Just for this morning

Just for this morning, I am going to smile when I see your face and laugh when I
feel like crying.
Just for this morning, I will let you choose what you want to wear, and smile and
say how perfect it is.
Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and
take you to the park to play.
Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink,
and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.
Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone
and keep the computer off,
and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles..
Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once,
not even a tiny grumble when you
scream and whine for the ice cream truck,
and I will buy you one if he comes by.
Just for this afternoon, I won’t worry about what you are going to be
when you grow up,
or second guess every decision I have made
where you are concerned.
Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies,
and I won’t stand over you trying to fix them.
Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald’s
and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys..
Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story
about how you were born and how much I love you.
Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.
Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and
count all the stars.
Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours,
and miss my favorite TV shows.
Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray,
I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.
I will think about the mothers and fathers who are searching for their missing children,
the mothers and fathers who are visiting their childrens’ graves
instead of their bedrooms,
and mothers and fathers who are in hospital rooms
watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside
that they can’t handle it anymore.
And when I kiss you good night I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer.
It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask him for nothing, except one

more day…………..

Favorite word of the day: Moue

This word caused some consternation for me when I was a child. I can remember mother telling me, “Don’t make a moue, darling, you don’t want your face to freeze like that.” It would have been so much simpler if moue was pronounced the same as roué, but as it was for the longest time I thought cows must be inherently bad for ambling about mouing all day. And it is more complicated, not less, if you are learning “cows go moo” from one parent and “cattle don’t moo, they low” from the other. It is simply too too much to grasp for a three year old child, who (whoue?) was both precocious and naive.

Now, let a smile be your umbrella – there’s a phrase I could have grasped.

Sigh. Or not.

Remember the Kids

Remember the kids–They’re like kites
You spend a lifetime trying to get them off the ground.
You run with them until you’re both breathless.
They crash. They hit the rooftop.
You patch and comfort, adjust, and teach.
You watch them lifted by the wind and assure them that someday they’ll fly.
Finally, they are airborne.
They need more string and you keep letting it out.
But with each twist of the ball of twine, there is a sadness that goes with joy.
The kite becomes more distant, and you know it won’t be long before
that beautiful creature will snap the lifeline that binds you two
together and will soar as it is meant to soar, free and alone.

Only then do you know that you did your job.

by Irma Bombeck

note: I posted this today to remind myself of this, as my sons left today (still remembering to always say I love you before they leave) to go shopping for for college Dorm supplies for the new school year.

*sigh* it never gets any easier when they leave …

Grief Recovery and Meditation

On the 25th of May, a client who recently lost her husband to the war in Iraq, posted the following comment on one of my Blogs and she asked that I share my reply:

Lil,

“You often talk about using the skills you’ve learned in Vipassana, and other methods of meditation, in your healing process. To successfully heal, do you feel that these methods must be used, or can we heal from our grief without in-depth knowledge of these methods?”

Thanks, Brihanna, for the great question. I’ve been thinking about how to answer it for the last two days. First off, I’m not sure I would use the word “heal” anymore. What has changed in my bereavement, is my perspective. But I know what you mean.

I really appreciate Eckhart Tolle’s work for simplifying a host of psychological and spiritual concepts — cutting through the miasma of thousands of years of nebulous opinions and getting to the heart of things. I find it interesting that I only discovered his books at the end of my grief journey. His two best-sellers encompass everything I think you need to know to come out of bereavement. Here’s what I have learned:

To me, bereavement is a devastation of your mind, your ego. Your mind intensely dislikes the present moment, preferring instead to keep you caught up in thoughts about the past and anxieties about the future. Sound familiar?

In bereavement, your ego, your sense of self has been shattered. To compensate, your mind switches into high gear and roughly shoves you into alternating currents of your past married life and the dark, single, uncertain future. This is a very dangerous thing for the ego to do — most people don’t appreciate being shoved around, and they are likely to do something about it. And they might start paying attention to the present moment. If they do this in the right way, they will come to a startling discovery — that the present moment is perfect just as it is, and that there is no need for the ego.

