Day 125/366 days Towards Self-Mastery.
Every home has a personality. A feeling that seeps into your bones when you enter. One that lingers after you've left. Maybe you can wrap yourself in its loveliness or perhaps it unsettles you and you need to leave it behind.
Who you are, where you've been, your priorities, attitudes, preferences, are all there on visual display for all who have eyes to see, that touch deeply every being that enters or lives there.
When I first began to understand this concept I was sitting on my bed where I often mediate or contemplate new ideas and thoughts, and looked around me. There before my eyes was such a fascinating reflection of me.
In my shoes, and my clothing, practical and a little funky. The lamp beside my bed, the bedside table, old worldly, that I had chosen all those years ago. In the books here and there, a curious mix of non-fictions, mysticals, spirituals, inspirationals and creative art journals.
My beloved dressing table, over 100 years old crafted from beautiful New Zealand rimu timber, I am its second owner, reflecting my love of the life and character of furniture that has lived.
The picture frames on my walls, pink roses in watercolour, the flower that opened my mind to self-love and in a medium that I simply adore and cannot live without, figuratively and literally, water.
Pottery pieces from around the world, collected on travels in Belgium and up-cycle stores. Pretty boxes collected just for fun and storing memorabilia, just for love.
Yesterday's clothes gracing an antique chair rescued from somewhere now forgotten, because I live here.
A bed for my kitty that she rarely uses yet remains a constant invitation. Boxes of stored loveliness, handbags, belts, boots, and buttons.
Post-it notes on my bedroom door, the filtered planning of my current assignment.
A gifted crystal hanging from the window reflecting the light spectrum at sunrise, the colours of the chakra system.
Precious picture frames of my son from babyhood to boyhood in tarnished silver frames.
Treasured ceramics on my bedside table on which my teapot and teacup rest each morning as I write.
A Beswick flying pheasant above a picture frame, just because.
But there's more to this room than appearances. There's the silent messages that each and every peace reflects back to me. This is you, this is where you live, this is where you are fully supported in your you-ness. There is love here. There is me.
There have been many homes in my life, and in some I have been completely lost, invisible, forgotten. But not here.
This is where I am. The beauty, the tardiness, the committed, the tidy, the occasional OCD, the lazy, the curious, the creative, the humble, the excitable, the extravagant, the funky and sometimes classic style. The lover of the aged and historical, of handcrafted loveliness, of the pretty and the weathered. Of comfy loving woollens and stunning flashy silks.
Where are you in your home?
366 days Towards Self-Mastery
When I considered my New Year's intentions for 2020 I had just one: To allow my heart to love what it loved...and let it lead me. (If not now, then when?)
I've spent months working on integrating my life. To live life more fully with my home life, my interests, my work, my responsibilities, all coming together, all connected. I want to give each the attention that they desire and need, and still have time and energy for the others. That means living and working from the heart.
As I was clearing out my bookshelf over the Christmas break I discovered Simple Abundance. I set it aside to explore it on New Year's Day as I lazed through another delicious day of nothingness. Sarah, the author, says this book is about living in grace. Living in grace I realised, is about Self-Mastery.
My thirst for understanding the human condition has driven me all my life, and hand-in-hand with self-mastery it has been a life-long goal. And seeing as I love to write, that living in grace is about self-mastery, and I love a bit of a challenge, then if I am truly going to let my heart lead, I really don't have any other choice. So scary as it feels, I'm starting out on a daily mission of leaning into the suggestions of this daybook and making a daily post to keep me accountable. If not now, then when?
I'm Josie. You can find out a little more about me here.
Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy: by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
This book is written for the Australian and NZ market because it refers to seasonal changes. It's available on Amazon here if you'd like to follow along.