Happy New Year. You may have noticed a shift in Based in Paris: I’m sharing more personal essays about life, work, and culture, alongside marketing and communications insights. You’ll still find the policy nuggets (I am who I am), but I’m finding the daily insights lots of fun to write about. PS- apologies for the swear word in the title, but continue reading!
I recently reorganized and redecorated my office. Voilà. For those who know, prior to this the place was… embarrassing. The lighting during client calls was bad—one person said I looked like the Grinch. Many have said this, but in this case it was due to the lighting.
Clothes were everywhere because there was nowhere to store them, and the furniture was weirdly arranged. Like Grey Gardens without the family fortune.
Mind you, my husband and I just spent a small fortune last year buying this apartment. And yet I had a room I not-so-lovingly dubbed the sh*t room.
To complicate matters, the room is a long rectangle—those who live in D.C. row houses or NYC walk-ups know what I mean. AND light pours in during the afternoon—a blessing and a curse for video calls, when my video looks like I am in the 90s hit, Touched by an Angel. As such, I became obsessed with where the desk should go, convinced it had to be flush against a wall.
WRONG-O.
After not being able to take it anymore, one afternoon I rearranged the space. I moved the desk so my back faces the wall, but the desk itself now floats in the center of the room. The “back”of the room is the office; the front of the rectangle is the sitting area. The coffee table—whose primary purpose once seemed to be bruising my shin—is now a resting place for magazines and my scrapbook bag.
I changed my perspective and used what was already there. I didn’t buy anything new. I worked with what I had. And I abandoned the idea that the desk had to be against a wall.
Now that it’s 2026, our Instagram feeds, and even some Substacks, will be filled with organizing tchotchkes promising to simplify our lives, and online courses offering a Wonka Ticket to home and professional bliss. But let me remind you: you already have what you need. You just need to reorient your perspective and creatively use what you have.
I promised I’d end these posts with a marketing and communications tip, so in the spirit of today’s theme—reframe your priors and use what you have—here are a few ideas:
Clean your email lists.
Remove bouncebacks and habitual non-openers. You can run an opt-in campaign if you want, but at minimum, scrub those old addresses.
Update your newsletter format.
No need for anything fancy. Add a photo. Make sure the font feels modern and fresh (serif fonts are back, baby). Update the header. Leave plenty of white space so readers can absorb what you’ve written.
Use what you already have.
Re-share op-eds, media mentions, and blog posts from the past year. Find a timely news hook and say: In July 2024, Acme Org published an essay on The Current Thing. Read about our proposed solution to the Current Problem That Keeps Happening.
✨May 2026 bring you and your loved ones peace, prosperity, and joy. And remember- you have what you need— just rorient your perspective.
Check these out before you leave! ⬇️⬇️⬇️
🏆You Can’t Succeed By Hating Yourself
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