Next with V - Aesthetic Hibernation is over

V is back with her bonus episode and aesthetic hibernation is officially over. In this episode V looks ahead at what's coming for our homes — and why the magpie years are here. She also takes a deep dive into the pipes; the one thing nobody is talking about in the AI conversation. Plus a personal reflection on what happens when you take yourself offline, and a look at what's coming for each rising sign before winter.

Pour yourself something good!

Use the fancy cups! 

Transcript

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Aesthetic combination is over. I want you to think about a joy box. Not just any joy box. The ones we had really younger, do you remember those? You open the lid, sometimes there's a little ballerina inside that starts spinning, some of them play the music. Very exciting. In a way that felt almost ceremonial. And the moment you crack that lid open, activation zone, everything lit up all at once. That's what I'm feeling right now. We've had a very muted season. A reset. Tones dialed down, enthusiasm quietly shelved. We had a grey era, everything grey and dull. And listen, I was in it too. I was fully committed to my grey sofa. Fabulous. Now I couldn't think of anything worse. Currently on my sofa, beige sofa, is a bright pink leopard print row. I know how that sounds. It sounds hideous, but it isn't. It looks luxury. It looks fun. I can't fully explain it, you have to see it. The lid is open, the bannerina is spinning, colour is black, print is black, the lights are on. Welcome to Next with B. This is the episode where I look ahead at the trends and do a little bit of forecasting for you. This one's for you. Things are getting very exciting. And you know what? The jewellery box is actually the perfect picture of where homes are heading. Not the grey, not the beige, not the carefully curated nothing, but the glitter, the collected, the things you actually love. People are done being told what their homes should look like. The magpie is back. Something old, something new, something borrowed, something that just caught your eye in a market three years ago, and you've never been able to explain quite why you love it. That's the new interior language. And designers are finally catching up to what people have been doing quietly for years. Maximalism is back. Say it with me. Aesthetic hibernation is over. Over, over, over. Let's bring in the colours. The designer show home is over. People are not styling their homes anymore, they're living in them. The lived in home is back. Not accidental, but intentional. And people are choosing warmth now over perfection. The designer show home is over. And I think as we move further into this new vision over the next couple of years, what I'd call the magpie effect is going to take hold. We're going to be drawn to the shiny things again, and the joy dial is going to be turned up. The magpie years are here, and for the first time, we're not taking permission from the trends. We are the trend. Whatever that looks like for you individually. Now this is the part I really want to talk about. This is the substantial bit. There is a lot going on with AI right now, and there's loads of commentary about it. The sustainability of it, taking away the jobs, tech changing everything about the way we work and live, and there are some very valid concerns in all of that. There's also some hype and some scaremongering in there too. I think we've genuinely got both. And like most things, there's the good, the bad, and the grey area. And I'm not going to sit here and tell you which way it lands, because honestly, at this stage, I don't quite know. But as soon as I do, I'll be telling you all first. But here's what I do want to talk about. Because there's something happening that I don't see many people focusing on. The pipes. I'm going to call them the pipes. The infrastructure that's being built for AI is something quite significant. And I think about it like this. Go way back to when the internet was first being rolled out, and people went absolutely crazy laying down fibre cables. And as it turned out, the internet didn't need those fibre cables in the same way. Or at least not at first. So there were all these pipeworks left in the ground, quietly built, quietly sitting there. And at the time the focus was entirely on the people making money. Who was dominating the internet? Who built what? We know the names, we've seen the films, we know who made Google. But the pipes? Nobody was really talking about the pipes. They were kind of ignored part of the whole thing. The analogy I keep going back to for AI is this. Imagine the cowboys are standing on the tracks. They're looking at the tracks, going, What is this? Should these tracks be here? This is vast land. These tracks are gonna ruin everything. All valid concerns. All valid questions. But while they're having the conversation on the tracks, someone is quietly building the station. Someone's already built the station. Someone has already brought the pipes. And just like those fibre cables were laid and not used for years later. And then what do we need fiber for? Oh. Streaming services. Making the internet super fast. All of that groundwork suddenly became everything. And the companies that own those cables, they make a fortune out of us now. They brought the pipes, they saw the opportunity. I am not an investment advisor. I want to be very clear about that. I'm not here to give any investment advice. But I will say this: in this whole AI conversation, we have to look at the pipes. We have to look at what's being built. The bubble doesn't matter. The bubble will come, it happened with the internet, it will happen with AI. What will matter and what will outlast the debate is the pipes. The infrastructure of the next 20 years is being built quietly. Right now. Speaking of pipes, something interesting happened in the network of my life recently. So I've just been on a lovely little trip. And before I went, I found out that I could only have the internet at a very premium price. And when I say premium, I mean eye-wateringly, astronomically expensive. Like I cannot even tell you how much it was. It was ridiculous. I can't even say it with a straight face. Hundreds of pounds. And I genuinely nearly paid it. Because everything in me before I left