Please Yourself, Please

This felted wool item is from Woolly Fabulous on Etsy.com

I am crystal clear about knowing that we are all one and all unique expressions of One. That's right. Unique expressions. And in that uniqueness and oneness comes the requirement of self responsibility and ability to cultivate and experience pleasure. That's right again. Pleasure. Yes, I said that. Pleasure. Stop for a moment and conjure your experience of that word. Like so many you may have somewhat sticky, dim thoughts that you quickly eschew for fear of being found out.  I propose to you that the concept of pleasure and your ability to cultivate it everyday will improve your life immeasurably. Start small-- notice the shape, color or texture of your favorite piece of furniture. Or wear your favorite sweater and catch glimpses of yourself in it as you pass a mirror. Please yourself as a path to that which is divine.

I'ma Lucky Girl

I am a lucky girl. I just celebrated another birthday and was thinking how lucky I have always been on my birthdays (maybe always, frankly). When I was very young one of my first presents from my mother was oil paints. That's right, oil paints. I produced some of the oiliest paintings thanks to my heavy handed-ness with linseed oil. Each and every year of my childhood I received three categories of items: summer pajamas, art supplies and sports equipment. To this very day I am a pajama loving sporty artistic type. And anyone who knows me well knows this about me.

The images here by Annie Siems can be found on  the Jealous Curator  and I am jealous of the Jealous Curator for being so good at being jealous.

Sometimes I Just Say "Chip It"

These are some very dear plates from Anthropologie and a very good reason to say "Chip It". That is, you can upload this image to Sherwin Williams' program by the same name and voila! you will receive paint chips of the palette. In fact, you can do this with just about any image. How many times have you tried to memorize a combo of colors that you think would be awesome for a room only to forget it... love, love, love this tool! 

Time for Some Magical Thinking

'Raise the Roof Red' Jay McCarrol Fabric found on Bon Bon Atelier

I came across this quote by Editor-in-Chief, Amanda Dameron in this month's Dwell magazine and loved it. "Start with empty space, honestly assess how you want to live, make thoughtful choices, and you'll find yourself at home. No strange alchemy or occult intervention required." I can't begin to parse all the ways these words apply to living well within the self. No wonder I am so thoroughly obsessed with the idea that our homes are external novellas to our internal landscapes. All inextricably intertwined.

The Human Entropy Project (David OBrien)

Going out is the 'us against them', 'me against you' and 'death to the finish' I am advised. Coming in is 'many in one heart'. What will the Earth be like when we are in a cooperative, collaborative and mutually respectful phase? Some will fear and fight their way through this change. Life will no longer be able to support this conflict. Others, like myself, will feel right at home and say "finally", acknowledging a return to what was known at the beginning of the beginning. I may even spend a lot of time in disbelief- having been a participant dreamer, not unaware the whole time, in the dream time that hit me like a ton of bricks over and over and over again. Just the promise that this portion of suffering is being let up off the mat makes my lungs expand a tiny bit more. And so it is.

Sanctuary: What is it?

High Museum of Art in Atlanta (image thanks to Style Court)

I am thinking today, and on other days of late, about what makes for sanctuary. HGTV does a wonderful job plumbing the depths of our housing needs both structural and decorative, so I am not as much interested in the trappings of home as sanctuary when I am thinking about the word. And then, the spiritualists among us have long written, sung, meditated and prayed within their inner sanctuaries, so I am not sure if my interests are from this angle either. I may be thinking about our sense of individual sanctuary in all of our minutes within the day. The place that when cultivated can become our own unique touchstone, a combination of our inner world comingled with our outer world of home, work and family-- the intersection of emotion, spirit, cognitions with our outter existence-- sort of that sweet spot of groundedness that is so necessary as we navigate life in these times. I'll keep thinking about this and report what comes of it.