The Rural Voice, 2005-02, Page 34lig
Home Decorating
Make home interior design personal
Patti ,
Robertson
operates
Classic
Interiors in
Wingham.
By Patti Robertson
In the aftermath of the tsunami
disaster, the styling and privilege of
our Western lifestyle are even more
contrasted than usual. How blessed
we've been.
It's a widely studied fact that the
more we have, the more we feel we
are in need, of setting ourselves up in
a rat -race lifestyle of getting more,
doing more, having more, and too
often at the expense of our health and
happiness. Among the many theories
that prevail on the existence of man
and his lifestyle is one that looks at
our core and oneness as humankind.
It suggests that our basic design as a
species is to survive. To survive
means getting enough food to nourish
ourselves, enough good water to
replenish ourselves, a safe place to
rest out of the elements and away
from ravaging beasts (also intent on
survival). This is so very evident as
we watch a true reality show
unfolding before us in southeastern
Asia.
So what I find truly paradoxical is
that while we are being made very
aware of how many lives have been
lost, and the great need for monies to
rebuild the basics of survival of our
fellow man in peril, is that, right on
schedule I'm receiving mail to attend
this year's bevy of home fashion
shows: everything from furnishings,
accessories, technological wonders
for one's home, wall coverings, new
painting materials, window fashions
and fabrics, lighting and an endless
array of sundry products that will be
on the runway of consumerism over
the next two months.
We have come so far, especially
on this side of the world, that usually
30 THE RURAL VOICE
our concern with survival is "Gee!
What will I put on my windows this
time?" Or "shold I be using one of
the newest golden tones in redoing
my bedroom?" The keeping up with
the Joneses' attitude is too often our
main quest for survival. Wow! We've
come a long way and how extremely
blessed we are. Unfortunately in our
luxurious world with all our bounty,
stress is the number one villain in our
lifestyles. Gee, I wonder what the
connection could be?
After one manages to acquire what
is needed to survive, his innate desire
is one of creatingl. To create is man's
life-force energy and we are all equal
in our creative beings, we all have
stuff we create well — being loving
and nurturing parents; as friends
assisting others in their healthy
growth; scientists developing new
and better medicines and products to
assist in our comfortable survival;
builders, architects, engineers,
creating better living and working
spaces; teachers and clergy stretching
our minds and allowing us to glimpse
our ultimate knowledge and divinity
and oneness. So everyone from
butcher to baker to candlestick maker
is a creator. To create is to live. To
live is to be uniquely and joyously
engaged in being one's self and to
work with one's divine talents and
capabilities.
So here we are once again in a
brand new year and the height of
another season of decorating and
spring-cleaning upon us. The array of
new furnishings, wall coverings,
window fashions, accessories, etc.
will be arriving at your local shops
any day now and as usual we'll be
caught up in the latest and greatest
available to us as a consumer.
Through my long career as a
designer and lifestyle course instructor
I know how that boggles our mind as
to "what is right for me?" Ultimately
creating more stress. So this year,
with it so evident how truly fortunate
we are, I'm encouraging everyone to
create the real you. Go after the
"wow! factor" — that which makes us
truly smile and puts a song in our
hearts. To each of us that will be
something different. As a species, we
all share similarities in mind, body
and soul, but we are also uniquely
different in our purpose. So look for
what will make you excited to come
home to, to nurture you so you can
expend more time assisting the next
guy, to allow you peace and solitude
so you are able to contribute your
unique abilities in solving the many
issues we face as a society.
It takes a bit of time to realize
what your "wow factor" is since we
often suppress our innermost wishes
and desires because they appear too
expensive or grandiose to us, or we
worry what the next guy will think if
I do or buy such andsuch and I might
be perceived as weird. So we need to
look around, re -awaken our senses,
thumb through books and magazines,
go on-line, stroll through shops and
be very aware of "what it is that is
calling to us". To each of us it will be
something different, some will find
their thrill at the local thrift shop
while others will find it at a high-end
outlet store. It is all valid because we
are daring to live our own uniquely
creative life.
I have found that, whatever 1 give
as gifts or contribute to my household
setting is matched by 10 per cent to a
needy charitable group. Also I find
great joy in donating my good used
household articles such as furnish-
ings, window treatments, lamps and
accessories to a young person who is
setting up their first household or
donating it to a Salvation Army thrift
shop and thereby assisting them in
assisting others. This has greatly
upped my "wow factor" for me.
I encourage you to see your cup as
half full rather than half empty and
enjoy the life and the bounty you've
been blessed with. You have within
yourself the capacity to uniquely
create a life you love to live by being
aware of your "wow factor" and
follow this true calling of your heart
into your workspaces, social
pleasures spaces and homes.0