Refresh the soul and then be ready to soar

"Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the sense but the soul"    Oscar Wilde

I was looking for somewhere to rest my soul, a place where no demands would be made of it. Just a place to refresh, regroup and start again. And here is where, after some searching, I felt I'd found it.

 Image from http://besttopdesign.com

I felt the muscles in my face stretch as I smiled. I felt energy flow through me once again, making me realize how congested and stagnant it had previously been.

With a fresh(er) mind, I began to wonder about this room and what struck me was this: How does a space that appears to be full of stuff still breathe harmony and exude a sense of freedom and comfort?  

In this case at least, I think it's got to do with the light and gently bright colors that are repeated in every part and every purpose of the room.  It's enchanting in a very different kind of way that I usually experience 'enchanting'.

I love the fact that you can be hidden without being in the dark as you work in that spot under the bed.  There's privacy without its typical 'cloak of darkness'. That feels playfully nice.

I think it's a room designed for a teenager but I could easily make myself comfortable and efficient in it. For a while. After that, having got its rest through a combination of harmonious space and creative work, my soul's mood might rise into a space for higher thinking. A space like this perhaps?

Image from http://www.ahoys.com

The following items are available at Amazon.com
 

   

"Plan with audacity. Execute with vigor" - Requirements of a Soul

"Plan with audacity. Execute with vigor" Christian Neville Bovee

 I fear this is going to be a very weird post so stay with me at your own peril.

I plan to be rich. Extremely rich. So that I can buy the things that I want. Like a house which is so green the garden plants will fight to stay indoors. In case you're wondering, I'm talking environmentally friendly green.

Container homes at The Daily Green

Redondo Shipping Container Beach House by De Maria Design

Image from Canada's Bark Design Collective

I also want to be rich so that I can give people - my family and friends and anyone else who could do with some help - things that they want and things that they need, like money, for instance, or a house, or to set them up so they can pursue their passions. 

And I want to be rich so that I can travel to places in the world where I can have experiences that I imagine having. Like walking through temperate forests during spring or fall and gazing at mountains veiled in mist as I lose myself and sitting on soft, fresh grass by cold streams, watching their water gurgle and slide and cuddling up or dancing around  a warm outdoor fire and listening to a haunting medieval flute and the soul-piercing runs and sustains on a guitar played by people whose souls desire to be nowhere else, doing nothing else.

 Image from here

Image from here

Image from here

 

Oh, gosh, I just had an out-of-body experience then, transported to those things I'd described. It was a goose bumps moment.

But this plan of mine. I'll have to be honest. I don't really have one. All I have is an intention. An intention to have all the money I want to do all the things that I want to do. Unless, of course, there is a way of doing all the things I want to do without money.  If so, can someone please show me the way?

So, here I am, a head full of intention and empty of plan. If I keep writing, will someone sign me up for a book deal? Might that be a plan? Would it be good enough? Robust enough?

It seems a very thin plan indeed. Not enough oomph and guts. It seems too, mmm, easy.  Could that be what makes my plan audacious? To make it so easy that it will have everyone telling me what a completely pie-in-the-sky plan it is and that it's got about as much as a snowball's chance in hell?  That even a snowball would have better chances?

Shall I be audaciously simple and simple-minded with my plan?  Would that be enough audacity? Or is there a certain kind of audacity that I must have?  Or more simple-mindedness that I need to bring to my plan to make it audacious?

Does audacity require extremity?  Do I have to be extreme in my simple-mindedness? That can't be too difficult, surely?  And surely that's something I could execute with vigor? No?  I'd be grateful for any suggestions.

   

    

      

So what's wrong with a bit of fun?

I'm consistently drawn to the unusual, the unexpected, the fun-for-fun-sake, aren't you?  And I love it.  I'm certain my soul has its roots in the dark, eccentric world of 'bizarre', not that any of the items below are all that dark or bizarre. Not at all..

"

"Well, honey, the cadillac would've been better, but I'll settle in this "  Image from here

"That's better, now no one will hear us"  Image from here

"It'd be easier to look for your contacts if I didn't have all this stuff on me"

"I said to scratch my back, not set it for dinner" 

Have you got some unusual items to share? Please do.

Now that I'm on a steroid prescription for window shopping, my soul's gone nomadic

Having this blog has made me explore the world of furniture and housing and dwelling places like I've never done before.  Main reason why I haven't before? I never thought I could afford anything I really liked so why bother?  How sad was that!

