Inspiration + Colour + Placement = Balance
READ THE BLOG
Doors
We arrived in our French town this day last year and closed doors to one life, a career for my husband, a different country, and opened doors to new friends, another language, culture and way of living. I thought of this as we were having interior glass doors installed this week to provide an improved sense of light and space. My next post will be an update on doors! As Alexander Graham Bell said,"when one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has
Happy Holidays
This week I am presenting on a panel about 'Finding Joy', how we manage holiday expectations if alone due to work, location, interesting family dynamics or for any other reason; how we reach out to each other or take action to be part of the community. What is around in your town or city that is fun and gives a sense of contentment? Different colleagues will present on London, New York, Michigan and Boise, Idaho, about the wonderful events that can lift our spirits. So, if you know anyone who is alone, don't leave them hanging, invite them for coffee, dinner,
Dreaming of a White Christmas
Actually I am not. Having just visited beautiful but cold and grey Paris to finally meet dear friends, I am so happy to be back in the South with a blue sky, the sea and the old walls surrounding our town with promises of a moderate holiday season. Our town Christmas lights are up and ready to be switched on this week. European decorations are being launched in a time that needs light and glitter in various colours and styles and Paris' famous Bon Marché was full of white icicles, snow and silver bells. It is magical but interesting to view
Closing a Door
A visit back to Berlin focused on a 5-year chapter of our lives. Feng Shui is about cycles and this truly was. Not a city we fully connected with but should have and with too many epoches of zeitgeist, it was interesting to reframe. Dinners where had with wonderful friends, known streets were revisited and a group of colleagues met to put a gentle end to a collective in a formal way. It was a thoughtful visit and a door was closed.
How Green?
A storm rolled towards the beach today as a Spanish green glass sea with shimmers of petrol blue dashed across the rocks. It is majestic to watch as we move away from summer's aqua and turquoise and head towards forests and snow. We should be like squirrels, stuff our cheeks with nuts, find a warm, safe space and stay underground until the earth warms again and our breath no longer freezes. But we are humans and we set off in November with kilos of clothes determined to manage the darker hours. On that sombre note, let's talk about the colour green.
Happy Halloween
Wishing people Happy Halloween seems strange, when it is derived from All Saints and All Souls Day for blessing those who have died. Paula Curan, an author of gothic novels, said,"the farther we've gotten from the magic and mystery of our past, the more we've come to need Halloween". In a scientific and technological age there is something to be said for imagining in the dark. Whilst Hallmark has morphed it in to a night of darkness, orange, pumpkins and candy, I prefer the magic of candles and light honouring the dead and those who believe they saw a glimpse of
Seeing Red
'There is a shade of red for every woman", said Audrey Hepburn. Not for me. I wore a red t-shirt once and for half-an-hour I felt I could take on the world. After another 30 minutes, I felt I was going to take on the world! It is a colour of energy and as a fast talker and walker, cooler, calmer colours are best for my yin/yang balance. A bit of water douses out the flame. That being said, we are on the cusp of Christmas and red is turning up in the stores as we run towards the end of
Journeys
Joseph Campbell stated that, "if the path before you is clear, you are probably on someone else's". It felt like that this week as we stumbled through strange journeys and new beginnings. Any new experience is a mix of arriving and leaving with different states and balances that leave a historical imprint. We caught a train to Nice, got off at a strange station due to a wrong ticket and paid for a stranded older Swedish couple caught arriving, being unable to move on. Continuing our journey, we landed in a huge anti-covid health pass demonstration which had its start at
