting things that you connect with. We should surround ourselves with things we care about, that have meaning.
There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.
Hey, look at this!" He holds up a glistening, perfect pearl about the size of a pea. "You know, if you put enough pressure on coal it turns to pearls," he says earnestly to Finnick. "No, it doesn't," says Finnick dismissively. But I crack up, remembering that's how a clueless Effie Trinket presented us to the people of the Capitol last year, before anyone knew us. As coal pressured into pearls by our weighty existence. Beauty that arose out of pain.
Life is so uncertain: you never know what could happen. One way to deal with that is to keep your pajamas washed.
you're never more alive than when you're almost dead.
She knows herself to be at the mercy of events, and she knows by now that events have no mercy.
If you ask me what I came into this life to do, I will tell you: I came to live out loud.
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