This is entirely the point.

And by the way, “oldies” are subjective. To some, that means Etta James. To others, we’re talking Ace of Base. Whatever floats your boat.

YOUR sound is a mix of memories; imprints of emotional resonance. Experiences are personal, and your memories are laced with the notes of forgotten melodies, lyrical turns of phrase, and rhythms you’ve long since relegated to the ‘teenage angst’ years.

Music forms the fabric of who you are. And who you’re becoming. Your musical point of view is your unique signature.

YOUR VOICE.

How you choose to communicate your voice is as important in life and business as it is in your personal space. On that note, rising star Abby Kerr of Abby Kerr Ink is launching Freeing the Voice of Your Business, a powerful, 5-module audio course designed to help you uncover and define your voice on your terms.

So listen up. Whether you’re embarking on a new business or figuring out how to creatively express yourself in any capacity, Freeing the Voice of Your Business will help you unlock your creative potential and navigate the proverbial expressive minefield as you hone in on exactly what makes you, well, you.

As part of the ‘Freeing Your Voice’ conversation, Abby invited me, along with three powerhouse personalities to share our perspectives on what ‘voice’ means, how to define and refine it, and how to sing it from the rooftops. Justine Musk of TribalWriter.com dishes on the tension between giving your voice room to breathe while calling it forth artfully and intentionally, Amna Ahmad from PragmaticHybrid.com discusses the shadows that haunt while you’re crafting your voice, Alison Gresik from Gresik.ca shares what it feels like to sink into the fullness of your voice while avoiding the fugly mimicry bug, and I jam on the world your voice wants to live in.

Heady stuff.

Freeing your voice is crucial to successfully transforming your space. I asked Abby how Freeing the Voice of Your Business applies to the context of interior design, and how you can use this knowledge in crafting your unique melody, your inner theme song, YOUR voice.

Erica: How does ‘Freeing Your Voice’ apply in the wider context of self-expression (in business or in aesthetic artistry)?

Abby: Freeing your voice is about coming into your ability to express outwardly what you know is true for you on the inside. Whether that be through a business model, through fashion, through the gifts you give, through interior design, or through your dietary choices, it’s all connected. Freeing your voice is about taking part in a larger conversation. You’re not living in a vacuum, so why behave as if you are? Your choices *do* matter. And other people need and want to hear about them.

Erica: How does one learn to let go? With all the conflicting messages (and memories) attached to things, people, and ideas, how does one tune it all out and learn to listen to the (sometimes quiet but always powerful) melody within?

Abby: Ooh, great question. Learning to let go to past stories and voices starts with remembering who you were before the story or the voice came into play for you. Sometimes that more primary, original self is SO subtle and worn at the edges that it can be hard to put your finger on. But somewhere underneath, you know who you were — and who you are. What this means for you and your voice can take all sorts of forms: oh, now I get to travel if I want to. Oh, I don’t have to cook on holidays anymore. Oh, I really hate that shade of lavender. Oh, I won’t be talked to like that. Letting go is a process, but pressing *toward* the pure, original, primary self is the way to expedite it for yourself.

Erica: What was your inspiration for creating Freeing the Voice of Your Business, and how has the experience informed your creative expression in business, in day-to-day life, and in your personal space?

Abby: GREAT question. My inspiration for creating the product was twofold: first, my awareness as a younger entrepreneur some years ago {younger, as in, in my first business incarnation} that a compelling voice that created a world for my customers was something that came naturally to me. People commented on it. I had to notice that it was a gift of mine. And let’s be honest — it’s fun to share the stuff we’re best at teaching, isn’t it?

Secondly, the inspiration came from my clients and readers who told me that voice was an issue for them — an ever present concern, almost a neurosis. Lots of people have no clue if the voice of their business is working for them or not. {Some of them hire me to tell them that.} But I wanted to create an entryway for them to start to experience their own purest and most powerful business voice on their own terms. And I wanted to invite other strong voices to join me in leading this conversation. Hence, your involvement, Erica!

