Two days into our recent trip to New England, I discovered a beach on Martha’s Vineyard that quickly became my favorite one on the island. This beach had miles of white sand that led into towering cliffs made of multicolored clay, making it the perfect backdrop for recharging and taking in the salt air.

The parking lot attendant told me she often finds heart-shaped rocks on the beach. I’ve never had luck with things like heart-shaped rocks and four-leaf clovers, but the attendant provided me with a helpful piece of advice: you don’t find heart-shaped rocks, the heart-shaped rocks find you. Within minutes of hiking the beautiful dunes down to the beach and setting up our chairs at the perfect spot, my first heart-shaped rock found me. It was gray—maybe granite—and speckled with pink and white spots. By the end of our first day on that beach, a second heart-shaped rock had found me.

We spent many afternoons on that beach. The more I was there, the more rejuvenated I felt—something about the salt air and the water made me feel that I was reconnecting with nature. It brought back a sense of childlike awe in me. Despite everything wrong in our world, nature keeps on going.

One of the last days we were in New England, I was sitting on the beach with my toes in the sand, watching the sunset. I happened to look at the ground next to me, and another heart-shaped rock found me—a tiny one, no bigger than the head of a pencil. It was the strangest thing. I felt loved. When you open yourself up to the universe, the funny little things that bring you joy will find you.

When creating a living space, I find it’s important to surround yourself with an atmosphere of little things that bring you joy. Looking around my own home, I see many little “treasures” that have found me, just like heart-shaped rocks. Each and every item has a story: the vase in my kitchen was a Mother’s Day gift from my children; the mirrored gold ball that caught my eye at a flea market introduced me to the history of Japanese fishing lures; and the photo of my mother when she was 19 reminds me of the strength we all carry within us.

Now that I’m home, I feel inspired and motivated. I took an oil painting class; I started a blog. I’m thinking about how to harness all of this energy into a challenging design project I’m about to work on in a remote area. Although it was simply a trip to the beach, my time away taught me to trust my instincts, the instincts I was born with. We’re all born with confidence, with the ability to create without seeking approval or worrying about making mistakes. Sometimes we just have to find little ways to remind ourselves.

Finding Inspiration Everywhere

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