Greg likes to talk to me about the cycle of expanding and contracting. A lot of what I do at home and for work is about contracting/simplifying/letting go. One of the reasons I do this is to create room for expansion/potential/inspiration. Here are some of the things that have inspired me, or at least made me smile, this month:

1. WANT Les Essentiels via thesartorialist.com and their inspiration: "A journey can be the moment when we step outside of ourselves, shift our perception, open our minds, and deeply consider what is important."

2. I discussed unwanted gifts a little bit before the holidays: “A gift is not an obligation” and unclutterer.com had some more thoughts including “When you receive a present, your duty is to receive it and thank the giver—not to keep the gift forever.”

3. Photographs of inspirational, well-ordered interiors from this book by Terence Conran: Plain, Useful, Simple

4. More on the benefits of a Lean Closet from The Cut: Don’t Cleanse Your Diet, Purge Your Closet Instead. “With fewer items in your closet—all of which you love—getting dressed doesn’t feel like a chore and you'll find you feel better about your body.”

5. We did Sarah's pretty winter weekend cleanse (for a day ;)

6. Garance’s style detox while surfing. One of these days I’ll learn how to surf!

7. Getting to meet the lovely Erica and read her book: San Francisco: A Food Biography. It’s interesting to see the similarities between this area during the Gold Rush and present-day (Tech Rush?)

8. As a recovering gossip and somebody who loves monthly experiments: Could You Go 40 Days Without Being Mean?

9. I’m loving the new Google Chrome People menu in my browser (above). Now I can easily use and switch between my personal and professional workspaces without having to log out and in! It’s the small things ;)

10. And finally this guy who talks productivity and uses Asana: Brandon Carter “Get Shit Done” video.

Mine has been a moody, simple, pretty January. Yours?