Live in Beauty
I’m basking in the glow of IKEA love. Made a pilgrimage yesterday after work (Tip: Friday evenings—the perfect time to shop at IKEA!) to buy a few things for my house. July is the month I’ll update and reconfigure a few spaces, so going to IKEA was the first step of this transformation.
When I look around my home, I see what I’ve always seen: a place that doesn’t reflect who I am. I see kids' toys, annoying clutter piles, and no style. The house is terrific, but the living room, for instance, has the same white walls it did when we first moved in eight years ago. And the house certainly hasn’t changed since my husband left two years ago. So it’s definitely time to make my space more inviting.
I’ve been thumbing through the IKEA catalog for months imagining (or re-imagining) what this space could look like, and how best to remodel on a modest budget. This is a very DIY effort—which includes everything from creating art pieces, to thrift store and yard sales finds, to combing furniture store clearance sections for the best deals. Big picture, this cosmetic makeover ties into other more permanent efforts I’m making to simplify my life, spend more time with the kids, and really be mindful of how I spend my time. I want to live in beauty, in whatever way, shape, or form available. In the words of my father, who has been amazingly encouraging the last few weeks, “We deserve it.”
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It’s been very dreary in New England this past week—really, most of June. It’s perfect for writing poetry, however, which I’ll start next. I’m reading Nikky Finney’s Head Off & Split ahead of her reading tonight at Lesley U.
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Kevin Carey's poem, "The Home Movie," is up at Review Americana.
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Robert Lee Brewer has another great piece up at Poetic Asides: "One Piece of Advice for Poets, Part 1." Lots of good advice from a variety of poets. Looking forward to Parts 2 and 3!
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Gratuitous garden photo. I’ll pick some lettuce today for a lunchtime salad.
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