MOMENTS OF JOY

Lately I have been thinking about ways to appreciate the material things in my life. I want to surround myself with things I really love or enjoy. Life is too short at this stage in my life, to be surrounded by things that I can't look at and say, "Oh, I love that". I have many spots in my home that need a change. They say we are never happy or joyful all the time. That life is composed of joyful or happy moments. I am missing some of those moments of joy.

I have some pretty things, but sometimes I feel they are more for show than for me. I want to love every piece of art, every painting and get rid of those that don't move me in some way. I am happy with my sculptures. I have a New England fisherman at the helm of his boat. This is a vintage piece and I love it. I love my seal sculpture too. I also like my prints in the living room and absolutly love my two Van Gogh and Renoir prints. They are framed beautifully and I smile everytime I look at them.

But, I have a beautiful painting in my bedroom, hanging over my long chest. I know it is a great painting. It is a beach scene with an old abandoned boat, but I just have never liked it. I bought it because it fit my color scheme and it had a theme I like. I need to find one I really love because I look at that painting every night before I go to bed. Sad, isn't it? I can fall asleep with a last look at a painting I love or one that I don't particularly like. I am missing that moment of joy. I do like this one hanging in my hallway. It was painted by a local artist and has a lot of thick texture. I love the cheerful colors too.














I had a friend once who had a red and purple bedroom. She loved that bedroom and I can't figure out how she was able to sleep with all that color but she loved it. That whole bedroom was a place of joy for her.

Frette linens which I love, are a little expensive for me but I really could do better in this department than the linens I have now. They are a little shabby. It makes me smile just to think about buying a joyful new color. Nice lightning is important and I only have one lamp in my bedroom that I dearly love. The other one is just filling space. I need to replace it with one that I love. I just forget about it most of the time. That is one spot I am missing that could make me smile.

Green plants are always a wonderful touch for any room but are especially nice in a bathroom. Do I have one in either bathroom? No, I don't. There is another place that could bring me joy but I have neglected it.

I don't put out those cutey guest things in the bathroom. They just collect dust and take up space. No guest ever uses them anyway. They wipe their hands on a corner of whatever towel is handy, the same way you do. LOL---For years I had those and then one day it dawned on me that they were just taking up valuable space. I now have something there that I love and use all the time. A little fish basket that I made from clay we dug up ourselves.













It holds all those little tubes of cream and moisturizer. So I did something right in that case. I smile when I see it because it reminds me of the day Billy dug that clay and how much he liked it when I showed it to him.

From now on, whatever I buy is really going to make me happy. None of these changes would be expensive and I dont know why I have not thought about it, until now. I will not settle for things as Blanche of "Streetcar Named Desire" would say, in the future. It is a waste of money to buy things, I don't love. Yes, it might mean I will have less but that is a good thing.