Hello to all. Wishing you all well this fine day. It is a beautiful morning here. Cool and the sun is shining. I have the windows open and fresh air is coming in! I have been able to keep the windows open over half of the day, then have to close do to heating up outdoors.
The water has all dried up out back, but it sure smells 'wormy' out there! I really would like to mow out back today, but the grass is sopping wet with dew - will see how long it takes to dry out.
It seems we all need more peace, comfort and calmness in life. Life is so busy and everyone and everything seems to be in a rush! There is always 'noise' to distract us and to try and keep us occupied. I like a restorative kind of life. Porch sitting!! I know people truly love all the gadgets and apps and electronics - I do not. I have no problem doing things the old way. Absolutely NOTHING in life is that important that it has to be handled this very moment in my opinion.
I watched a video yesterday that really had an impact - so I thought I would relate some of their ideas.
- Keep meaningful things around you - things that elicit memories and thoughts of people you love and places you love. When you see them, you smile. Or they may just be there, and you don't 'think' you look at them each day - but odds are you do and they give you comfort.
- Pause when you come home from being out. Take a moment to walk in and just BE in your home and breathe. You are home and that should be comforting
- Use what you have. Repurpose things, move things around, instead of buying and spending. Sometimes just changing up the view can feel wonderful - redecorate for nothing
- Let nature in. Plants, fresh air, cut flowers, herbs, a basket of fruit on the table - something natural - it just feels like home
- Have a quiet place. It can be a favorite chair, a spot by a window, or a room, or maybe a balcony or place outdoors. Someplace that you can decompress and just breathe and get your mind back in tune
- Make meals quietly. Maybe make some simple meals, in a slow pace - don't always rush. Sit at the table and truly enjoy eating the meal - enjoy the flavors and taste and company if you have someone else there
- Use subtle soft lights after dark. We see so much brightness all day, and even with TV/computer distractions. Soft lights calm - that is why Christmas lights always seem so enjoyable and soothing in a dark room
- Keep around calming smells. It may be fresh air or coffee brewing or candles. Scent can be so very soothing - scents seem to take us somewhere else
- Keep your sleep place calm and uncluttered. It needs to be a relaxing area - not a lot of distractions
- Keep your home in order daily. Do a little here and there - you don't have to bust butt to do it all at once. Laundry one day, vacuum or dust another, pick up as you go. This way the house always feels clean, and you aren't rushing around - it is not overwhelming. Slow and steady - always wins!
- Don't worry about what you don't have! Getting that next new big thing, isn't always satisfying and often you have to work hard to get it. Concentrate on what you HAVE and appreciate it. What you have is home and makes you feel safe.
All things we can do and they cost nothing. Anytime we can reduce stress and the rush of the world, is a good day. Make your house a home! It is yours and you can just BE when you are there.
Enjoy your home and just keep it calm and relaxing - a peaceful home is wonderful.
Have a wonderful and blessed day.
Cheryl, I love this post. Would you please share the link to the video? There's somethiing about creating a home that you don't want to take a vacation from. My home is my sanctuary, the place where I rest & rejuvenate. I think you share that sentiment. I often say aloud to my house - hello, goodbye, thanks. The art on the walls gets rotated to reflect seasons & mood as do the throw cushions. Seeing book titles on a shelf can provoke memories. Hanging flower baskets & the changing seasonal scapes outside the windows offer variety. There's a chair in the corner by the window in the dining area that I have my morning meeting with myself. Meal prep is often done in the morning when I have the most energy. Fresh air is my favorite scent as well as clothes off the outdoor line. You're so right about the daily task & tidy.
ReplyDeleteI will look that video up again and will try to let you know.
DeleteI don't need a vacation from my home either - that is a lovely thought. The old saying - home is where the heart is - is so true.
I have often said, I pray before I leave to go somewhere, and I always pray that my home will be safe as well, and God will bring me back to it safely.
I find myself staring up at my old, old books sometimes and I smile, thinking that grandpa and grandma read them and held them (I didn't know them). I mean that is cool. Little things make a big difference.
Home should be a sanctuary.
This is a fabulous post! I have saved your comments so that I can print them out. Not all of us grew up in peaceful homes, even though the time period was much more settled than modern days. Add in a controlling, treacherous husband and that added more years of stress. I can say that the ripe old age of seventy-nine, I have found my peace and joy. Miss mona is right...create a home that you don't want or need to take a vacation from. Cheryl, you are a very good influence!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I feel for those that didn't have a calm and peaceful upbringing. Maybe it is something that we all need to learn, and just trying to live a life that has no stress is great. Glad you have found your peace and joy. Thank you my friend.
