One of my favorite quotes by Stephen King goes like this: I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I’ll go for the gross-out. I’m not [...]
Category Archives: home
which should you choose? eco-friendly? sustainable? nontoxic? natural?
Also posted in cleaning, housework, wellness
Tagged cleaning, eco-friendly, green, home care, natural, non-toxic, sustainable
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wabi-sabi
Wabi-sabi is the Japanese art of finding beauty in imperfection and profundity in nature, of accepting the natural cycle of growth, decay, and death. It’s simple, slow, and uncluttered – and it reveres authenticity above all. Wabi-sabi is flea markets, not warehouse stores; aged wood, not Pergo; rice paper, not glass. It celebrates cracks and [...]
Also posted in interior design, nature
Tagged flea market chic, Japanese design, junk style, shabby chic, wabi sabi
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temporary home
On the weekend, when I was struggling with panic over my broken-down car, one of the greatest fears that kept rising up was losing my home. I rent a lovely apartment in a quiet, century neighbourhood. I love living alone. I love this place where I find myself. I love the beautiful and useful objects [...]
Also posted in finances, interior design, kitchens, mindfulness, minimalism, spirituality
Tagged apartment, fear, home, impermanence, non-grasping, panic, pantry, personal development, personal growth, temporary
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sweeping
My first paid job (aside from babysitting, and helping family friends with a coat-checking gig at a local hotel when I was 13) was dishwashing in a nursing home. I was a model employee: smart, learned my tasks quickly, hard-working, conscientious… and each shift I finished much earlier than my employer expected. So they kept [...]
Also posted in cleaning, contemplation, housework, mindfulness, rituals
Tagged cleaning, contemplation, eco-friendly, floors, green, sweeping
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a room of my own
Compared to most of the women and men alive today, I live a luxurious life. I have four large rooms and a bathroom all to myself. I have a job that earns me a modest wage, so that I can pay my rent and feed myself, independent of my family or a man. My space [...]
Also posted in interior design, studio
Tagged create, Room of One's Own, Virginia Woolfe
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pantry
This is a photo of the top shelf of my pantry. I keep cooking oils, vinegars, shampoo, vitamins, filtered water and toothpaste here, among other things. I love pantries. I love the idea of storage. I also love the whimsical idea of hidden surprises. I don’t keep my pantry too spare, too edited – I [...]
return
There’s a choral work that I love called Missa Gaia / Earth Mass. One of the movements in this mass is Return to Gaia, a musical representation of how an astronaut must feel when she gazes at the earth from space. That sense of longing – of love – for a place that looks so [...]
Posted in home
Tagged astronaut, earth, Earth Mass, home, mass, Missa Gaia, Paul Halley, Paul Winter, Return to Gaia
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freedom
A couple of times I’ve been in relationships where, when they’ve ended, I’ve felt an incredible sense of freedom. And then I’ve realized that all along I have been somehow inauthentic – not fully myself – with the other person, usually in order to make them like me, or prevent them from disliking me. And [...]
blessing
I have a friend whose home is warm and welcoming. It just plain feels good to be there. I tell her all the time how much I love her space, and she talks about continually “working on” the energy of her home. This intrigues me, because I wonder what someone could do to make their [...]
welcome
I love the word “welcome.” Well come. Home is a place where I feel welcome. When you stand outside my thatched hut, Could you guess how spacious it is inside? There is a galaxy of worlds in here. And space for as much love as I can find. Ishikawa Jozan (17th century), from a Zen [...]
