We all know a great space when we see one. We have all felt relaxed in an environment that put us at ease. We feel inspired by spaces that make us feel alive and vibrant, brimming with life. Our homes, offices and cities we live in, the spaces we vacation in… all of it matters more than we realize.

In doing more research on what placemaking and your immediate environments means in our happiness and health, particularly associated with the Blue Zone project by National Geographic’s; I’ve learned that it means even more than we think. It matters not just to our level of joy but to our overall health and longevity. Luckily, we live in a country like Canada, that ranks very high in the happy-wonderful-places-to-live category. We have room to grow, breathe and just be, that puts us in the small percentage of people that won the country jackpot.

We are in the process of moving so that is where some of this has come from, in the chaos of buying, selling, packing and organizing, from one house to another, as a family, we choose our spaces carefully. Since we work from our home, and our team is all remote, so this move has put all of us in a bit of a state of upheaval. Short-term pain for long-term gain.

In business and in life, community and space really matters. We realize going somewhere with a big yard and space to move outdoors, while keeping a small quaint house, matters to us. It fits our values. Filling it with calm, loving, and inspiring people and energy is something we have been thinking about a lot.

How do we make the space work for us? How do we work from home but feel like we are still all a team, connecting thriving together, while still in our own spaces kilometers away from each other? How do you create a remote environment that feels like a physical space with regards to culture and teamwork? That is probably a separate conversation and blog post but it feels top of mind right now.

How do you create a remote environment that feels like a physical space with regards to culture and teamwork?

In the city itself, placemaking and physical environment also matter. How do you get around, is where you live walkable to the things you want to see and do. Does it connect you with people? How does it all fit together? Are there beautiful things to see? We love our city of Airdrie and feel like every day it grows-up a bit more and evolves into something more interesting than it was the day before.

That is something we all want, to be a bit better than the day before.

We are packing up and closing one chapter as a family on one home, and ready to start a new chapter in another. This is just the start of raising a business in a new home so I am sure this won’t be the last we have to say about this.

For more reading on Blue Zones and placemaking check out these articles.

• Built Environment Impact on Public Health
• What is placemaking?