But window-shopping is endless joy. The soul absolutely craves it. It reflects its hidden fantasies. It mustn't be denied or it gets dull and gloomy and prone to depression.

You don't have to buy or own everything you see and like but that doesn't have to stop you from enjoying their beauty or the ingenuity in their craftsmanship or design. 

Now that I've given myself a steroid prescription for window shopping, I've begun to notice a change in my thinking and behavior.

Whereas I used to immediately dismiss something as unaffordable because my focus was on what I believed I could not afford (which made me feel pretty powerless and unsuccessful and other yucky stuff like that), now my focus is on what I like and am intuitively drawn to.

It's true my self-moderating or soul-sqeezing habits have their roots in my 'financially challenged' childhood where I learned it was pointless even thinking about what I wanted.  I was never going to get it. 

But the worse crime was committed, I think, while I was married and when I was consistently discouraged from getting stuff I wanted.  I'm not blaming my ex-husband for it. He was equally a victim of deprivation as I was.  We were just witless partners in crime. The more he objected, the more I insisted, and often with things that I hadn't really, truely, hopelessly fallen in love with.  How tragic was that!

Anyways, fast forward and here I am, once again stepping out with true (not tempered) childlike wonder and glee to explore the world of furniture and furnishings and soulful living places.  What a ton of fun! And here's some of my latest findings.

Tool-less, easly fold-away-able, highly portable, space-saving furniture, described as particularly suited for nomadic living :) You'll find more at their makers much understated site, Seed International.

Now, I should clarify one thing. I have no idea how much any of this costs.  I can't imagine they'd be expensive though.  I have them here not because I've got a deal with Seed (nice thought) but because I happened to discover them on one of my nocturnal prowls on the web for unusual furniture and I was so taken by their simplicity and elegance and user (read 'female' if you wish) friendliness, I had to share it with you.

So, tell me, do you dismiss things because they may be beyond your means?  Or do you allow yourself to enjoy things that you're drawn to even if you know you may not be able to afford them? Yet? :)

Oh, btw, look what I found when I did an Amazon search for 'seed furniture' :)

Nowhere close but I'll take it :)

An 'exhibitionist' room and a 'doodler' room - which would your soul prefer?

I had no idea I was going to have so much fun with this blog.  I mean, look at what I've discovered, and not just about designs and furniture but, more excitingly, about myself.

OK, call me self-indulgent or narcissistic if you like.  I don't care because I'm finally allowing myself to discover  new worlds out there. 

For someone who has been so absorbed in her own world for so long, afraid to check out the universe, on and offline, and not realizing how absorbed and afraid she was, this is an achievement of proportions equaling a turtle swimming across an ocean.  The only difference, I suppose, is that the turtle probably doesn't think it's a big deal.  But I do and I'm not ashamed to say so.

I suppose I should explain.  But only briefly.  Actually, let me see if I can do it in one sentence.

I have been a scared, prudish (who would have thought?), better-than-thou (might that also be prudish), foolishly modest and unimaginative in aspiration or ambition, critically dismissive of luxury, inventiveness and fun for their own sake woman with a largely un-lived life.  Alright, I may be exaggerating here, but not much, I assure you. Still, let's move on.

So, what have I discovered?  Well, look at the hotel room below, for goodness sake.  It's fully mirrored. 

 This image from here

When I first saw it, I thought it was an outdoor room, but it isn't/  How's that for creating an illusion of space and seamlessness?  Just don't anybody have a tantrum and throw things at the wall or the ceiling. (Now there's an interesting thought - people don't tend to throw things vertically when they're in a rage, do they?  Any idea why?)

   

 

I like the idea but I wonder if it would tire me after a while, you know, make me feel exhausted?  I kinda think the soul would object too.  Too much exposure when I know it prefers to emerge cautiously and unnoticed.

This next one is just one cool room, perfect for the soul to scamper around and doodle. I wouldn't mind having a room like this in my house but I'm not sure I'd sleep in it.  Wouldn't rule it out completely though.  With different lighting, it may feel quite cozy in the evening, like being surrounded by my best friend-thoughts.

 This image from here

It looks like it's designed for a child. Mmm...for a couple hours perhaps, but I wouldn't have had my kids in there all day and night. The senses need a rest, some quiet spaces.

I do think it's a great idea for an adult's room too. A doodle-ed room.  I'd have replaceable or, better still, wipe-over walls (no, they musn't need chalk or toxic inks to write or draw on), ones that you could easily clean so you could doodle away to your soul's content.

       

 

Exhibitionist or doodler?  Perhaps a bit of both?