Meditation is simply the act of being focused on the present moment. Right this second. And this second. And this second. Not focused on the past. Not focused on the future. Right now. Only now. Sound simple? Try it. Try just being aware of the present moment for 2 minutes. No thoughts about the past, no thoughts about the future. Just the immediate feedback from your 5 senses. Close your eyes to make it easier

…

Well? Bet you couldn’t go the full two minutes. Your mind sucked you in to the past, or tried getting you to focus on something you need to do in the future. This is the nature of the mind.

I wrote that near the end of my Vipassana course, I discovered the Lilly that has no problems. Thanks to Eckhart Tolle, I now understand that that Lilly was the one who was totally focused on the present moment. THERE ARE NO PROBLEMS IN THE PRESENT MOMENT. Yes, I’m shouting Every moment spent in the present moment is a moment spent with no problems.

But the mind / ego hates this — it is a problem-solver. If you spend time in the present where there is no problems, then you have no need for the mind / ego. In The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, Eckhart sums this up nicely [pp 87-8]:

“But the more you practice monitoring your internal mental-emotional state, the easier it will be to know when you have been trapped in past or future, which is to say unconscious, and to awaken out of the dream of time into the present. But beware: The false, unhappy self, based on mind identification, lives on time. It knows that the present moment is its own death and so feels very threatened by it. It will do all it can to take you out of it. It will try to keep you trapped in time.”

Knowing this, try the 2-minute test again. With your eyes closed, focus only on the sensory data you receive from your remaining four senses. No thoughts about the past, no thoughts about the future. Try it again.

…

Still couldn’t do it, could you? Now you can see how meditation training can be beneficial.

So, to answer your question, Brihanna: Peace exists only in the present moment. Nowhere else. But your mind will do everything it can to keep you focused on anything but the present moment. You couldn’t even keep your mind focused on the present moment for two minutes, and this even after I warned you that your mind would prevent you. So who’s running the show? You, or your mind? They are not the same thing. You are not your mind. Meditation helps you to dis-identify from your mind.

If by healing you mean to live at peace, you will need to find some way to live in the present moment, the only place where you will find peace. Meditation provides many methods for focusing on the present. There are also other ways. Two of the very best meditation tools that I have personally engaged in and wholeheartedly recommend are:

Healing Rhythms Guided Meditations – The Journey to Wild Divine

Learn with expert guided meditation mentors, who will walk you, step-by-step, through deep breathing exercises, guided meditations, and an inspirational journey towards aiding you in taking control of your emotions and state of happiness. The Journey to Wild Divine allows people to influence what is happening in their body, in their mind, and the world they create everyday. This unique training program uses biofeedback to teach breathing and meditation techniques for a healthier mind & body and features Deepak Chopra in The Passage and Wisdom Quest. Healing Rhythms unique biofeedback program is designed to help you uncover your body’s own natural ability to counter the wear and tear that everyday stress has on your health.

and

Centerpointe Reasearch’s Holosync® Audio Technology

Heal yourself with the power of sound. Holosync Sound Technology is a powerful and effective personal growth, meditation and mind development tool that creates deep, super-pleasurable meditative states, razor-sharp thinking, and quantum leaps in self-awareness. Listening to this scientifically proven brain technology gives you all the benefits of meditation—in a fraction of the time—easily and effortlessly.

Live in Joy, Brihanna! I hope to hear from you again soon upon your healing path

Bright Blessings,
Lilly

Forgiveness – What Is Forgiving?

Many of us, from our earliest childhood, are told that a good person forgives others. What we don’t learn, though, is what true forgiveness means, and when we see forgiveness in practice, it often looks like this: “You’re wrong, but I will tolerate you, because I’m right.”

Come free of the net of right and wrong. Into the Twilight. ~ W. B. Yeats

The net of right and wrong often entangles me. Sometimes I recognize this. I think of someone with whom I’m having difficulty, and I warm myself in the fire of self-righteousness. I am so right; the other person is so wrong.

When I’m comfortable in my protective net, I don’t have to be afraid. I don’t have to investigate other ways to look at the condition of a relationship. I don’t have to take risks. I don’t have to be uncertain. I don’t have to worry about making mistakes. I don’t have to change.

Right and wrong can also be a game, one I call the ping-pong game from hell. You will often see it being played in relationships, especially those which aren’t in the best possible shape. Here’s an example.

