unobstructed views

I had no grasp of just how obstructed my view of the sky is in NYC until I moved away.

We all know that moving somewhere new means a big PeRsPeCtIvE sHiFt.

But literally… have you ever just looked at THE SKY in utter awe?

As a child, I loved the sky, clouds, the concept of the atmosphere, and space beyond. This was facilitated by having science parents who gave me the literal explanation for “why the sky is blue.”

One piece of that fascination that I never lost is that I LOVE thunderstorms. I grew up in tornado country, and have always found them both familiar and yet awe-inspiring each time. I always wished it would storm more in the city.

Then, I heard my first claps of thunder in Tennessee: high-definition, rippling crackles and crinkles that sounded like car crash just outside. In that moment I could not tell if it was thunder or something else.

I never considered that when it storms in the city, the thunder dampens and gets lost between countless tall buildings and the baseline background noise. Somewhere in those 13 years, I forgot what I was missing. An obstructed sky and muted, muddied thunder had become my norm.

Now that my view is no longer obstructed, my phone is entirely pictures of clouds.

Each time I’m able to catch a sunset in the BIG, open sky here, it’s a euphoric experience. I wonder how I forgot. I wonder if everyone else here takes it for granted. It’s no wonder that I loved clouds. HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE CLOUDS?

Except that I do know how I forgot: I wanted to prove that I could live an extraordinary life, and as a teenager, I thought that meant Making It in the city — a very nebulous goal that proved to be its own obstruction.

By the time I left, I was so lost in meeting the crazy-high threshold of survival and painstakingly squeezing out the tiny moments of thriving and belonging available to me that it sucked the enjoyment out of the city for me.

Moving didn’t solve all of my problems, but it made both the good and the bad so much more clear, sensorily and mentally.

Now, I am much more clear on the things I actually don’t enjoy about life but hadn't allowed myself to consider before because they felt like Facts of existence (struggling to make rent, social media strategy, sleeping badly) and what I do actually enjoy that I left behind somewhere along the way (looking at the sky, the whole sky, and nothing but the sky).

By extension, I’m getting back to what I actually want to do in my business as well — not just what is easy to sell, but what actually works and is fulfilling and sustainable, for both myself and my clients.

I retired Intuitive Brand Kits as a result, and have been building a much more thoughtful, collaborative, and supportive offer in the background — which is my actual strength and zone of genius.

I learned brand design from working with premium brands, which demand a level of detail, elegance, and customization that I relish teasing and subverting to work for less conventional brands that are equally worth a premium price point, if not more so.

If you’re ready to make the work you want to be remembered for (or already are) — and want make sure your brand and presentation is as thoughtfully crafted and refined as your work — this is for you.

I’m just gonna leave the outline for the sales page here if you’re curious. (This feels insane, because I don’t like to share things before they’re finished, but I got the whim so I’m gonna ride it.) Let me know what I can clarify.

But first, please go outside and look at the sky.