Everyone has a 'budget'

My architect, while building our home 2 years ago, told me "everyone has a budget". It may be $100 or $100,000,000, less or more, but $s aside, everyone has confines they must (better!) work within.

Walk Away

You're not obliged to engage. You are not forced to hold on.

Go Rogue

Be RADICAL. Yes, we would like walk the middle path, but in this extreme culture, 'living a little' has lost its meaning. When mainstream is synonymous with obesity, depression, chronic pain etc. you want to be anything but. Don't let the dominant populous derail you. Revolt. Rebel. Rise!

Be miraculous, enormous, ecstatic. Find your sweet spot; it's most likely incredibly 'abnormal'.

It's easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled.  

ORDER is your mantra

Ask yourself : Will this increase chaos or align me towards order?
Your chosen script, your directive, your health, your freedom, YOUR order ...

The trick of creating chaos and then seizing power under the pretense of putting things back in order is a tried and true method of deception and manipulation. It's the meaning behind the Latin motto: ORDO AB CHAO meaning ORDER OUT OF CHAOS.

Q: Is someone making money off of this/you? A: That's chaos. Order cannot be purchased. Order is the Universe, it is Nature. Order is FREE!!! 

self-evidence

Research is occasionally productive, others' paths can be indicative, 'studies' are irrelevant; self experimentation is the way. Give heed only to those who embody what you desire.

your temple

The last post discussed finding our lithe figure through polishing, but as we know a gleaming frame is no easy feat. And as Marie Kondo has discovered and shared perhaps our environment is instead the place to commence. 

A clean, fluid, bright home built honorably and soundly with beautiful, natural materials will provide endless pleasure and can bestow lifelong health. All the decorating in the world will only mask fundamental flaws.

Probably not what one wants to hear, but consider moving or renovating over decorating. 

To put "lipstick on a pig" is  rhetorical expression, used to convey the message that making superficial or cosmetic changes is a futile attempt to disguise the true nature of a product or person. 

clean is beautiful

First and foremost buff and polish. Enjoy the pampering on your journey towards immaculate and adorn only once spic and span. Trim, neat and airy is always enough. Bright, clear and elegant is on the horizon. Eventually you will shimmer and sparkle. 

take little; go a long way

A minimalist foray : pack extra specially light for your next excursion and enjoy the liberation of less is more. Return home with an enlightened perspective and the natural inclination to shed and evolve.

get over yourself!!

Eat whatever you like and get on with your life.

Be grateful to have food and choices. Be extra grateful if someone is willing to feed you. There is no such thing as a bad food. Stop taking yourself so seriously and for your soul's sake absolutely no dieting. Ever. Period.

Most importantly - Enjoy!!!!!

(That being said, also please be aware and educated on the current dangerous and dismal state of food affairs.)

as for social media

"What other people do is irrelevant." -Victoria Moran

Anahata Chakra

Make every effort to not get swept up in fake holiday frenzy and instead to focus on the meaning and beauty of Valentine's day. As said best by my daughter's teacher Heidi Burke, (who calls Valentine's day the Birds' Wedding Day):

We are now at that half-way moment between the winter solstice and spring equinox.  It is a moment long celebrated in human history with many festivities and rituals. The seeds and roots are quickening beneath the earth and in the Midwest, those who tap the maples for its delicious maple syrup are celebrating the nearing of time for maple sugaring. When there is deep snow cover in the north, we can observe that the warmth of the sap rising from the tree roots actually melts an open ring near the base of the maples! The cardinals begin 'pair feeding', passing sunflower seeds from male to female, female to male, as a prelude to spring mating. It is the season to recognize and spread warmth of heart, something we as humans can offer to the world!  

Turn your back on commercialism and consumerism. For exchanges - natural, reused, or recycled is best. Paint rocks, sew a felt pocket, string a seashell, transform a popsicle stick...

simplicité

Utkatasana: fierce, lightning bolt, wild pose.

Dressing well is a source of inner peace. It shows consideration for the self. When we dress our body to reflect our inner soul, we feel an immediate sense of harmony. Our clothes can be our friends or our enemies. They can show us off to our best advantage, protect us, or communicate a false image of ourselves. They even have the magical power to change our behavior. 

- Dominique Loreau, L'art de la Simplicité

Quality is the key. Choose the best. Don only your finest. Squat to stay young.