was saying, you absolutely, definitely, 100% need the internet. You cannot survive without it. And I was glued to my phone right up until the last second, doing everything, checking everything, making sure I'd done everything. Like the countdown was happening and I was not ready. I took two physical books with me because reading has really lapsed for me. I used to be such an avid reader and now I'm barely reading anything because I'm just scrolling. I do read a lot online, Substack, that kind of thing, but reading, proper reading, just hasn't been happening. And I'm not a Kindle person. I'm putting it out there. You cannot sway me. Not yet. I love books so much. So day one, I wake up and I can't use my phone. So I pick up my book and I go out on the balcony and I'm reading. But in the back of my head, I'm thinking, I really wish I could use my phone. I really want to use my phone. And I generally thought that was how every single day of the holiday was going to feel. But day two roiled around and something shifted. I don't know what it was, but I was really excited to wake up and get to my book. By morning three, I wasn't even thinking about my phone because I was completely gripped. And in the small patches when I did get internet, I was purposeful. I synced my Fitbit, which actually was a major priority for me, I'm not gonna lie. I checked in with the people I needed to check in with, did a tiny bit of scrolling, and then I put it down. Back to the book. Finished that book, started the second book. And I've kept thinking about this because I'm the same person. The same person who nearly paid an astronomical amount of money for internet access because she couldn't imagine surviving without it. And yet, in the holiday environment, I became a completely different person. Someone who, given the choice, would choose her book over her phone without even thinking about it. That's not really about phone addiction. The thought I keep coming back to is this. It's the same person in different conditions. The environment changed what I was capable of. Normal life has the internet on 24/7, so of course that's why I reach out for it. Holiday mode removed the option, and something else came back. Why don't our normal lives give us a little bit more permission to have that? I'm still thinking about it. And I'll let you know what I figure out. You know when you used to flip through a magazine just to get to the horoscopes at the back? Well, that's what this part is. We've talked about the homes, the pipes, all the things that are starting to wake up and activate right now and build into something bigger. And one more thing that I wanted to look at is what's activating for you specifically. So here's a quick rundown of what I think is coming by the time we get to winter for each rising sign. Take a moment to really soak this in and grow with it. Aries Rising. You've been sharpening something quietly all year and you can feel it's nearly ready. By winter, it'll be time to stop preparing and step forward. What you've been building behind the scenes is about to need an audience. Aries Rising, your moment is coming. Get ready. Taurus Rising. Your taste has been recollaborating. You're noticing what you're drawn to again after a long reset. By winter, trust it fully. What's pulling your attention right now is worth investing in. I love this era for you, Taurus Rising. Lean in. Gemini Rising. You've got ideas circling more than usual, and they haven't quite landed yet. By winter, one of them stops being a thought and becomes a thing. Pick it early and start laying the groundwork now. Be excited, Gemini Rising. This is your season to build. Cancer Rising. Home has been a project. By winter it becomes a sanctuary. The nesting wasn't avoidance, it was preparation for something worth coming home to. Cancer Rising, I love this for you. You knew what you were doing all along. Leo Rising. You've been quieter than feels natural for you lately. More behind the scenes than in the room. That's shifting. By winter you're back in full colour, and the re-entry lands bigger than the exit did. The jewelry box metaphor. Written for you, Leo Rising. Written for you. Virgo rising. You've been doing the unglamorous work. Refining, rebuilding, getting the details right when nobody's watching. By winter, you'll see what it was all for. The pipes you've been laying start carrying something real. Virgo rising, the quiet season is paying off. Watch this space. Libra rising. Relationships have been asking big questions of you, more than feels comfortable. By winter, some of those answers arrive. Not all easy, but all clarifying. You'll know where your energy actually belongs. Libra rising, clarity is coming, and honestly, you're ready for it. Scorpio rising. Something you thought was finis keeps coming back. Don't dismiss it. By winter it reopens, but on your terms this time. It's not haunting you, it's calling you back for a reason. Scorpio rising, okay, but listen, this one's important. Sagittarius rising. You've been buzzing, ideas, plans, possibilities, all of it. The energy is there, but it's been scattered in too many directions. By winter, something focuses it. One arrow, one target. Sagittarius rising, I know, I know, but trust me on this one. Precision era. Get excited. Capricorn Rising. The serious private work you've been putting into is about to surface. By winter it becomes visible to the right people at the right moment. Don't undersell what you've quietly built. Capricorn Rising, I see you, and soon so will everyone else. Aquarius Rising. You've been sitting back watching where things are headed while everyone else is still in the debate. I love this for you. By winter, people start catching up to what you already knew. You're ready to lead when they arrive. My Aquarius risings, get ready. Pisces Rising. You've been taking everything in, absorbing, feeling, processing more than you've been letting on. By winter, you're ready to create from it. What comes out of you in the next few months will surprise even you. Pisces Rising, your most creative season is on the way. I cannot wait. That's all for this week on Next With Free. Next week I'm back with a cup of fee episode, written in the stars, and trust me, you're gonna want to pour something good for that one too. Until then, don't forget, always use the fancy cups.