I would like to call it beauty...

I'm a slob. Real talk. I have always been messy and, try as I might, I cannot keep the house clean long-term. I really prefer tidiness, but for some reason, the ability to keep house has eluded me. I have a bit of shame and some anxiety around this. I would be so embarrassed if folks saw the disarray in which I live, and I KNOW I pay way too much for this place to just let it get trashed all the time.  

But I have a new source of inspiration.  Today, I came across this quote from Frances Mayes (author of Under the Tuscan Sun, the book that was made into the movie that first sparked my love affair with Italy). These words come from her travel memoir, A Year in the World: Journeys of a Passionate Traveller:

The impulse to create beauty where you draw water, where you stow your saffron, where you walk, that impulse is intrinsic to life, as it ever has been and will be, and from this place where such remains are gathered, we can only exit with a sense of renewal and joy.

I want to be able to feel that in my home. I want the order and serenity in my home to reflect the calm and peace in my spirit. How, exactly, I am going to be able to accomplish and sustain this remains to be seen. But I am inspired and determined to live in beauty.

In the meantime, here is a little Corinne Bailey Rae. I often sing this song to myself when I need to invoke beauty in and around me:  


On purpose,

Mae