X: You always blame me for the smallest things. So what if I forgot to take out one bag of garbage? Does that mean I don’t love you?

Y: It means you don’t care about the things that are important to me.

X: Because the things that are important to you are stupid.

Y: Oh, really? And what’s important to you? Who even knows? You only bother to speak to me when you get angry.

These two are skilled players. They can bounce the ball of right and wrong back and forth indefinitely.

Sometimes, though, one player wins. This can lead to a new game called forgiveness, in which one person is perpetually right, the other eternally wrong.

Being Right About Being Forgiving

Fred and Simon are business partners. Their company has lost money because of an unfortunate business decision Fred made. Simon, furious, threatens to dissolve the partnership.

Fred, who already feels like crawling beneath the nearest log and turning into mold, says he has learned from the mistake and will never make it again. In the future, he won’t make that level of decision again without consulting with Simon.

This satisfies Simon, not so much because of Fred’s promise, but because Fred has admitted he was wrong. This makes Simon feel even more right. He says he forgives Fred, but from time to time, whenever Fred contemplates a risky decision, Simon reminds him of his grave error in the past.

Ron and Sylvia are married. Ron, who was an active alcoholic for many years, has joined Alcoholics Anonymous and has been sober for six months. Sylvia has said she forgives him for the nights he didn’t come home or came home drunk and broke and for his mental and sometimes physical abuse of her.

Secretly, though, she holds herself as a very good person to forgive someone who doesn’t deserve it. Maybe she can forgive, but she can’t forget how much she suffered. Ron was wrong, and she’ll make sure he never forgets it, either.

The Forgiveness Trap

Too often, our practice of forgiveness masks an attitude of judgment. We only forgive those whose behavior we’ve already judged to be wrong. That judgment establishes us as being better. In most cases the forgiven person is feeling somehow condemned and the forgiver feels superior.

Often people believe they escape judgment by finding reasons for “forgiving” the other person. They may say, “Well, he had such an unhappy childhood,” or “she’s not spiritually evolved” (unlike guess-who?). This is a disguised way to say, “They will always be wrong.”

The Judgment Boomerang

Judgment disguised as forgiveness clearly hurts those who are its recipients. It also hurts those who bestow it.

When we become caught in the net of right and wrong, we see the world in those terms. We see every situation and relationship in terms of who’s right and who’s wrong. With such a perspective, there is little room for appreciation and love.

In addition, when we don’t see others clearly, we are equally unable to see ourselves clearly. The real judgment boomerang is that the characteristics or behavior we judge in others are those we resist in ourselves, sometimes to the point that we don’t consciously realize we may have the attributes for which we judge and appear to forgive others.

Simon has made his own mistakes regarding the business. By focusing on Fred’s error, he avoids taking responsibility for his own.

Judgment veiled as forgiveness may also hide our unwillingness for the other person to change. During Ron’s alcoholic years, Sylvia played the role of long-suffering martyr. Not only did she get to be right; people felt sorry for her, and she felt no need to see how she may have enabled Ron to continue his habit –or do any other form of self-examination.

No One’s Perfect

When we hold on to the injuries which others have caused us, we may wisely suspect that there are deeper injuries which we’ve caused to ourselves for others or which we do not forgive ourselves. Our inability to truly forgive another may stem from our own feelings of being unforgiven. In that knowledge lies the potential for true understanding and true release.

Thus, I choose to keep the word forgiveness in my vocabulary, but I redefine it as release. My commitment is that when I forgive someone, it’s over. Forgiveness means means there is no lingering resentment or anger, and no attempt to re-ignite guilt in the other person. It means the release of whatever energetic blockage was preventing the expression of unconditional love.

It means I recognize I have my own shortcomings and limitations, and in releasing my judgment of another, I have the opportunity to release self-judgment and to forgive myself.

St. Francis of Assisi put it this way in this line from his well-known prayer:

“It is in giving that we receive/It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.”

A genuine act of forgiveness is an act of generosity, an act of giving, both towards another person and to ourselves. When we free ourselves from the net of right and wrong, we discover the possibility of unconditional love.

