A Season of Gratitude: Opening, Letting Go, and Redesigning Life From the Inside Out

By Rachel Schemmerling|Timeless Living

As we step into this season of gratitude, I’ve been thinking a lot about the surprising ways thankfulness reshapes the landscape of my life. Not the big, dramatic gratitude—the kind we save for holidays or milestone moments—but the quiet, daily noticing that loosens my shoulders, softens my breath, and brings me back into myself.

I’ve learned that when I feel more grateful, I become more open.
More relaxed.
More aware of what’s unfolding rather than what’s missing.
My perspective shifts—opportunities reveal themselves—and life, somehow, feels a bit easier.

And it often starts with one simple shift:
I have to → I get to.

It sounds small, but that tiny turn changes everything.

A Personal Story About Gratitude Sneaking In

A few years ago, on a morning when everything felt heavy, I remember standing in my kitchen staring at a long list of things I had to do. Client calls. Errands. House chores. A design project that felt bigger than my energy. A life that felt bigger than my bandwidth.

I caught myself whispering under my breath, “I have to get through this day.”

There was nothing dramatic about the moment—no sunlight streaking through the window or musical soundtrack—just a quiet pause. A nudge.
What if I changed one word?

I get to help a client shape a home that finally feels like hers.
I get to run errands because my life is full.
I get to fold laundry in a home that shelters me.
I get to design, create, serve, and show up.

It didn’t erase the responsibilities. It didn’t magically lighten the workload. But something in me softened. The day no longer felt like a mountain—it felt like a privilege.

That was the day I realized gratitude isn’t something that descends upon us.
It’s something we choose, moment by moment, word by word.

What Gratitude Is Teaching Me Now

This lesson feels especially true for me as I move through a major transition in my own business.

After years of offering full-service design, I’m closing that chapter with so much appreciation. It has been beautiful, meaningful work—and it shaped me in countless ways. But I’m stepping into a season that aligns even more deeply with who I am becoming.

I am keeping my design consulting, the part of the work that feels most aligned and helfpul. And at the same time, I’m opening something new—something that has been tugging at my heart for years.

A founding circle of women.
A community designed for connection, healing, creativity, and clarity.
And a program—a course—that helps women transform their lives by transforming how they design their homes.

This is the work that lights me up.
This is where I feel the click of alignment in my chest.
This is where gratitude flows effortlessly.

Instead of I have to build something new, I find myself thinking,
I get to build something meaningful.
I get to create spaces for women to feel seen.
I get to design a program that helps women design their lives.

The shift is subtle, but the energy behind it is everything.

Gratitude as a Design Principle

The more I work with women, the more I see it clearly:
Gratitude is a design principle.

It shifts how we decorate, how we choose, how we release, how we gather.
It shapes the atmosphere we cultivate.
It influences the way we treat ourselves and the homes we live in.

When we approach our spaces with I get to, everything changes:

• I get to create a home that supports my wellbeing.
• I get to choose what stays and what goes.
• I get to redefine what comfort looks like in this season of life.
• I get to make beauty a priority, not an afterthought.

Gratitude opens us.
And when we’re open, we can design a life—and home—aligned with who we truly are.

A Gentle Invitation for the Week Ahead

I invite you to notice one place where you can shift from have to to get to. One tiny corner of your life that might soften with gratitude.

And if you’re feeling called into deeper transformation…
If you sense a new season unfolding for you too…
If you’re craving community, creativity, and a fresh, empowering relationship with your home…

Then keep close by and wait.
More about the founding women’s circle and the new program is coming soon.

This season isn’t just about gratitude.
It’s about rebirth.
Redesign.
Realignment.
And the beautiful truth that when we shift our perspective, our whole life starts to bloom.