Embracing January

Six things are requisite to create a happy home. Integrity must be the architect, and tidiness the upholsterer. It must be warmed by affection, and lightened with cheerfulness, and industry must be the ventilator, renewing the atmosphere and bringing in fresh salubrity day by day; while over all, as a protecting and glory, nothing will suffice except the blessings of God." ~Rev. Hamilton 1878 

WEEKEND - As I write I am sourly pickled in the thankless labor of *wheedling* out clutter from the home. It is a most unpleasant task and I am' half tempted to shirk the tiresome responsibility, eat a cake, and let it be. The work is laboring and ungodly languorous in its dopey senseless cloying cycle, sigh!  And no, I do not, honestly speaking, relish this drudgery one bit. ( Dear reader, I am complaining ridiculously in my mind through the tap tap of my fingers but not a single whine will be uttered by my person to a soul. ( i'll try....) 

This dusty distress must be dealt with and there is no one else to do it but me. Or, yes, actually, there is; I have a regular cleaning lady who comes in every 7 in the morning till 5 in the afternoon. I can put her to the task but that would be freewheeling and unbecoming  of me, to say the least. It  is  enough that the sweet lady helps me so  quite expertly with the laundry. 
 Tweedling around inside cabinets and closets, sorting through books, old clothes, worn out bags, shoes, as well as, the gathering, sorting and filing of old documents, plus, a spade of other  dee' dums is solely to be my primary occupation for the next three days as entered in my weekly plan. Ah, this is not how I envisioned my "sparkly" 2013 to be, haha! --The heavens seeming sympathetic to my plebeian plight has gently showered tendrils of encouragement for me to grasp. It has come just when I most needed it as all the nitty grittys have me slowly sinking into a pit of deploring discouragement; tired, flustered and feeling unwell. 

The "15 Day Clutter Free Challenge" is a working blessing. As I go through a fresh routine of totally organizing and rearranging the inner storage of my home, I catch myself reeling from the bombardment of inner de-cluttering summons appearing one to the other in ferocious maniacal proportions! Ah, it is painfully herculean work, this fumigating of the insides, as I am time and again affronted with my own beloved antiquated flaws that have outlived their adolescent prime and desolately need disposing. More often, I am flustered and aghast with my sheer inability to live the education of what I have so meditatively poured my mind into that I cringe with frustration, my voice bleating thin, wan and weary. And then I realized that this is it - or that was it - what it was all about!

As my home comes to a new order, so does my whole way of being.   The process is messy but the outcome is serenity. Yes, January,  I embrace your beauty and grace and all the lessons I faced. And your remaining days I weave through my life with peace living this quote at heart:

" Perhaps now -- of all times-- when I am nearly bowed under physically, emotionally and psychologically by the minutiae of the mundane, is the very moment I need the reverence of poets who bear witness to the sacredness of  the ordinary. then perhaps I shall see, not just other people's belongings, but all the beauty, joy, and abundance that literally lies at my feet. "
                    ~ Sarah ban Breathnach, Simple Abundance

Prayer while organizing:
By Glynnis Whitwer

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving me so much responsibility. It shows Your trust in me. Help me to be a good steward of the assignments You have given me. Help clear the clutter in my mind as I work through this exercise. Bring things to mind that You want me to remember. It feels overwhelming to me right now, but I know with Your help, I can manage this. In Jesus name, Amen.

Lord, You know how hard it is for me to focus sometimes. It’s hard to figure out what needs to be done. I just feel overwhelmed and discouraged. I know You aren’t a God of confusion, so I ask for Your wisdom and clarity to help bring order to my chaotic mind. In Jesus name, Amen.

A night to remember

♥ January 2013
“As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.”
~Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy again! Happy oysters, how appropriate! In manifesting a sparkly joyful day, the phrase "happy again" is a mantra I aim to whisper every hour the whole year through! I am both a dreamer and a realist ( the latter to a certain degree, heh!) knowing that itzy bitsy challenge are prone to pop up every once in a while; not to fret and not to fear for I have a stock of good perky memories and a particular penchant for the giggles to slide me through the ( just a few, I dare declare ) rough edges of life. Oh, here's a particularly Zen quote that definitely speaks of those times:

The Buddha confirmed that it is possible to live happily in the here and the now — even if you still have lots of pain and sorrow within yourself. Mindful breathing helps you become fully alive. And when you are really there, you can touch all the wonders of life that are available in this very moment for your enjoyment…for your nourishment…and for your healing. ~ TNH

Oysters make for divine happy memories, and yes, I'm an oyster lovin' gal' (true and true!) and can  slick up a bushel full if dared! In between Christmas and NYE, the Honey Doo' and I had a plate of some fancy baked beauties that cost as much as a basket load had it come from a plain wet market and steamed cooked at home. BUT, it's truly fun to soak in those once in a while refinements of glittery "ambiance" that a mighty fine tootsie place with all the right lights can deliver; so we enthusiastically plumped ourselves a seat, ordered quite decisively, excitedly divided the lot, left the fresh green decor untouched (haha!) and enjoyed the platter! We also had a tempting tasty full round of pepperoni pizza, a delicately melty' eggplant parmigiana washed sweetly by a fresh brewed slush tea and a margarita (later on) on the side. 

The glaze torched Crème brûlée with a cup of (true blue) Italian coffee lent a smooth refined ending to what was an exquisite evening of pleasurable tit for tat'...-- 2012 was such a serious hard working year, we rarely found the energy to just go out and relax, preferring so much more the familiar soothing corners of home. -- It felt good that night to mindfully be settled among a festive holiday crowd of diners whilst ( luv' the word) a succession of  soft croony'  classic Christmas songs gently wafted through the setting. We had a chance to look back that night and voice out a few realizations discovered between us. It surprised me to realize that preferences and tastes have so evolved, but still we do share the same "likes"  than ever before! We were actually searching for a jazzy place when we started the night, but as fate would have it, our footsteps were guided towards a beautiful corner where soft music was playing and everything was a twinkle relaxing, Right there we decided that such places are definitely us. I liked that. I like it when  something jives so deeply with not just me or him but both of us as one single entity. Joy! 

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter

and your lips with shouts of joy.
~ Job 8:21