... with grace in her heart & flowers on her hair ~

 hello weekend

 hello inspiration

 hello to you all

 & 

 to much more who have been passing by to take part in the give away

 Fabric & Handle + Domestic Stories

have brought here for you!

A smiling welcome to all new members of this blog

&

the warmest hello to all friends, readers & like minded people

with whom this blog is coming to life.

Today's inspiration comes once more from the corridors of Pinterest,

where I've lately caught myself "liking" much more than pinning in my own boards,

 a fact which made me think about the

 need to make something ours,

  to belong,

 to own...

Pinterest has turned out to be a massive on line & social phenomenon,

with over 11.7 million users & 11 million visits per week{!}

Asides from all the beauty & inspiration that can undeniably be found in its virtual pages,

I can't help but noticing how the whole thing as a phenomenon

emphasizes the need people have for beauty

&

especially "'owning" beauty...

 we find a pin, pin it on one of our boards

& then we somehow walk away with a little satisfaction

that we are closer to what the image that we pinned reflects

only that I'm afraid beauty cannot be owned,

brilliance can't be owned either,

neither can love

or any 

attribute of life that we find appealing to us.

All these can be experienced though

&

can be expressed in our every day lives,

should we decide that

living beautifully & meaningfully at the same time

is our goal in life

Does it perhaps sound vague?

Stop for a moment.

Look around you.

How does your home environment look?

How does your office surface look?

Reality - how does this strike to you?

Does your real life include some parts of at least a few of the things you like?

Yes? smiles + a big applause to that.

You are quite possibly a blessed person, hard working & certainly very brave

No? this can be very disappointing & frustrating

in that case, let us examine, WHAT are we doing to bring our dreams into our realities.

Life is not the same for everyone.

As unfair as it might seem, we are all different,  

some have more, some have less

&

the cup of pain is bigger for some, smaller for others...

and the story goes on...

Still, the moment we decide to stop investing our energy into living other's lives,

{~> fulfilling labels that we haven't actually consciously chosen for ourselves,

~> day dreaming in a non pragmatic & effective way}

&

 concentrate on the lives we are currently experiencing,

the basis for a deep change can be set.

We ALL have the power to change.

Most of us will at some point be petrified by fear,

which will take a million forms manifesting in our lives,

in order to avoid the hard work & often pain & uncertainly that change brings.

Change also carries the happiness of smaller & bigger accomplishments

along the way though.

Exactly what we are longing for... but

how can we achieve it?

Setting realistic goals & keeping our feet on the ground,

while at the same time being prepared to fly

on life's adventurous air balloon...

oh the balance that is required...

speaking of which, are you noticing how the diptychs put together here are somehow balancing each other?

     even when they are not fully connected, complementary, or even contradictory to one another?

however bizarre,

I imagine that this beautiful woman making her living as a model back then,

would be equally successful & delighted when baking muffins

in the coziness of her home

two different sides of the same life,

both needed for balance to be achieved...

well, it has been long enough of a post... so I'd rather put a full stop. I'd love to hear from you in your section of this blog, the comments one. I hope your mornings started or are about to start somehow like that... I know mine didn't today, but drinking a cup of herbal tea & chewing on digestive cookies covered in dark chocolate, while I'm typing this {meant to be completed & posted yesterday} seems also a nice & positive way of beginning this weekend

and then I know that...

now,  if you excuse me my dears,

I have a bunch of fears to overcome,

get over my hill,

see what I find there,

with grace in my heart

& flowers in my hair...

see you at the other side {of the spectrum, the hill or however you wish to call it!}

have a wonderful weekend!

love - forgiveness - vision - decision - persistence & work

-----------------------

Collage & diptych creation credit: Iro - Ivy Nassopoulos for Domestic Stories with Ivy

Picture credit: opening collage clockwise top left: Jane Peters - deep grey - Sofia Copolla

1st diptych: Henry miller - Sugarboo designs

2nd diptych: Stairs - Styling by Krakvik & D'Orazio

3rd diptych: Collection of 20 stones - Pear tart styled by Nikoole Herriott  for Oh joy!

4rth diptych: Mark shaw for Life magazine 1957 - Chocolate financiers 

5th diptych: Porcelain by Fine Little Day - Paleo banana bread

last picture: Inspiring words