Soulful home – the discover stage

When I was originally making choices and trying to incorporate color into the living and dining rooms, I had absolutely no idea how to go about it.  I was very conscious of how my house would look to others.  I chose pieces and arranged my shelves based on that.

Three years later, I honestly no longer care if it’s beautiful by anyone else’s standards except for the three of us who live here (and generally those other two go along with what I like, which makes it easy).

“DISCOVER is about taking our fantasies and incorporating them into our daily lives via actual, tangible things we can touch and hold, pack into the backseats of our cars, and install in our bedrooms, kitchens, living rooms, or gardens to remind us of an integral part of our souls.”

Balbes writes in SoulSpace that it’s very important in the Discover stage “to step outside your usual paths” and go to different stores, using Discover “to translate your dreams in to reality… open your eyes to the possibilities inherent in the unexpected.” It’s true that you have to think outside of the box.  If you need a table, you may end up making one out of two sculptures you love and a piece of glass or wood.  The important aspect here is to allow yourself time to come upon things you absolutely love.  (This stage, like all the others, is not meant to be completed in one week.)

In our Facebook group, we are sharing Pinterest boards mostly.  It’s fun to shop from your own home and that’s mostly what I’ve done.  I also love that Discover is one of those stages that you continually come back to.  Your home is never “done” because we who live in it are always changing.  Reading that helped give me permission to let go of some things that I really don’t care for anymore.

If our home is to be a sanctuary, it needs to be a respite and an inspiration to us.  That means comfortable furniture and soft blankets, soothing artwork, and peaceful sounds.  As Balbes writes, “home should be a place [where we] could grow, learn, live, love, and achieve in, a place where [we] could truly feel inspired and at peace.”

Technically, I think we could do this with IKEA furniture, but since we’re able to expand our horizons a bit, I’m enjoying looking for different things that speak to me.  For the most part, Mr. B and I have the same taste and he’s fine with my purchases.  I am ok with some empty spaces because I know we will come upon something that we love and we’ll be able to put it in that perfect spot.  It’s a pretty big adjustment for me… not rushing to fill a space just to call it done.

Creating nooks for conversation and shared activities can do wonders to bring people together. Create more intimacy at home, and you will become more intimate in the world.

I’m definitely spending part of every day sorting and purging, but I am also enjoying some downtime.  Our new enclosed porch is the perfect spot for dreaming, reading, and resting.

Different parts of it get sun and different times, and the evenings are nice too… I hung up some twinkle lights.  We have been eating dinner out there.

I love it when I’m doing laundry and I look out the window and see this…

It’s sort of an invitation, don’t you think?

This week I tackled some of the garage and attic (one little family – so much stuff!), the playroom (huge project!) the hall closet, a bathroom cabinet, and a few drawers here and there.  Here’s a “before and after” of our hall closet, just for fun.  That simple over-the-door unit really helped with gift bags and ribbons! I was having a hard time seeing what I had with all my small bins and I usually left a mess behind. Also, I am hugely simplifying our containers of holiday crap decorations that were in this closet and storing them in a few labeled Rubbermaid tubs in the garage, one per holiday only.

“On your Discover journey, look for objects and pieces that hold an idea of what you want to become or that embody an important way of being that you would like to master.”  I want to become relaxed, comfortable in my own skin, connected to nature.  Tell us… do you already do this? Is it time for a refresh?