June 24, 2022
Grapevine Wreath Autumn 2018
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts."
~Winston Churchill
Everyone is being challenged to adjust their spending habits; their money habits. Some have no more pennies left to squeeze. Others need to learn to be more creative and less grasping in their desire to live well and live creatively.
The big expenses are tough to get around. Smaller expenses can be addressed. The big challenge is to believe in oneself and to not accept failure in a declining economy. Much beauty has been created in the past from people who had to use every last scrap of material to make ends meet.
Literally scrap!! Years ago people made rag rugs from old pieces of cloth which they cut from old clothes and sheets and other pieces of material and wove together. Those rag rugs became popular items for people decorating homes with a colonial twist. Food scraps were put to good use. There was bread pudding and soups from meat bones, casseroles from leftovers. Seeds were saved and replanted. Shoes were resoled and resewn.
Today we have become SO wasteful, that doing things like this is a chore, a burden and brings a feeling of shame to many. Get over it!!!!!! There are so many ways to creatively transform tough money circumstances. Reducing one's spending doesn't have to be painful, if you readjust your views on living. We've lost touch with life's simple pleasures and simple ways of living well with little.
The biggest problem is that we've become lazy with the abundant economy in which we live. If we are not struggling to eat and pay our rent or mortgage, there is much we can do to live well, inspire others and thrive. It can be fun.
The first thing to do is to go through the house and clear everything that is no longer used or loved. If it can't be used or repurposed it is just taking up space. Sell it, trash it or give it away. Reorganize your space and set it up for simple daily living. Detach your ego from money and find the way back to your authentic self.
Your authentic self is not dependent on income for wellbeing. You are worthy because you exist. Getting healthy, proper weight, nutrition and rest goes a LONG way to helping you feel good about yourself. If you are obsessed about your looks then you are off track and WON'T feel good about yourself. Find your groove and your style. Throw away clothes that you don't like or don't make you feel good. Keep it simple. Your real style is what makes you feel and look good.
Create a journey through your day that is wonderful. Your morning walk or exercise routine should inspire and be fun. If not, then maybe you need to find a different form of exercise or new gym. Obsession will only make you a robot. If you are simply dedicated to some goal- that is different. If you want to do a triathlon you must be focused and committed and it will feel good at some level. If that is not a true heartfelt desire, then it will just feel like work.
Breakfast should give you a lift. It should be healthy AND you should like it. It may take some time to redesign your day, but if you take the time, you will feel happier and stronger. If your "healthy" routine is dreary or exhausting or not fun you need to change it. What is healthy is NOT in your head. Ideas should be incorporated, but not if they feel like "should." Change your routine slowly and with purpose, designed to be both technically sound AND provide fulfillment and joy. If you leave out the joy... THAT is not healthy!!!!!!
Go through the rest of your day and notice if it is the best path for you. Don't be mindless. You are not a cyborg yet. Let yourself feel. Even the bad feelings. Work them out, allow them, move them into your palette, the colors of your life. Express them in your style, your decorating, your workout routine. Don't bottle them up. Use the energy. Move it in healthy ways. Feeling is power if you channel it appropriately.
Create a daily routine that empowers and uplifts. Mostly it will be small changes that create huge results. Sometimes you realize that major changes are necessary.
As you create a new path through your day, you will become more creative and more hopeful in facing your personal financial challenges and you will feel stronger to face the larger global stories at work. Find alternative news sources that inform you but do not disempower. Fake news mainstream media, makes a person feel small and weak. You are not.
The grapevine wreath in the picture above was handmade after clearing the yard, twisting discarded vines together and collecting some hydrangea blossoms which dried beautifully. It was a pleasure to make and was more beautiful than a store bought wreath. There are so many lost and forgotten old ways that will allow us to maintain some measure of peace and abundance while we face turbulent changes in the world.
Start by simplifying your day. Stop worrying. Changes are likely, but they don't have to be bad. Find your creative self and have fun defying the conditions before you. Find alternatives to everything. "Success is failure turned inside out, the silver tints of the clouds of doubt. ..So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit- It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit. "
Soul of an Artist
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