As 2009 draws to a close, let’s face it - - it hasn’t been an easy year. Yet, more and more, I write about how people can re-invent their lives, homes and cities in the face of trying circumstances. Like many of you out there, I’ve been through the “Big D’s” - - the death of a loved one, divorce, disease and . . . economic disaster. My mantra? “Keep envisioning a positive future.”

With this in mind, I placed an empty picture frame next to my bed, ready for the photo of my yet-to-be-discovered true love. Soon afterwards we met in the pink and orange world of Ft. Lauderdale airport. (Dunkin Donuts to be exact. He was on line behind me.) We chatted, gently flirting, joking about what ideal city we’d fly off to together. We agreed on Bruges, Belgium, the “Venice of the North”.

Two years later we are standing together in Bruges’ medieval city center, a UNESCO World Heritage site. My charming prince takes my hand as we walk the cobbled streets past its overflowing market of beige mushrooms and purple flowers to the “ belfort”, a symbol of Bruges. Built in 1240, this belfry was destroyed by fire in 1280. Rebuilt. Sizzled by lightening in 1493. 1741, fire again.

“Like the phoenix, hope keeps rising from such ashes,” I think as we enter the tower’s winding staircase and walk up its 366 steps. Breathless, we arrive at the top to look out at the charm of orange-tiled roofs aged by years and arranged by random circumstance. Once on solid ground, white chocolate and golden beer wash down my fear of heights and ghostly pasts lingering in the shadows.

Back home, I tilt my head to see that photo frame now filled with us unwinding by the fire in the hotel’s sitting room - - at once a cozy, woody place yet also bold, with walls of huge, blue stripes embracing us. Good night, sweet dreams of the future and Color in the City.

TIPS:

• Envision your life in full, living color, not black and white.
• Decorate with wall colors, window treatments, furniture, flooring, fabric and accessories (a photo frame!) that symbolize your best life and remind you to move positively forward.
• Low on resources in this economy? Remember that paint is the least expense way to create some place that truly feels like home.

To learn more about Toby Israel, the visionary founder of the new field of Design Psychology, visit her website at: www.designpsychology.net

Copyright Toby Israel, 2009.

The Tuilerieen Hotel, Bruge