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Showing posts with label contemplation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label contemplation. Show all posts

Seek and you shall find.


Lighthouse, golden light. -Photograph by LeAnn, Marina del Rey, California.
Did you ever notice that every answer to your life can be found by asking and then observing what signs appear?  Don't take my word for it. Test this out for yourself. 

The next time you need an answer to a question such as, "Why is this not working out for me?" Sit and be still and just ask for the answer. It may not come to you at that moment in meditation, but this is where the fun begins...It's like a treasure hunt and it's your job to see what signs you can find as evidence of your answer.

"Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find..." -  You can contemplate any life question and have the answer shown to you...acted out –played out– right in front of you.

Now I can hear you skeptics out there. I know what you are saying:    "Well, if you want to see anything, you will.  If you want to watch a fly repeatedly trying to go through a closed window (see this previous post "Window of Opportunity")  and decide to call it a sign… It’s only a sign for you because you decided to see it that way. “

And to that, I reply with a resounding: "Exactly! —That is the point exactly!”

We are the key. We carry our “guru” within us. There is a part of us that always knew the answer, always had it at the ready. We (human beings) have a connection to the Divine, to Source –  and when I ask the question and look for the answer, I am shifting my observation towards what I need.  It will come to me in the way that is most relevant and holds the most meaning for me in order for me to see it...to receive it.


This is not specific to any religion, nor based on belief in any one teaching...it is a universal quality we share. We carry the light, the divine within us; —We just need observation practice. The good news is, the more we practice tuning in to those resources, the more those helpful markers will show up to steer our course.



Sailboat at sunset, Marina del Rey, image by LeAnn.

So this is your quest:

Go within and then look without…see where the path is lit and the signs are beckoning you.


—Bon Voyage!






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Today, try shifting your perspective to shift your perspective...

image by LeAnn, linenandlavender.blogspot.com  {l&l at home}, full post:  http://www.linenandlavender.blogspot.com/2013/05/today-try-shifting-your-perspective-to.html


Today, try this exercise:  TRY SHIFTING YOUR PERSPECTIVE IN ORDER TO SHIFT YOUR PERSPECTIVE. - By this, I mean physically change your “normal” viewing position and see what you discover.  Find something in nature if you can –a flower, a tree, a blade of grass– and focus on it from this new viewing position. Take a few quiet moments and let flow whatever memories or associations come up...don’t edit, just let them flow and observe.

Often, not only will this practice shift the way you perceive that particular object, you will notice it extending to other areas of your life, as well.


I took a few moments to lie down on the stone path in my garden – (Yes…actually flat on my stomach.) and was delighted to discover a whole other world there —a world I did not know existed, right there at my feet. 
image by LeAnn, linenandlavender.blogspot.com  {l&l at home}, full post:  http://www.linenandlavender.blogspot.com/2013/05/today-try-shifting-your-perspective-to.html

Each of these intricate little beauties measures just 1" across and some even less.


image by LeAnn, linenandlavender.blogspot.com  {l&l at home} full post:  http://www.linenandlavender.blogspot.com/2013/05/today-try-shifting-your-perspective-to.html


image by LeAnn, linenandlavender.blogspot.com  {l&l at home}, full post:  http://www.linenandlavender.blogspot.com/2013/05/today-try-shifting-your-perspective-to.html


image by LeAnn, linenandlavender.blogspot.com  {l&l at home}, full post:  http://www.linenandlavender.blogspot.com/2013/05/today-try-shifting-your-perspective-to.html


To think — I had passed by them hundreds of times before without seeing all they had to offer!



