You should get to know Aileen Xu! If you resonate with her the way I resonate with her, you will have hours of advice, entertainment, and inspiration available for you to consume immediately! She is the creator of a lifestyle brand called Lavendaire. She produces a Youtube channel and a podcast, among other things. She’s a believer and promoter that you can create your dream life.
What I love about her is that she is so sweet. Her voice is soft but she speaks with conviction and with belief and in a very confident way so I basically believe everything she says. She’s also so smart, which is another reason why I believe everything she says.
I have learned so much from her – about mindset, abundance, knowing and loving and accepting myself.. And so many other topics too.
What she Creates
She obviously prepares and organizes her thoughts – or maybe she is just really good at editing. Her videos are informational and educational and I like the way that she organizes her concepts with explanation slides or title slides with some kind of a visual to illustrate whatever point she’s making.
I also like that she has a variety of topics that she talks about so she shares her take on goal setting and finding purpose and then, she even has videos showing herself cleaning her apartment and talking about the cleaning spray that she likes.
She has sponsorships and ads but I don’t find them interrupting or off putting at all. In fact, sometimes I’m kind of curious because I genuinely believe that she likes the products that she talks about so I’m usually a little interested in whatever product she’s sharing.
In fact, for a while I was binging her videos where she shares her favorites for the month, including products, apps, books, ideas.. Whatever! And she demonstrated how she had this little silicone make up brush cleaner – I had never heard of that before- but as soon as I saw it, I realized it was exactly what I never knew I needed! So I got one for myself- and I’m pretty sure that was just her sharing a product she was using and loved, not sponsored in any way.
I am so happy that she has sponsorship because that means she has an income by producing this content for me to consume freely.
How I Found Her
I first found Aileen’s channel when I was looking for a video about the Law of Attraction. I watched her informational episode explaining what it is to her and how she uses it and how she learned about it. That video didn’t give me exactly the answer that I was looking for at that moment, but it introduced me to her. So, then I saw all the other videos that she had produced and I just love the production quality. I love that they are light and airy and feminine and so educational.
She presents the information in a very clear, easy to understand and easy to digest manner and it’s all beautiful. Everything she does is beautiful. I love that she mixes it up with her editing. She’ll be talking about something and then there will be a shot of her writing in her journal or walking in the park with her voice over it and we see an example of something that she’s doing to illustrate whatever the topic is that she’s talking about.
I started watching her videos first, and then, I heard her mention that she also had a podcast but, at that time, I wasn’t really interested in listening to another podcast because I wasn’t driving a lot and I was in a more visual, rather than audio consumption mode. So I just kept watching her videos, and I didn’t even consider downloading the podcast.
Then, when I started having a daily commute again, I suddenly had a huge need in my life for audio-only education. And that’s when I started listening to her podcast and I love it so much. I love her interviews with her guests. I love who she has introduced me to. I also love her solo episodes. I love hearing her detailed explanations of what she has learned and the journey that she’s been on and what she’s realized about her own life. She puts it all out there. She shares her doubts, she shares her struggles.
She’s open and honest.. And again, I believe everything she says! And even though we come from different backgrounds and live in different places and have different lives, I find myself relating to her so much. She has definitely been an inspiration to me in starting my own podcast.
Resistance to Podcasting
You know what’s so interesting to me? In one of her podcast episodes she acknowledged that she didn’t really like podcasting, but she was doing it because her business coach had told her to do it – but it wasn’t really her preferred method of creation and putting her content out and I found that so curious and interesting because I would never have guessed that podcasting wasn’t naturally enjoyable to her.
I appreciate her podcast and I value it so much – and I’ve recommended it to friends- yet creating a podcast is something that she had a little resistance to and maybe didn’t find as fulfilling or as rewarding as her true passion, which is video creation.
So, I thank her for following her coach’s advice. And, I thank her coach for offering that advice. I am so grateful that she does video creation because that’s how I found her and I really appreciate the artistry that goes into it, but I am also so grateful that she does have a podcast too because when my life shifted and I needed to consume her content in a different delivery method it was there ready for me.
3 Things I have learned from Aileen
Ikigai – (that’s ikigai- it’s a Japanese term) which means your reason for being, your reason for getting up in the morning. I may have heard that word before, and of course, I vaguely understood the concept, even if I didn’t know a specific word for it. But when I heard about it from Aileen, it stuck – and I immediately applied it to my own self-exploration and brought it up in conversations with my friends.
I love that she explained it in a really interesting way and she created a visual to illustrate what it is. She also provided a questionnaire or an exercise so that people could go through it to figure out their own ikigai – of course I downloaded it!
The second thing that I picked up from Aileen which has had such a huge impact on my life is what I mentioned about in the last 2 posts. I remember watching her videos and thinking to myself “how is this girl so wise?” And as I continued watching her videos, I realized it is because she does so much reading and writing. And basically that realization is what solidified that I would start doing my own morning pages and make it into my morning routine.
I wanted to become as wise as Aileen, so I decided to do exactly what she did.I am so glad that she was an example to me because I really feel like it worked for me. I saw something in her that I wanted for myself… To be able to come up with really great realizations and understanding and learning. And I saw the way that she was doing it for herself… By writing every morning. I decided to try it and it worked.
