My Chanel Life

Every time I wear one of my Chanel perfumes or visit the Chanel website or read someone's blog post on Chanel, I feel so stylish and chic and inspired.  I then vow to myself that I am going to get rid of any non-Chanel perfumes and wear only the three Chanel ones I have, dress in black, cream and white (and navy and white stripes for casual) and have a home decorated in black, cream and burnt ochre with gold touches.

Yes, I am prone to thoughts of extreme actions.

I won’t be doing any of that though, because I enjoy variety too much, but Ms Chanel does inspire me enough to make a list of my Dream Chanel Life which will help me not get sucked into the trashy side of things (such as reality television, low-quality foods and gossipy websites etc).

She is also an inspiration to stop looking around at what others are doing and do it for myself.  I highly doubt, if the Daily Mail website had been around when Coco was alive, that she would have read it each morning with her café crème.  Non, Coco would have been starting her day, deciding if she was going to go horse riding, meet a friend in a café or head straight to her atelier to start another design.

Rather than read about someone else who has started a successful business, she would go out and start her own successful business, such as her first boutique in Deauville.  She was a person who made things happen.   

So in honour of Mademoiselle Chanel, here is my Chanel life dream list:

My Chanel Life

I am full of confidence for my own creativity.

I know that I can create a good living for myself with my creativity if only I would believe in myself and stay the course.

I am not swayed by others opinions of what I can or cannot do.

I remain focused on the kind of lifestyle I can create for myself.

I dare to dream, and dream about big ideas.

I do not waste time on unimportant things that do not need my attention.

I do necessary jobs that don’t thrill me in the quickest possible time, and I do them well.

I remain positive about what I am adding to the world.

Food is delicious and nourishing, and mealtimes are social, but food is far down the importance scale for me.  I eat well, then I forget about food until the next meal.

I focus on one thing at a time, I do not multi-task.

I work at something until I have finished it.  I do not let my mind wander if a part becomes difficult.  I persevere until it is done.

Quality comes above all.  If something is worth me doing it, it is worth me making a good job of it without being a procrastinating perfectionist.  If it’s not worth quality work, then, well, why am I doing it?

I am never afraid to put my work out there, take courage and show it to the world.

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Phew, now I DO feel ready to take on the world!  Merci Mademoiselle!

It seems to be a cliché to write a Chanel post because there are so many, but she was a truly visionary lady who has impacted fashion and even the way we live, all these years later.  To be as gutsy as she was now would be something, but back then?  Outstanding.

Before I go, one of my favourite Chanel books is ‘The Gospel According to Coco Chanel’ by Karen Karbo.  I’ve read both the paper copy and also have it on audiobook which I love to listen to.  The author is so dry and funny and it’s much more interesting than some of the many straight historical books on Chanel.  Do you have a favourite Chanel book?

The photo above came from the divine ‘Coco Chanel: Three Weeks/1962’ by Douglas Kirkland, such a beautiful and elegant book.