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If we could see...   image by LeAnn, l&l at home, linenandlavender.blogspot.com, full post:  http://www.linenandlavender.blogspot.com/2013/05/today-try-shifting-your-perspective-to.html

Darryl Carter ~ The Collected Home

Kitchen Island, Interior Design by Darryl Carter via his website, as seen on linenandlavender.blogspot.com

"What surrounds us either uplifts, inspires and energizes us 
 or bogs us down, overwhelms us and depletes us."— LeAnn, l&l

Room by Darryl Carter, via his website, as seen on linenandlavender.blogspot.com

Living Room design by Darryl Carter, via his website, as seen on linenandlavender.blogspot.com


Living Room design by Darryl Carter, via his book The Collected Home as seen on linenandlavender.blogspot.com

Image from Darryl Carter's Book:  The Collected Home, as seen on linenandlavender.blogspot.com

"As I see it, the home should be a collected assemblage of treasures meaningful to the homeowner.  I believe it is better to have an empty room that an instant room.  Forgo the immediate and embrace the lasting.  This is the guiding principle for collecting a home."
 —Darryl Carter, excerpt: The Collected Home

Image via Darryl Carter's website, as seen on linenandlavender.blogspot.com

Darryl Carter Interior Design via his website, as seen on linenandlavender.blogspot.com



I've always admired Darryl Carter's design acumen and I very much like the above quote from his new book.  As l&l readers know, the idea of leaving the blank wall or plenty of "negative" (unfilled) space in a room is something I am often bringing up because I think it is so important in creating a successful living space.  

As I wrote in "The Heart of the Home", I believe a simple but profound question when designing a room is:  


Have I left room for living?  


—More specifically, have I left room for the expression of the people living in this space or am I more concerned with "filling" or "decorating" it?  


We live in a fast-paced, acquisition-driven world and it's easy to get caught up in it all, losing sight of what makes us truly happy.  


Fortunately, if we're willing to ask the question, the answer is waiting for us.  Mind, body and spirit thrive in serene, uncluttered spaces so it becomes just a matter of tuning in to listen...just a few quiet moments to go to that place of clarity within us. 


For me, I drink in the sunbeams across our old wood table, a gentle breeze meandering through an open window and the play of shadows across our unadorned wall...and I am content.  

 a h h h...b r e a t h i n g  r o o m.


Image via House Beautiful, Light Fixtures designed by Darryl Carter for Urban Electric Co, as seen on linenandlavender.blogspot.com


Light Fixture design by Darryl Carter for Urban Electric Co., as seen on linenandlavender.blogspot.com



U.S. release date:  October 30, 2012
Click image to pre-order now.


To pre-order now in other countries:

United Kingdom(release date December 15, 2012)
Germany - (release date October 30, 2012)
Canada - (release date October 30, 2012)
France - (release date November 15, 2012)
Italy - (release date October 30, 2012)
Spain - (release date November 15, 2012)



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images 1,2,3,6,7 via Darryl Carter website
images 4 & 5 via The Collected Home by Darryl Carter
images 8 & 9 via Urban Electric Co.


linen & lavender


Dream Day

Rose Splendor, our garden, image by LeAnn for linenandlavender.blogspot.com, "Dream Day" post: http://www.linenandlavender.blogspot.com/2012/05/dream-day.html

My dream day?  Well, it comes in many forms but what immediately comes to mind is travel.  I love to travel and see the world  – to explore another place, another culture, another way of doing things.   I always return with a fresh perspective and charged with creativity energy.
Today, the time I spent capturing the light in my garden sent me into a peaceful, meditative state  -a bit of inside travel, you might say.  A gentle breeze perfumed the air and with these intricate beauties beckoning me, I was on my way—
 

Rose Splendor Detail, our garden, image by LeAnn for linenandlavender.blogspot.com, "Dream Day" post: http://www.linenandlavender.blogspot.com/2012/05/dream-day.html

images by LeAnn, "Rose Splendor"
linenandlavender.blogspot.com


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a few of our favorite things

a few of our favorite things
click image to view all items

Italia! per sempre www.linenlavenderlife.com

Be Love.

l&l collection no. 11

l&l collection no. 12 - It speaks to me.

.

. . . . . . .

composition ii

collection no. 04

Fireworks from the Ponte Vecchio

Fireworks from the Ponte Vecchio
Giovanni Signorini (Firenze)

Matera Italy




This = Love



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