Happy new year! I love a fresh start and this year I wanted to try something new, introducing the weekly Choose to Use Challenge. Perhaps this is the year you vowed to light all your candles and wear all the clothes, douse yourself in fancy perfume, scribble in special notebooks, finally use those craft supplies, experiment with makeup, drink loose-leaf tea, luxuriate in bubble baths, enjoy the face masks, drink the scotch (insert anything else you forbid yourself from using). Now, having an intention is one thing, but making it a practice is another and that’s where I come in.

I believe wholeheartedly in using and enjoying what you have and not waiting for ‘someday when.’ Enjoying my beautiful and precious items has become a practice for me and one that brings me joy every day. I want to help you adopt this practice. Every week in 2023 I will select a category and challenge you to use something in that category you don’t usually allow yourself to use. This could be anything from lighting a candle you’ve never lit, wearing earrings out of the house, to opening the bottle of something special you’ve been saving. The goal is to push you out of your comfort zone in a safe and supportive way. Sometimes all you need is a prompt or support, or the reassurance you will be OK and no it’s not a waste to enjoy fancy stuff on a weeknight.

Here’s how it’s going to work:

Every week I will post the category here and on Instagram. I will post regularly on Instagram throughout the week about what I’m using and so can you, using #choosetouse. My hope is that by seeing other people using their precious items and fancy stuff you will be encouraged to use your own.

Remember, the point of using the good stuff is to enjoy your life more fully. We want to enjoy our life as we’re living it, not someday when.

If you’re asking can I use more than one? Yes, of course! However, sometimes when we try to use ALL the things, we end up using NONE of the things. Start with one thing, and then grow. What if this week doesn’t work for me? If you want to use something fancy or special and it’s not the category of the week, that is totally fine! This is a practice of enjoying, not strict rules. Get ready for a year of enjoying, loving, delighting, celebrating, and using your things.

Without further ado, the first category is A GIFT FROM THE HOLIDAYS.

We’re starting with something broad, something for everyone and it can be anything that you received over the holidays. From family, a coworker, a friend, a child, or anyone. If you were given it in the month of December, it’s fair game. To jog your memory:

• Chocolate/sweets
• Alcohol
• A candle
• A foot scrub
• Bubble bath
• A new piece of clothing
• A new book
• Luxury soap
• A baking kit
• A scarf

Anything that you received over the holidays, it’s time to really unwrap it and use it this week. 

This challenge is starting with a gift because often we are given things that are nicer than what we would normally buy for ourselves. Thinking a gift is precious or fancy makes us less likely to use it. Also, research has shown that the longer you wait to use something, the more special your brain thinks it is, and the less likely you are to use it in the future. Thus, the holidays were recent and we need to use our stuff before our brain convinces us we need a special occasion to use it.  Follow along on Instagram use #choosetouse as I reveal some of the gifts I received over the holidays.