Crystals for Forgiveness

To be able to forgive, you will probably need to take the first step of calming your anger. Some excellent stones for this are green calcite, celestite, and sugilite. Hold the stone of your choice and breathe in and out deeply. Ask yourself which is more important: the relationship or the anger.

How to Make the Season Bright

We’re coming into a time of the year when certain conditions of the human consciousness glare. This time of the year is intended to be the happiest time of the year according to popular culture, but for most it’s not only not the happiest time of the year, it’s often the most conflicted time of the year. All of the unattended-to things relative to family and friends — all of the shortcomings that one has lived out for eleven months — suddenly pop up to the forefront when it’s time to make amends, buy gifts, have family meals, and enjoy the happy tidings. If you’re going to become a different kind of human being, gradually you will need to see what I’m going to speak of.

There are all kinds of movements. This room — as relatively still as it is — is filled with movements, but they’re invisible movements. There is the movement of the person sitting next to you, however subtle that may be; there is the movement of the air around us caused by breathing, caused by the fireplace; there is the movement of thoughts and feelings, and the movement of invisible energies that these thoughts and feelings produce that emanate, radiate from the body; and there is the interaction of those radiations of two different people sitting next to each other and having the experience of whatever it is that energy brings out. But all of these movements, by and large, are almost completely ignored. They’re ignored, not because we choose to ignore them, but because we live from a nature that is isolated, cut off from any awareness of these movements. Not only are we not aware of these movements, we’re not aware of the movements inside of ourselves.

If I was to ask how many of you have been aware three times in the last ten minutes of the movement of your own thoughts and feelings, I can virtually guarantee that a small number of you might raise your hands, and amongst those, maybe one or two actually saw the movement of something. Being identified with something is not seeing the movement of something.

There are levels and scale of movement in this room, even as I’m talking with you, even as my words may move you one way or the other. There is the movement of the world, and there is the movement of spirit. They are two different things. One precludes the possibility of a human being ever understanding anything about compassion, about love, and the latter (the movement of spirit) is itself the embodiment of things that are compassionate, true, good, and loving.

The world that you are in now — when you’re not aware of the movement of virtually anything — is the world in which you are part and parcel, fully a part of the movement of the world. The movement of this world is completely governed by the movement of desires that have nothing that oversees them except for whatever dominates the particular individual in whom that desire manifests itself in the moment.

Therefore, a person is virtually blind, deaf, and dumb relative to the degree to which he or she is identified with these movements inside of themselves, and cannot see at large the movement of themselves in the world because they are the world that is moving. Now, maybe that doesn’t mean much to you, but I’ll tell you something about it — something that I saw recently.

My husband and I had gone to Costco [a giant warehouse store] in order to pick up some supplies for the Office. Costco is a perfect microcosm of the human brain. It is loaded with more things than one needs, set out in attractive aisles for the purpose of catching one’s eye (just as thoughts, desires, and feelings are), and it’s filled with individuals — not one of whom even knows they’re in the store, who knows the movement of their own thoughts and feelings.

Relative to that picture, imagine all of these thoughts and feelings running around the mind (just like in Costco), trying to get their hands on what they want to get their hands on — lots of discounted deals, lots of bright things for the future to make one happier — with thoughts bumping into each other, carts running each other over. Someone sees something and you see it at the same time, and you want the pasta before they get it. Have you ever run into your own thought?

Here are a thousand people in a giant store, and the purpose of that store (of desire) is to bring one to the desired object. If the store wants something to stand out, someone must actually make it stand out, so (particularly at this time of year) there are always a half a dozen or so people standing in front of little carts with microwaves and skillets, preparing tasty morsels for human beings to sample.

The human beings standing there, waiting to get their tasty morsel, are irritated by the fact that they have to wait in line to get it, or that the woman preparing it is too slow – because they’re part of a movement that can’t see anything except for the desire in front of their own eyes. They can’t see that 75-year-old woman, skin like tissue, thin and worn, hands old, eyes bleached (from the same kind of life that we’ve lived, I might add, that we’ve all been a part of). Hardly anyone says “thank you.” Not one person there thinks to themselves, “How is it that I’m in relationship with this poor old woman, irritating me because she’s not giving me my pleasure fast enough?”

