2015 went into overdrive as it sped toward its end, it seemed. At least for me and the Love Nomadic team. In September, while I was in Ecuador finalizing production (that I was late on), I was also organizing an extended local holiday market that would take place the day after Thanksgiving and go until 2 days before Xmas. Francesca was busy with family in Florida while I was also gearing up for a 3 week visit from my 18 year old sister, from Australia.

I was digging deep into my magic bag of tricks for down time, always stealing pockets of silence when I could. It’s in these moments when I get to stop, think, design and conspire with myself on how I’ll get everything done. What I understand about being busy is that you have to learn to recognize the moments when you don’t need to be busy. You have to suffer in silence a little bit and resist the urge to work so you can spend time with friends and with yourself. Otherwise you become trapped in the momentum and I don’t think it ends well for many.

That said, in the busy moments you have to just work through it. There’s nothing sexy about being busy and there are no special tricks to getting things done. You just have to put your head down and work. Take one day at a time, organize that day with a list and just spend the day crossing it all off and not beating yourself up at the end of it when you didn’t get to all of it. By the time the end of the day comes, so many unexpected events will have occurred that end up changing your list anyway. But, I think it’s good to have one.

But, we’re not here to talk about being busy. Raise your hand if you’re bored with that word?

I’m writing this from Goa, India at the moment where I’m anything but busy. At least, busy in the way that I know how to be in the west. I negotiate time in a different way here in India. It’s slower, stretched, more circular than anything we experience in the west. That’s because Indian’s don’t worship time like we do, they actually just don’t care for it. You can be promised something in an hour and have it in 3 days, what could take 3 days they’ll do it for you in an hour, you can come back tomorrow when things are working to find that they are not working and you will be told that anything is possible, even when it is not possible at all.

In India, people move fast but oh, so very slow. They talk fast, they make decisions fast and they drive the fastest but for the things that are important; they stop, they are slow, they take time. In Goa, it’s even slower. Things don’t often arrive at all.

This is good for me. It is good to remember to step back into something more sublime and relaxed. After a few days, as I resist the pull toward working, I notice my shoulders relax, my clenched jaw unlock and all my regular aches and pains ease. Goa is a place where the itinerant spend their season; dreadlocked hippies, loved up boheme’s, traveling musicians, seekers, healers and all the gurus looking to service them. They call Goa home every season.

There are parties and gatherings and drum circles celebrating the sunset every evening. No one expects me to be anywhere, I’m not bombarded with media messages about how to live my best life, or a top 10 list of what the most successful people do. I am not sold ways to make my body fitter, my bank account bigger or my time more manageable. Instead, it’s just about being completely yourself. Unapologetically yourself.

I come here each year to re-charge and to get my inspiration for the years designs. The style blends free thinking bohemians from all over the world with a heavy influence of European design and sensibility. People of any race, creed and demographic belong and it doesn’t matter if you have money or not. In fact, it’s a haven for those who do not. The majority of the community here in Arambol are genuinely nomadic and drift from one place to the next finding jobs along the way. You don’t find a lot of ‘fauxhemian’s’ – a term I’ve coined for those of us who can buy a bohemian style while staying put in a western philosophy and mindset.

But, it’s often from lack that good style is born. Gathering the materials close by and turning them into something practical and stylish that isn’t influenced by magazines and television and the latest celebrity. The style is genuine and authentic and I come here to learn. This is why I come; for the sunsets, the healing and the inspiration.

Speaking of inspiration, I’ve a lot to be thankful for and inspired by. I didn’t get a chance to send out well wishes and gratitude at the end of this season but I have been feeling it.

If you weren’t in the North East U.S.A and didn’t get a chance to visit our SoNo pop up holiday bazaar which ran for the month of December then I encourage you at least to hop on over to our website www.sonoholidaybazaar.com and visit the brands who sold with us. They were first class artists and designers and we heard nothing but great feedback from everyone.

2015 was a great year for Love Nomadic, laying down strong bones and putting in the joints to build a strong foundation, something that is growing and blossoming into, what I think, is relevant and beautiful. The business is changing as I navigate the needs of our customers.

I’ve heard time and time again that you want more story this coming year and so my goal is to give you more story and more beautiful designs from this amazing, mind blowing world we live in. I’ll be visiting lots of new places this year and keeping the nomadic spirit alive.

Francesca has been finding herself in the throes of love and connection and she’ll be telling you all about that, writing from her little abode in Florida; after having journeyed herself from Seattle to New York to Aspen and Madrid. The two of us little nomads will be communicating back and forth through email and Skype and sending little supportive notes and inspirational quotes. I’m lucky to have her on my team.

I hope you find deep connections in the coming year and great joy in your creative endeavors. You don’t have to limit your travel to moving around the world, sometimes the freedom of movement comes from within; in the way you interact with those who are familiar, in new places in your neighborhood or city or taking a walk down a new street. I hope you always find ways to grow.

We have an exciting little photo shoot to share with you soon. A simple one, a little different to what we’ve done before, but gorgeous all the same.

Lastly, this business could would not be here without the support of some very close friends, all our local customers and those of you who have found us online. I am thankful for the Instagram collaborations we did this year with Casey Leigh & Sarah Loven; both lovely and professional and so easy to work with – as well as those who shared Love Nomadic out of the kindness of their own heart.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Much Love

Lyn

Xo

Bored of busy and greetings from Goa, India