I feel so much more knowledgeable about myself and about things that are important to me and about my feelings and about my psychology and my human behavior then I know I could’ve ever understood without having this daily writing routine.
I was reading an online discussion thread about self-development and I saw someone list the benefits of journaling, and I couldn’t agree more. The commenter described journaling as a long-running log of your thoughts, goals, intentions, and perspectives and as you get awareness of these parts of yourself you widen your own perspective. The commenter compared re-reading what you wrote as your past self (which I love to do frequently) as “time travel” to go back in time and revist who you were and what you thought and what you were hoping for back then.
That comment also described how by writing down our thoughts, we are able to look at them more objectively and think critically about them – I agree with this so much! I am experiencing this for myself on a daily basis. And I know my life is so much better because of my widened perspective.
The 3rd thing that Aileen taught me that I love to think about is kind of like what I just mentioned about the time travel- it’s the Current Me and Future Me exercise. First of all, the video and her drawing of her current self and future self is adorable. I love the visual of it. And, her description of it made me want to try it for myself. So I did. And it was fun and interesting.
And when I look back at the Current Me and Future Me exercise I did about 2 years ago I can see what I have created for myself in my life and what is no longer important to me – I can see my own evolution, and I recognize that I am the one driving the direction, partly because of that specific exercise, and also because of the deeper understanding I have about myself because of my daily writing practice.
Bonus!
And a bonus thing I learned- when I heard Aileen on another podcast, she connected the idea of “decluttering” with “intuition” for me. Stay with me here.. You might be wondering.. What does decluttering have to do with intuition? Is this getting a little “woo?”
But here’s what I realized as I heard her explaining it to the interviewer: for me, those concepts (intuition and minimalism) all came to me around the same time frame – I was going through those 2 journeys (learning to listen to my intuition and understanding the how and why of minimalism and decluttering) on parallel paths- and years later, when I heard Aileen talking about how she listened to herself in deciding what to let go of, she was training herself to listen to and trust her intuition.
I love that! I had never considered the connection of strengthening your intuition by doing the exercise of decluttering and it makes so much sense!
It also makes me think that all those things that I currently have in my house and in my closet that were not intentionally obtained are now creating weight and distraction and are now sending mixed messages for me to sift through. What I mean is, if I bought things mindlessly, or if I received things as a giveaway or a gift, and I kept them without considering if I really want them or not, those extra, unintentional things are creating, not only physical clutter, but mental clutter for me.
They become a subconscious distraction when I see them or think about them. It’s so easy to collect these kind of things – for example, if someone is getting rid of something they don’t want, I might see it and think “don’t get rid of it! That has value.”
But, if it doesn’t have any value to me personally, and I keep it, I am holding on to something that I don’t want or need out of “fear” that it’s value won’t be appreciated.. Or valued. I’m worried that it will be wasted. Do you see how that’s coming from a scarcity mindset?
Do you see how, for whatever reason, I’m trying to control the appreciation of its value.. Even though I may not personally appreciate it or value it? So because of that “need for control” there is something taking up space for me – it’s blocking space, that could just be open space, or could be space to receive something that I really do want.
It’s like those unintentional things are blocking the frequency to my intuition, so as I let them go, my intuition has more space and is more clear and easy to focus on. Editing my physical belongings with my intuition is a relatively new concept for me so I’m still figuring out how to put it into practice. If you have already had luck with this, or if this practice comes naturally to you.. I want to hear about it!
Life is the Story You Tell Yourself
A few weeks ago, when I shared my favorite mantras with you, I described that you can believe that “Life is the story you tell yourself.”
Aileen is the perfect example of this. She considers herself an Artist of Life – so she encourages you to design your ideal life and she shares the tools to turn that life into a reality. She wants you to create your masterpiece!
A couple of years back I purchased her Artist of Life workbook. This is an amazing workbook she designed to help make goals and track progress throughout the year. I imagine that she had an idea of what she wanted, but it didn’t exist, so she decided to just create it for herself first and then she realized other people could benefit from it also- so she shared it. The thought, caring and attention to details that she puts into it is beautiful.
When I first became aware of her Artist of Life workbook, I was so excited because I had heard her promoting it and I was on her mailing list, so as soon as it went on sale, I was one of the first people to buy it – no hesitation! If you like planners and goal setting worksheets and tracking, and pretty books in pretty colors.. you might like this workbook for yourself!
So, I’m curious. Have you heard of Aileen and Lavendaire before reading this post? If so, I want to know what lessons she taught you. What’s your favorite episode of her podcast? If you never heard of her before, I invite you to go check out her channel and/or her podcast.
Thank You Card, a Love Note, & Fan Letter
This post is meant to be a thank you card, a love note, and a fan letter to one of my favorite teachers… so, Aileen, if you are reading this:
I just want to tell you Thank you so much for following your own path and deciding to create so much beautiful art with your channel, your podcast, your workbooks and everything else that you do. I hope you can hear from my gushing throughout this episode how much I value you and how much of an important inspiration you have been to me in my life. I love your authenticity. I love your aesthetic and I think you are so smart and talented. Thank you so much for putting that talent out into the world!
Ok! That’s it for this post! Now, I want to know your thoughts and your reactions about the Lavendaire Lifestyle! Leave a comment below to let me know what you think!