There is a monster at large. It is in our body. There is a monster at large that doesn’t care about anything other than what it needs in order to feel about itself what it has named as being primary for that moment. That’s all.

There is in me — just as there is in all human beings — a nature who has a vested interest in keeping out any impression whatsoever that makes me see that the world I am walking through is how it is because of what that nature is. No one wants to suffer the fact that the world they see is what it is because of the way they are. Why? Because then I’m going to have to meet this thing that doesn’t see but just wants. I have to meet this thing that doesn’t consider anything outside of itself other than what is necessary to support whatever it is feeling about itself in the moment.

Here is all of this movement, and part of that body of human beings is all moving towards a poor old woman who is moving to satisfy that movement, and not one part of any of that movement has consciousness of any other part. That’s what it means to be dead and blind.

Until a person begins to separate from this incessant movement in themselves, there’s no chance for them to ever know a life that isn’t part of the denigration of the spirit because of that incessant movement. It’s impossible.

But what a suffering is involved. I have to stop feeding myself. I have to stop having enemies. I have to stop thinking about people. And most important, I have to stop putting myself at the center of the universe because all the things I think about, even those I think I care about, still put me at the center of the universe.

All of this movement that I’m talking about, which we absolutely don’t see because we’re swept away in it, precludes us from seeing anything else that’s in that movement.

To be blinded means to be out of relationship with what’s around you. And the point of spirit, as opposed to the movement of the world, is that spirit (what is true) is always in relationship with what is around it. It’s never not conscious of its relationship to life because gradually a human being begins to recognize that it’s mandatory to become still. Without stillness there is no hope for transformation.

You have to examine yourself and see how stimulated you are by movement that you come up with that has to do with the plans by which your spiritual works are going to change you. All your plans and knowledge, your gabbing and convincing one another of what you have and how things ought to be, doesn’t change anything – it just makes you part of the “Costco consciousness” of spiritual beings.

True spirituality has its root in a very, very dear payment that begins with an individual becoming conscious of himself, in the world, as he is, and as the word is. Then because of that, by the very consciousness that he has of the condition inside of himself and its relationship to the world that condition has produced as a result of his unconsciousness of it, then change becomes necessary. It’s not a question anymore that a person wants to change. They’re staggered by the fact of what they are. You’re not staggered at all by what you are. You’re quite pleased with what you are because presently what you are is filled with your plans to become something different. All plans to become something different are garbage. If you have a spiritual future, you have nothing but the repetition of what you have been.

Be different this year by being different now. Try to see past the movement of your own mind. The only way to see past the movement that is generated by desire and the mind is for there to be something still in you. If there is nothing still in you, then you are part of all of that movement.

You go out to the supermarket, the shopping centers, the mall. By and large you waste your money, trying to find a way to feel good about what you’ve been and done over the year by making it up to someone at this time. You want to know how to make it up to someone? Don’t hurt them. Don’t take from them. Don’t stand in front of them and wait for them to give you what you want so that your appetite can be satisfied. Give them something. Give them your attention. Find out where you can be a little bit of light instead of a stone around somebody’s neck.

I know that it doesn’t sound like much, but I can assure you that one person standing in a crowd of five, ten, or fifteen people, recognizing the fact and the actuality of the condition they’re in, coming wide awake and bearing some of the pain that’s inherent wherever human beings are gathered for the purpose of satisfying themselves, that such a tiny act not only changes that moment but changes the whole of the world that you and I have been a part of.

This is what the holidays are about, as far as I’m concerned: Where is it possible for me to step out of the worldly movement and into the stillness of spirit that can be a part of the world but is not in it in the way that I am when I am part of that blind movement to satisfy myself?

When the shoe fits, change the foot… it’s not easy to change one’s foot, meaning to change one’s psychology, but I can assure you, if you don’t do that work, you will be part of a blind force that is consumed by a blind force, and that ends in a blind force.

On the other hand, this time of the year, you do what you can, wherever you can, and suffer what you must consciously. Cease to be a part of what is destroying this earth and the soul inside of you, and you become part of the creation of a new world that begins within you and is finally expressed in a Light that dawns and is born upon the earth.

