As a small business owner, balancing all that is Lux Illume with family obligations and life in general is always an exercise in patience, organization, and endurance. I came out of 2021 barely by the skin of my teeth. And before I could recover, early 2022 found me navigating a new challenge - a dementia diagnosis for my Mother-in-Law, Jen.
Jen will be 90 soon and lives in rural Alabama. For years now, every Sunday morning Jen and I will FaceTime for a couple hours and discuss the week's events, reminisce over her numerous memories, and just have some connection time for her lonely spirit. Prior to her medical emergency and dementia diagnosis, she would always end the call in her thick southern accent with a cheerful, "Be good to you."
I will admit, I pretty much wrote off that phrase as just an old-fashioned, deep-south kind of message – something this Yankee wasn’t meant to understand. To clarify, sure I understand the words, but I never really slowed down nor took the time to reflect on them and what she intended by them. But now, with all that 2022 has thrown my way…I totally get it. And my goodness, what a simple and beautiful four-word sentiment that is.
I need to be kinder to myself. Give grace and recognize I can’t run at 100 mph all. the. time. Some spinning plates will drop and fall and that’s okay. I can’t be everything to everyone and leave nothing for myself. I need to be okay with pausing and reflecting and slowing down to catch all the little things I’m missing. I just need to be good to me.
That simple phrase has inspired me to create a new collection for anyone seeking some reinforcing “scentiments” (see what I did there?) to ring in the new year. “Be Good to You” will be a collection of scents designed to help uplift, release, and refresh you. I have just a few more things to tweak and will be releasing this group in the coming days. So I’ll sign off for now and get back to being a mad scientist with lavender and lemon and mint and simply say…be good to you today.
XOXO,
Nicole
