A few months back, I wrote about my Argentine apartment adventures and my journey to take my den from an empty space to a vibrant home. At the time, I had thought I was done decorating my domicile. I had all of the most important domestic necessities and a drove of delightful adornments so my abode felt beautiful and bountiful. Little did I know I was just getting started.

Over the past couple years, I went through a head-to-toe transformation that ultimately led me to live more intentionally and authentically; to cast off the heavy layers of dreary falsity, shoved on me by others, to reveal the bejeweled butterfly beneath. This metamorphosis meant following my intuition and listening to the voices within and filtering those without.

Creating a heartfelt habitat was perhaps one of the easier parts of this process to express my essence because it happened in a sheltered space, separate from the outside world. Isolated from the din of the denizens all about, I could more clearly hear my own clairvoyant consciousness. Bit by bit, I saw baubles and bright and bedazzled bibelots appear in my abode out of the beyond. In time, my place became a prismatic paradise pulsating with possibility. With all these sparkling curiosities, I felt safe and sound in my sanctuary and I thought my decoration sojourn was complete.

That all changed with a seemingly disastrous visit to see my family, which shocked me with a sense of urgency to live to the fullest, fiercest extent of my expression. Previously I found flow within the protective paradigm of my fours walls, shielded from the periphery. This new adolescent walk about was about finding my true self in the face of external conflict.

This fresh ferocity flung me to forgotten lands from long ago where I rediscovered my affinity for fantasy, fashion, and fiestas that eventually filtered down into my furnishings. For years I had wanted to revive the rapturous receptions of my younger years but was paralyzed by the pressures of perfectionism and scares of scarcity. When I finally opened my home and my heart and convoked these celestial celebrations, I recalled the abundance of community. This breathed new life and levity into my living room and led me to ask myself how I could facilitate the flow of fantasy, family, and fun into my foyer.

I sought out outlandish outfits for these occasions for myself and my guests. Soon my house was awash with glittery, gilded garments; with kimonos, kurtas, and crowns. I then had the distinct dilemma of dedicating a place for these overflowing flowing draperies in my small, city-size space.

Yet again, my cramped quarters led me to think outside the crowded closet and burst out of the box. And so the fabulous fans unfurled their feathers from their new roost on the walls. The geode jewelry swung jauntily from the branches of the floor lamp. The shiny sombrero sat soundly atop its disco ball nest. And the iridescent butterfly wings spread themselves across the empty mural behind the couch. And without warning, just like those walking through Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory where everything was edible, I was in a wondrous world where everything was wearable, everyone was welcome, and every wish was within reach. I was in the sacral chakra sanctuary.