The True Spirit Of Giving

There is a lot of controversy and confusion in people’s minds over Christmas and its meaning both in our personal lives and in the world. With the commercialization and secularization of Christmas, the true “reason for the season” has been lost for generations.

Christmas isn’t just about capitalism and candy. It isn’t just about singing and Santa and fattening foods and toys. Many people today are desperately searching for deeper meaning for this Holiday season. Now, more than ever, they recognize they need it, not just for themselves or those they love. They need it for the sake of the thousands of chairs that will sit empty on Christmas Day.

Some people feel it is an exclusively Christian holiday, holding no special meaning for them. Others believe it is nothing more than a feeding frenzy for the free market and an excuse to get people to open their wallets at every turn. Others take the viewpoint that it is a holy day that is cheapened and diminished by all the garish festivities. Yet few, if any, when really pressed, are willing to give up the Christmas holiday, in spite of their ambivalent feelings.

The reason for this is because of the real meaning behind the Christmas season. A meaning that we all somehow psychically feel even though our own intellect doesn’t fully comprehend what all the fuss is about.

That hidden meaning is that Christmas is the festival of the human heart. It is a time of year when all the universe conspires to raise the vibratory level of consciousness on earth to one of peace and love toward ourselves and one another. This season resonates to the sweet, childlike innocence that resides in all of us. A time when the heavenly forces inspire us to shift our focus away from fear and toward one of joy, and healing.

The Christmas festival emphasizes this shift in two ways; one is the rebirth of the soul and the second is the return of the light to earth. Even before the rebirth of Christ which centers around our modern day Christmas festival, as far back as recorded history, in fact, these two themes of rebirth and light have emerged again and again during this time of year.

It is as if Divine Consciousness moves forward year after year, during the darkest season, to bring us back to light.

Yet even knowing the true meaning of the Christmas season is not enough to convince some people of its importance. “Peace! Goodwill! Humbug!” they cry just as Scrooge did in the famous Dickens fable. “These are nice ideas but no more than a fantasy. I feel no peace. No goodwill!”

Yet there is a way to feel this vibratory shift. There is a way in which your own heart can experience the love and light pouring into the earth’s vibration from Divine Source. That way is to participate in the rituals of the season.

No matter who you are, your heart cannot resist the beauty of an ornamented Christmas tree or the glow of a mysterious menorah. Cynicism gives way to the celebration when carefully preparing holiday sweets or stringing colorful lights around the entrance to your home. Any heart warms to a rousing rendition of “Joy to The World” or the sensuous smell of roasting chestnuts on a crisp winter’s eve.

Sadness leaves when carefully choosing gifts to delight and surprise those you love. The heart feels rich and fulfilled as you wrap them in beautiful paper and bows. For just a while, through partaking of the whim and richness of the season, life takes on an extraordinary hue, one of sweetness and safety. Something psychic and healing happens to our hearts as we enjoy layer upon layer of these sensual seasonal delights. These rituals open the heart chakra and allow us to feel and express the innocence and beauty of being a child of the universe.

Each occasion we create to feel the vibrations of Christmas helps raise the consciousness of the planet and return it to balance. For every person creating joy, there is one less person in pain.

These are the ways to experience the vibrational shift toward light that occurs during this season. But there is one more thing you can do to amplify this experience a thousandfold.

That is to enter the season of Christmas with the intention of being a personal messenger of light and love, and celebrate in the name of service to Divine Consciousness.

Nothing transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary more directly than the intention to do what ever you are doing with the desire to serve Higher Power.

When we celebrate the season with such an intention and desire, we not only experience Christmas we actually become Christmas: an agent of rebirth of the soul and the bringer of light.

Therefore, if the best gift you can give to yourself and the world during this holiday season is the gift of self love, So be it.

The Artful Home

Art is much more than an object of extraordinary beauty. Once invited into your home, it becomes a story to share with others, an inspiration in itself, a part of life. Explore the avenues here to connect with other art lovers, and discover more ways to make yours an artful home.

Artful Home is the leading source of fine art, contemporary art glass, modern furniture, home accents, handcrafted jewelry and unique gift ideas. Discover over 12,000 works of North American artists original artwork, all made by hand and shipped direct from artists’ studios.