DeleteSuch a lovely post!
ReplyDeleteOne of the ways I've invited calm onto my life is by not having noise on to listen to. If I want to watch or hear something it is a deliberate choice. My daughter told me her roommate said to her once you're the only person I know who turns off the tv when the program is over. That's what I did when she was growing up. Since he retired I discovered my husband is more of an automatically tv goes on kind of person. If the noise gets too much I go to my sewing room or outside.
Clutter is a silent noise to me. It's like it's calling out to me silently do something with me! Lol. That's been my focus lately. I've watched a few videos by a guy on YouTube who covers the distress of heirs having to deal with decades of a deceased relative's collections. That has clarified what I want to do and motivated me.
The last couple of days have been so pretty here. But supposed to get nasty storms this afternoon. Guess I'm not painting the mailbox today!
I turn on the news early when I get up and often, I forget and leave it on - thankfully it shuts itself off after so lone. The noise can distract. We may not think that, but it sure can - it can remove pleasant thoughts.
DeleteI can understand that with clutter. It is awful having to go into someone's home and clean it out after death, I need to do more here as well. I try.
Glad you have had lovely weather. Stay safe with the storms! Hey, the mailbox can wait another day!
Often I have noticed that the best part of any trip or travel is walking in my own front door. Home again! :) Mona is right, it's my space to recover, release, relax, rejuvenate. My hidey-hole. :)
ReplyDeleteMaryB
Coming home is always a hug for me. Yes mam, it should feel safe and comforting and like a place to rejuvenate.
DeleteI love this and am trying to slow down myself. I catch myself rushing my tasks and I say why. I don't have that much to do. Thanks for these reminders of slowing down.
ReplyDeleteSlowing down is a process and sometimes we have to make ourselves. I have always been a doer - so now that I am in a new season of life - slowing is so enjoyable.
DeleteGlad it helped!
I can tell the videographer has no young children (and a noisy adult) in theiir household. :) Calm occurs when they are out of the house for an activity or have gone to bed. Otherwise I expect noise and chaos to reign.
ReplyDeleteExactly! A calm, organized life is easy for an older single person who lives alone. Barbara M.
DeleteWell, I have no children either - and I do believe all these things. We can make moments - to have our calm.
DeleteI truly do believe we can place blame wherever, and not try to make those moments.
Chaos? Ah yes, I've been there and had to fight hard for calm when I had all those young ones dashing around. One thing I did was stay away from the TV, in another room, doing something else. The noise from that TV was *designed* to get me riled up. Then they could sell me some junky thing that would "fix the problem". Hmph, I don't believe that for a skinny minute! ;)
DeleteMaryB
Cheryl, I probably offended you when I commented on Maebeme’s post. I SHOULD have said that being calm and organized is easy for a single person LIKE ME. That is what I was thinking - thinking of friends who have spouses or even older children now living back at home (2 friends). I’m sorry. Barbara M.
DeleteHeck no - not offended at all. I realize people with no kiddos have it different - my comment just meant that anything worth having is worth a little extra effort. Sometimes we are quick to dismiss things, when we just need to work a little at it.
DeleteBeing a person alone does make a difference. We have nothing but time!
What would or could I do with calm? Kelsa is coming over...
ReplyDeleteYou might actually like it for a change!!!!!! You might give it a try sometime.
DeleteI had been prepping food this morning. Usually I just put my hands under the tap to give them a quick rinse, but there was clean water in the bowl so I took the time to give them a leisurely wash and just enjoy the sensation of the water trickling though my fingers and the sound it made. Then I wondered why I don't do that more often. This post has made me think that I really ought to.
ReplyDeleteLove it! It doesn't have to be something huge and life changing - it can be the simple and tiny things. Just sitting for a few listening to the birds, or listening to the kiddos a couple doors down laugh, hearing a train in the distance, the trickle of water over the fingers, or just a nice quiet bath. Thank you for realizing it can mean little things.
DeleteWonderfully true and so easy, really.
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you, Cheryl.
Mary in OK
Thank you and I think so too.
DeleteMany blessings to you.
I need to read this list at least once a week
ReplyDeleteIt takes work - but they sure are good tools to use.
DeleteThis is a wonderful reminder of how to keep the chaos of the outside world away from our homes. Thank you for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteYou are very welcome. That is the word "chaos"! The noise of the world can get overwhelming.
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