After the boys left for school yesterday I sat at my desk pinning. My computer is in front of a broad window with a southern exposure and despite the cold I lift the shade to let in the light in the morning.
As I sat still in my pajamas, clicking images and reading inspiring and pithy quotes, there was a ticker tape running through my head that said, “I should be doing something. I should be editing. I should do my homework. I should take Rosie to the vet. I should go get paint.”
But I couldn’t quite let go even to heat up my coffee and I realized that it is a sort of meditation. Further, isn’t it fantastic that I can begin my day surrounded, in a way, with a community of people that I have curated? People who live creatively and shamelessly seek beauty? Isn’t it fantastic that for twenty minutes I can enjoy the insights of people who share my interest in personal and pleasing spaces, who find joy in art, who want to take risks?
I wonder at people who spend their days with numbers and deals and screens filled with figures, though I know we need them, too. But in an instant, yesterday, I was able to see that I was doing something. I was wearing the track that I wanted my mind to follow that day, a day filled with gilt and color and light.
Image, a screenshot of my living room board, which contains a shocking number of rooms with white walls.
those of us in offices at desks in windowless rooms (mine at least) look at your blog and pinterest and ….
Gilt, not guilt. Perfect!
Pinterest is endlessly absorbing.
Living rooms are my favorites in neutrals and white:)
Just peeked at your boards. I must have found you before as I am a 'follower'. That DeGournay wallpaper in a bathroom…beautiful. I hope you are well!
– Holly
Dear Patricia, it is so good to see you posting more…I love your Pinterest boards, so inspiring!
xoxo
Karena
2014 Artists Series
your way with words zings straight to my heart! what a way to start the morning- inspired and thoughtful….plus I like your style! Your post on that little warrior statue made me want to run immediately to KC to meet him ( and you!!)
stay warm and well! ( about 8 degrees here in NH)
Cheers,
Meredith
I just discovered your blog last night and wanted to say how much I LOVE it! So inspiring – and I so agree with you about the Pinterest meditative experience and the feeling of being surrounded by a curated circle of people who love beautiful things. I just started following you on Pinterest too 😉
Thank you for sharing your inspiration!
Kate
katekellydesign.com
Thank you. I needed permission to do exactly that–fill my mind with beauty and inspiration. Have a wonderful day!
Mary
I love this! Such a great perspective!
Ahh -and I see a project of mine in there too!! 🙂
I'm the opposite -I pin every night before bed on my phone and it's addictive. "just 5 more minutes" always keeps me up an hour too late!
Thank you for this. I beat myself up too, but beauty makes me happy!
Love to see what inspires you – in your pajamas, doing "nothing."
pve
Thanks for connecting us with your Pinterest boards Patricia. Am following several!
Well said, as always Mrs Blandings. I shall feel slightly less guilty tomorrow as I sit and pin to my heart's content!
This is a wonderful post.
I feel this same guilt every time I look at magazines or blogs (I can't make a direct professional connection to them like you can). Yet I know it fuels me somehow.
Funny how we feel the need to "do" is so much more important than the need to be "inspired." I think it comes from seeing others get numb in front of screens. The exact opposite happens when I read something good (like this!).
Angela
I am in my sixties and I have always had these kind of hooks on doors. We have put them in our 8 year old handcrafted log home because the doors open by themselves. They creak when they sometimes swing a bit and this bothers me. Our basement door we would find open even though it has a lock on the door knob. Our bathroom door if not tightly shut swings gently while creaking. This stuff freaks me out frankly. I think she must have kept a spare set of keys on the hook under the cabinet. I would. I also have multiple hooks because I have several robes and articles of clothing I like to hand on hooks. Perhaps she did also. Our house has been settling and the logs shrinking for all these years and I know this is the reason for the doors that open on their own but….I just read too many thrillers and so I use these hooks also. Workmen look strangely at me when they come to work on something and find the hook on the basement door. I ignore them now. It is what it is. I love your story and your pondering. Love your blog. Susan