Accomplished, celebrated, and rigorously selected by industry experts, Artful Home artists are among today’s proven masters. All 12,000 items available through the Artful Home catalogs and website are handmade by Guild artists and shipped direct from their studios. Learn more about Artful Home artists.

The Aesthetic Movement

The Aesthetic Movement and Its Influence on Home Decor covers the history of a movement that emphasized “art for art’s sake”-and the influence it had on home decor. The Aesthetic Movement in America lasted just a few decades (1870-1900), and served mainly as a bridge between the high Victorian sensibility and the radical shift to the Arts & Crafts style.

The movement germinated among artists who used opulent color, decorative patterning, and lavish materials simply for the aesthetic effects they could evoke. It was commonly held that a home that expressed an artful, harmonious soul would instill high aesthetic and moral merit in its inhabitants.

The Aesthetic Movement in America helped to popularize the idea that everyone should be able to enjoy beautiful, well-made homes and furnishings-not just the very wealthy. Artful homes could be composed from brilliant antique store finds, discriminating department store purchases, and gems hand-made by the ladies of the house. It was the moment when people embraced the idea that only a beautiful home could be a happy home.

The Aesthetic movement left us a legacy of Queen Anne houses and tidy suburbs, and its influence is now felt as Americans embrace the more-is-more philosophy of home furnishings. [visit this site]

Also check out UncommonGoods

A Holiday Reminder

The last month of the year 2008 is about to begin. It’s an exciting time. Halloween has come and gone, and now we have Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve to await. Many will be observing Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

There will be many celebrations and gatherings to come, religious rituals observed, shopping expeditions or nightmares (unless you’re already finished), card and gift exchanging, and many meals shared. At least that will be the case for many.

For others, the season will be a time of sadness, loneliness, want, need, and perhaps, even despair. As we go about our holiday routines, it is worth remembering that not everyone will be celebrating with their usual flair. Many Americans lives are in upheaval. They will be missing loved ones the most during this time, juggling finances to pay their bills, trying to ensure their children receive at least one item on their Christmas lists, worrying about job security, having the funds to pay January’s living expenses, and pondering what 2009 holds in store for them. Others have known a difficult year and don’t hold much hope for the remainder of it.

Every year, we are reminded at this time of year to remember the true meaning of the holiday season. Depending on your religion or faith, it will be different things to different people. However, they are all variations on a theme: love, peace, hope, and generosity of mind and spirit. And, for those who may not practice any religion—formal or personal (spiritual)—it is still worth remembering what matters most to you and not allow yourself to be swept up into the holiday madness.

The following are some ideas to revisit often over the weeks to come. Embrace them or not, but do consider them.

1. Avoid Stress.

Don’t spend more than you can afford, go to too many parties or events, or lose yourself in work. Try to maintain a balance in your life. If you are worried about having a job next year, don’t go on a spending/gift-buying spree you cannot afford for one day in the year. If you find it difficult to accept gifts when you know you cannot afford to reciprocate, tell your family and loved ones you would like to exchange gifts next year when you are more certain of your finances. Accept and extend invitations as appropriate to your schedule. If you have much to accomplish at work, don’t go to parties just because you’ve been invited. Keep your schedule realistic. In addition, work will always be important because it represents your livelihood; however, it is not more important than the people in your life. Make time for them and try to be available to them.

2. Be Generous.

Give to others what you can and give from the heart. If money is an issue, then give your time. Volunteer at a charity organization. Help others whenever you can—one person at a time. This could translate to giving someone a ride home or picking someone up if they’re having car trouble, offering soothing words of comfort to someone who is unhappy, or giving another a spontaneous hug. As always, giving can bring so much more into one’s life than receiving. Offer whatever you can to others. You have no idea how deeply your kindness could be received and appreciated.

3. Be Understanding.

Holidays aren’t happy for everyone. In fact, statistics show that it is during this season that that the suicide rate goes up. So when dealing with others, try to be patient, positive and present during your interactions. Hear what they are saying to you. They may seem fine or happy on the outside, but be facing numerous challenges and struggles you couldn’t even imagine. Remember this especially when dealing with customer service representatives, waiters/waitresses, attendants, and anyone else with whom you come in contact. Let’s hope that no one would ever go home and commit suicide because you lost your temper with him or her. However, what if you’re the one who drives another over the edge? Do you want to take that chance? If you have an issue with someone, speak calmly and honestly on the issue—not on the person’s character or worth to the world.