Creating this course has informed my own creative expression in a very full-on and unexpected way. Thinking about voice as it relates to one’s business expression has heightened my awareness of my own business voice — and hence, doubled any neuroses I may have already had! {Quelling those as I type.} At the same time, creating this work has given me a renewed sense of commitment to keeping my own voice pure and potent. That’s something that’s really important to me, whether I’m creating content for my audience, or choosing new shoes, or straightening up my studio. It *all* connects.

Freeing the Voice of Your Business will be released Thursday, June 16th. Sign up here for Abby’s ‘Inklings’ e-newsletter to receive a quiet nudge when it’s ready. You’ll receive a complimentary 10-part e-course gift when you do. Better still, hop on over to her exclusive advance list, ‘Covered In Ink’, for a very handsome discount price.

And if you’re feeling luxy, click on the badge below (I know how valuable this will be for you so I became an official affiliate). Not only will you learn how to hone in on the You of you, you’ll receive a half-hour consultation with moi, to help you craft your voice in the context of your personal space.

We’ll excavate the disparate notes until we uncover your deepest melodies. We’ll jam on what you’re working with, the limitations that are driving you crazy, and where you want to go (aesthetically and emotionally speaking). And then I’ll help you get there.

So if you’ve been wondering how to dip your toes in the water without committing yourself to making a revolutionary transformation, now’s your time. A little renewal goes a loooong way.

Freeing the Voice of Your Business and finding your inner theme song. Now that’s beautiful harmony.

* PS ~ Send me your receipt to erica {at} ericaswansondesign {with a little dot} com. That way I can get in touch to set up our jam session. Can’t wait to meet you!

THANK YOU to all of you who entered the Rock Your Rental contest. Choosing a winner wasn’t easy, and while I’ve personally thanked each and every one of you, I’d like to thank you here. Right now. I couldn’t have done this without you, and I’m deeply grateful for the community we’re building. Cheers!

If you’re new here, let me get you up to speed. I created the Rock Your Rental contest so that I could help you break free from the decorative limitations of renting. Renting sometimes sucks, but unless you’re a college student or in an especially transient period, your living situation should never *feel* temporary, even if it is. Rock Your Rental is about giving one lucky reader the chance to transform their space ~ on their terms, within their budget, and on their timeline. And it’s giving me a chance to show all of you that no matter where you live, it should always feel like *home*.

I know renting can sometimes feel like living in aesthetic purgatory, and the sense of, “where do I even start?!” can be overwhelming. But there’s absolutely no need to ‘grin and bear it’ when it comes to your personal space. Personal space is just that… PERSONAL, and it doesn’t take bundles of cash and a couple of sledgehammers to make it feel so. More to the point, a space isn’t about the bits of ‘this and that’; it’s about how you want to FEEL.

So whatever your individual nasty happens to be ~ ugly fixtures, even uglier lighting, dusty don’t-know-how-long-they’ve-been-up window treatments, I’m about to show you that renting doesn’t have to equate to “ugh”. I’m inviting you behind the scenes for an intimate over-the-shoulder peek as I tease apart the story, get inside the minds of our winners, figure out where they’re going sideways, and best of all, what turns them on.

And the juiciest part? I’m giving you a peek inside their record collection, which will form the basis for my intuitive excavation and space orchestration. It’s what I mean when I talk about teasing out your inner theme song, and bringing the intangible essence of ‘you’ into tangible 3D form. It’s exposing inspiration and solving problems by listening.

So without further ado, allow me to introduce you to Mr. & Ms. B. Actually, let me introduce you to their bedroom, specifically. Photos are a little fuzzy, but you can definitely get the gist…

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

This should be interesting, no?

Next we’ll meet the couple behind the images and break the project down. And later, I’ll bring you inside their record collection for some gorgeous inspiration, where you’ll get an idea of how to create your individual aesthetic fingerprint, by taking cues from what turns you on, auditorily speaking.

So stick around; you might just learn something new that you can use in your own space, renting or otherwise.

And it seduced me into doing this:

What seduces you?

Here’s what I know:

What you do, every day, becomes part of who you are. Scraping pennies or rolling naked in your dough, you’re trading your brain power, your creativity and your most valuable asset – your time – for your daily experience.

Are you filling your heart or are you just filling your days?

