THE POWER OF GATHERING + WHY I LOVE IT

“This is the power of gathering: it inspires us delightfully, to be more hopeful, more joyful, more thoughtful: in a word, more alive. ”

— Alice Waters

I've always loved coming together and bringing new and old friends around the table. I really don't think I could have said it any better than Alice Waters. She truly, in the above quote, encapsulates why coming around the table with others means so much to me.  

It's something I have always and will forever hold near and dear to my heart. 

Being raised by a grandmother who modeled the heart of gathering on a daily basis and being surrounded by the quintessential Southern woman taught me many things but one of the most important is that people matter and serving them matters even more. 

Of course, this is the perfect season to share recipes and tablescapes and all sorts of amazing inspiration. 

But, gathering is more for me than just sitting at a pretty table and enjoying a meal or even laughs. 

It's more than offering pretty napkins or plates and giving those around the table something interesting to look at. While I obviously enjoy all those things, that can't be the end of the story. 

When we gather, we offer others an opportunity to tell their stories and to hear our own. 

We give life to hope and all of sudden those that didn't have place or purpose are once again fulfilled and connected. 

It's a beautiful thing. 

At the table, we are reconnected, revived and restored.

There is power in your connection. There is power in your story. 

So gather. Explore. Tell your story around the table. 

xo, 
Kennesha

Photography | Tiarra Sorte Photography

Styling | Restoration House

HOW TO EMBRACE YOUR CREATIVE GIFTS

I think I've talked enough between here and various social media outlets about embracing "the true you" and how much that can shift not only our thinking but our everyday lives so tremendously. 

photography | ryan flynn 

styling | kennesha buycks

As creatives, we willingly inundate ourselves for the sake of the creative process with images, ideas and conversations that in many ways help us build, grow and become the people we are today and run all of the amazing businesses we have. Conversely, we also run the risk of damaging our own creative souls when we lean too much on others and choose not to trust ourselves and our own creative gifts that we've been given in the process.  

In an Instagram-, Facebook-, and Twitter-filled culture I've found it hard sometimes to embrace my own gifts and really answer the questions, " Who am I?"  and "Does my business truly represent WHO I am?". In the past I feel my "voice" has been lost in the shuffle of competition, trends and fear of rejection from readers or peers. 

Truth is, I don't really know how to be anyone else and I'm sure most of you out there would agree. What I know is that it's really hard to think of what you want to do when you're thinking of how someone else would do it. 

I just think there's something to honing in on your gifts and what you're passionate about and following that with your whole heart. When we can truly embrace what we have and how we express it-uniquely, we will arrive at a place like no other. This place is a space between fear and perfection. It's a space where God can and wants to take the gifts that He has placed in you and use them to reach the hearts of people all over in whatever way you are meant to do that. 

If you're wondering where all of this is coming from,well, if you have followed along here for a while then you know it's really just a sincere passion of mine to empower each of you to confidently walk out your life and calling alongside others. This is a journey I've been on my entire life but more in the past two years since I lost my mother. I am absolutely passionate about many things, one of them is you and all the amazing things you have to offer this world. 

Anyhow, I thought I'd offer a few realizations I've had as I'm learning to walk out this new life of discovering my own gifts and wholeheartedly embracing them: 

Photography| ryan flynn

Styling | kennesha buycks

1. My life is my own. My gifts, they are mine too. No one can do me the way I can. I've said this here before but no matter how many artists there are in this world, no one is going to express THEIR art they way YOU do. It's a message worth rehearsing over and over until we all get it.  

2. There can be power or death in the creative community. You choose. You can use your time to compare and tear down your own process by comparing your talents to others or you can collaborate encourage and challenge others to reach higher and achieve more. Build on one another's gifts as though you were building a puzzle. In some way, we all fit together to make a beautiful picture of creativity as a means of opening up new worlds and possibilities to those outside "our" own. That, in and of itself, just may be THE gift. 

3. When we compare, we stifle the process of creativity. We've all heard it time and time again, "Comparison is the thief of joy." I'd go even further to say that not only is it the thief of joy but also the thief of all things creative and good. We really do ourselves no favors at all when we make the decision to look at the processes, work and gifts of others in comparison to our own. 

I honestly started thinking more about this when I was inspired to sit down and work on some upcoming things for the blog. One of those things was an inspirational spring table setting. I was literally stopped in my tracks by the fear that I wasn't good enough or that my table wouldn't look as good as someone else's. Later on the blog this week, I will be sharing my process of how I pulled myself up and reminded myself of why I do this in the first place. What a journey, friends. 

I am so glad that this is a space where I can be honest with each of you and pour out my heart in this way while hopefully inspiring and encouraging you to walk more boldly and confidently in your heart and home. 

 xo,

Kennesha