4. Focus On the Big Picture.

This is one moment, day, week, month out of an entire year and an entire lifetime. It’s natural for some to be difficult or challenging. Don’t let the frustrating ones cause you to lose your balance. Remember at all times the person you want to be. Stay aware and be that person, the together and generous one who takes all things in stride. And, if you do have a bad moment and say or do something you regret, remember it’s never too late to apologize. As someone who once worked with the flying public, I cannot tell you how special it is to have an irate passenger who was rude or clearly dealing with other issues come back and apologize for his or her behavior. Not only does it wipe the slate clean with me, but it tells me much about the person’s character.

5. Have Intentions – Make Them Good!

Have a plan and have things you want to accomplish over the holiday season. Be true to you. Have great fun and don’t over-extend yourself in any way. Don’t spend, eat, drink, or work too much. Enjoy the holidays, being alive, and sharing moments with loved ones. Know your areas of concern and respect them—as well as your limitations and boundaries—as you go through each day and moment of this holiday season.

“LOVE AND YOU SHALL BE LOVED” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

6. FORGIVENESS & REBIRTH It’s a good time to make amends and dissolve old grudges. The gift of forgiveness will warm the hearts of both you and the forgiven. Once you have forgiven, embrace the moment, and let go of all hostility towards the person and incident you are forgiving. Go forward and start anew, a rebirth of your relationship. Do not bring up the subject ever again, just erase it from your memory.

7. ACCEPTANCE & RESPECT Accept your loved ones as they are, do not try to insist they change or do something for their own good. Respect their wishes, way of life, and right to be as unique and individual as you are. Nobody is perfect and no one likes to be told how they should feel or what they should do with their life.

8. COMPROMISE & COOPERATION Give in a little and compromise. It is the holiday season for the whole family, so consider sharing the children, grandchildren, activities and cooperating for the good of holiday. If each family member does cooperate in some way, no one will feel slighted, left out or disappointed.

9. PRAISE & ACKNOWLEDGE An unexpected compliment does wonders to break the ice. Conversations often start when someone acknowledges something good about another person. It is infectious, “I love your dress” and “your home is decorated so beautifully”, will certainly be graciously accepted and appreciated.

10. AFFECTION & WARMTH I confess I am a hugger, even when I meet friends of family or friends for the first time, I shake hands while being introduced, upon departing I usually hug them. I trust my first impression of the person and instinct takes over from there. For your loved ones, hugs and kisses are usually accepted warmly. The best huggers are babies, children and elders. They all accept the warmth of a hug and squeeze without wanting to let go.

11. GRATITUDE & GRACE Count your blessings, and consider the gathering among them. Graciously accept compliments, gifts and hospitality. Think before you comment on a gift you receive. The giver has taken the time and tried their best to please you. Politely thank each person who presents you with a gift.

12. COMPASSION & SUPPORT If you know someone is having an exceptionally hard time dealing with a tragedy or crisis, offer your support and a shoulder if they should need to talk. Spend a few minutes finding out how they are, and make plans to meet in a few days to discuss their situation privately. Then attempt to change the subject to a mutual interest or help them get involved in the activities of the gathering.

13. COMPANIONSHIP & TRUST A friend, sibling, mate or pet are treasured companions. We all need a honest, open and trusting relationship with someone in our lives. Nurture these relationships with honest and open communication and commitment. The gift of loyal companionship is a blessing to embrace and not to be taken for granted.

14. SHARE & INSPIRE Giving something of yourself, sharing your knowledge and teaching by interacting with the world around you, will inspire others to do the same. The blessings of our own personal lives are many and these blessings help us endure and overcome the unexpected trials. Inspiration is a gift we all have to give, share your inner feelings about life, your spirit and acceptance to the world of love around you. Unexpected happiness and love will be your reward.

Tis the season for love, giving, sharing, wisdom, insight, good will, and being true to yourself and others. All the best to you and yours!