When I’m working with clients, I have a front-row seat to some pretty amazing stuff. A half-finished painting. Music sheets scattered at the piano. Poems gathered in dusty notebooks. Hand-made quilts folded up in the closet. Cookbooks hiding in the back of the cupboard. A carpenter’s bench shoved at the back of a dimly-lit garage…

This stuff may not be bringing home the bacon, but these are the things that tell the world WHO YOU ARE. And whether you’re sharing your art with the outside world or not, you sure as hell shouldn’t be hiding it at home.

This is the experience you choose. This is your inside brought outside. This is you.

So. What’s your art?

And how can I help you tell your story?

Your insides are twisted

coming outside

fraying at the seams.

And pushing ahead

pulls you under.

Hungry, and needing to be filled,

you give yourself over – listen for the voice that does not come

yet you remain

a stranger – suspended

but sometimes we break.

And you resist

hold

while what you need recedes.

So I say,

just BREAK

Unravel. Get naked in your ache.

Draw the line. And break.

“Here we are buck naked but where should we begin? When it’s not the flesh we’re after but the howling ghost within.”

So when you reach and what you need

is you

I will help you draw the line.

Hold the mirror

and show you

all the things you need but do not see

a home created

to unravel. Get naked in your ache.

So just break.

I’m getting pushed and pulled and jostled in this space I’ve claimed as my own. This space – where you’re reading – right now. It’s the tension between where I could be going and where I need to go. For me. For my work. For my creative pulse.

I will not ignore my creative pulse.

So. Let’s go there.

“Designer.”

I’m both to-the-belly-deep proud but I also, now and then, feel the face-burning cringe.

And I ain’t ashamed to say so.

I cringe at the frivolity of the industry. I cringe about the “pretty” that hides the bullshit. I cringe at the collective thought-wall of ‘designer-as-pocket-picker’ that reverberates when I drop the word in certain company.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

It’s not about paint, or furniture, or lamps, or decorative brik-a-brak. It ain’t even about shuffling walls and installing a beautiful sink. It’s about the way you want to FEEL.

How do you want to feel?

Here’s me: I want to feel the warmth of my family when they’re around my table. I want to feel the sanctity of peace when I’m alone within my walls. I want to feel the heat of sex when I need to amp the vibe. I want all of it.

All of it.

Most of all? I want to give that gift to you, whatever your story happens to be.

I want to make you see You.

You.

So who are you?

Tell me.

I want to know: how do you want to feel?

The legend.
‘The Green Muse’ by Albert Maignan 1895 Courtesy Musee de Picardie, Amiens.

The nouveau connoisseur.

The gentlemen’s club.

When I hear her, in this way, like this:

I see this:

Loaded with innuendo and fraught with undercurrents of sexual tension and personal intimacy, I’m often left to piece together a private language I’m neither invited to learn nor want to share. But how else to understand how to design – mm, no – design well if I’m not offered the chance to share, however briefly, an inner world?

By listening. All the things said and left unsaid.

Well, that and a little feminine intuition.

So this:

Became this:

A little of her and a little of him. Quite a potent combination.

mm.

That was easy.

Photograph at top right by Ellen Von Unwerth

Either one works.

This? This is the kind of room that waits for the dark…
Interior design by Todd Yoggy

When you need to hide

come to me

Crawl in and unravel

I will hold you through the fragile night

and release

you

when the daylight comes

Then there are the, “Dude, what the hell happened to my creative juice?” sort of projects.  Like, crickets.  As in, “I got nuthin’”.

Except deadlines loom, creative juice or no.

So the moment before I’m ready to fall to my knees and pray to the creativity Gods, I take a break and have a shower. Somehow being naked strips me of my creative pretenses.

And sure enough, somewhere between my rinse and repeat cycle, there’s a lightening flash.  Truly.  I mean, THE WHOLE ROOM.  In vivid colour.  Every last detail in my mind’s eye.

Mojo is like that; a slow burn, warm and steady in its heat or an unpredictable volcanic eruption, blindingly intense and unforgiving in its urgency. And I tend to forget this when deadlines loom.

But the heat comes, every time.

Behold the Before:

Behold the lightning flash:

Volcanic.