Lamp Season and Beyond: Elevate Your Home
I am a little too into podcasts. I listen to them as a part of my getting ready for the day routine as well as my winding down for the night routine. I joke that podcasts replace the voices in my head…I am only half kidding. One in particular, Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris (I linked everything at the bottom of the blog) recently got me so excited I listened to it 3 times.
There was an episode called “Neuroaesthetics: How Art Can Improve and Extend Your Life” with Ivy Ross and Susan Magsamen. Which led me to buy their book, “Your Brain on Art, How the Arts Transform Us” and in this book was a paragraph that described what I have always intuitively known…or craved might be a better way to describe it…and now it finally makes sense.
I’m not crazy! It’s science, people!
You feel it. You can’t help but feel it. And now, especially now, with the world feeling so heavy, so sad and uncertain (and with the freakin’ holidays sneaking up on us!) I hope that you do what makes YOU and your household feel at home and safe. If you need some help with ideas, you know how to get a hold of me, but there is so much you can do and actually, that you already know how to do, to make your environment “amplify your health and well-being”.
With all that is going on around us coinciding with a change of the seasons…what I like to call “lamp season”... it’s kind of a perfect excuse to really cozy in, shut out the noise of the outside world, and surround yourself with who and what brings you peace.
In our house we fall back on music, lighting and scents. I’d love to hear what you fall back on! We have a Sonos system, which I think almost everyone has now but if you don’t, look into it. It’s fabulous (we know people who can help with this too if you need it…I’m looking at you Curt Nelson at Lewis Audio Video). Our favorite mix on Pandora right now is “The New Basement Tapes” when we’re not listening to “Yacht Rock”;-).
LIGHTING
I know, I know! I talk about it all the time, but it is everything! Please ease into your spaces by turning off your overhead lights or at least dim them way down and turn on your lamps and light your candles. Surround yourself with a soft, warm glow. To help with lighting we have long partnered with Lewis Audio Video for complete home systems and they are also a great resource for an amazing system called Athena from Lutron that is “human centric” (gotta love that) and it also can control the shades in your home. Setting up an environment that is beautiful and effortless is a great way to lower your stress and we can all use that!
I didn’t set out for this to be all about home systems, but I want to share what I know in case it helps you.
SCENT
You know we have candles and if you’d like to get one, let me know but it’s not all about candles. It’s about cooking your feel-good food. It’s about a fresh, clean home. It’s about whatever it is that settles your mind and makes you feel at home. “Smell is one of the oldest senses in terms of human evolution” as I learned from “Your Brain on Art”. It gets all sciency and deep but what it comes down to is that smell is one of our most potent senses and triggers strong physical and mental responses in you. For example, I love the smell of my stinky dog. I do. I know that others are not quite as appreciative of her stinkiness but her smell makes me want to hold her closer while others push her away…that’s the power of scent! So, please, infuse your surroundings with scents that bring you peace and make you feel at home. It’s good for you.
This little blog is my way of staying in touch and hopefully bringing some cheer into your day. Things are tough and ugly right now so please take good care of yourself and counter the tough and ugly with some softness and beauty. It’s okay to take care of yourself. You need to take care of yourself. No guilt. Now judgment. You do you. I hope that this has helped a little.
'Til Next Time — Arlene
