Holistic Homemaking
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May Stewardship Scholarship
On this first day of May, I’m opening a single Orientation Bundle scholarship for someone who feels called to begin their study of Hearth Mysticism but needs a gentler doorway. This is a place being held for one who recognizes themselves in the quiet traits of this work, someone who feels the home speaking to… Continue reading
community care, creating supportive homes, family-based work, healing home, healing through environment, Hearth Mysticism, Hearth Mysticism Orientation Bundle, Hearth Mysticism Scholarship, home as regulation, home atmosphere, home healing, low-pressure vocation, meaningful home-based work, sensory environments, Stewardship Scholarship -
The Clutter Behind the Clutter
It seems everyone is decluttering their homes these days — and yet clutter is rarely about the objects themselves. It’s more about emotional residue. Clutter gathers where something has gone unprocessed. It reflects emotional backlog, often a quiet overwhelm around a deeper issue. In this way, clutter is a symptom, not a root cause. It… Continue reading
causes of clutter, compulsive spending, creative practice, decluttering, emotional ecology, emotional residue, environmental psychology, hearth, Hearth Mysticism, Hearth Mysticism Practitioners, Holistic Homemaking, homemaking, homemaking as care, mental health, minimalism, nervous system support, Residential Organizers, residential organizing, Sanctuary Stewards, seasonal rhythms, simple living, spring cleaning, trauma-informed care -
Hearth Mysticism
A lineage of home-tending, seasonal stewardship, and quiet devotion This work is unfolding in chambers — each one a doorway into a gentler way of living with your home. I am currently shaping Chamber V, where the home becomes a seasonal companion and tending becomes a rhythm rather than a task. The Codex is in… Continue reading
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Imbolc: Light a Candle, Light YOUR Candle
Midway between the longest night of the year and the dawn of spring, Imbolc stands like a white candle in the snow on a quiet morning. Imbolc is bi-directional, energetically speaking: contemplative and quietly anticipatory. It is a time of hope, of ideas and clarity, of knowing that the inner light is enough to sustain… Continue reading
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The Healing Power of Small Steps
How one woman reclaimed her home–and her life–five minutes at a time There is a woman (Bonnie) out in Utah whose YouTube channel is called “A Beautiful Mess.” She specializes in the same kind of service that I do—healing homes, essentially, and the families within them. She recently featured another woman’s home, a woman that… Continue reading
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Watering My Own Roots
(Shaping the Foundations of Hearth Mysticism) I’ve been juggling more things than usual—writing newspaper features for the Humane Society, managing another literary project for a new client—and among service, whether volunteer or for pay, it remains important to give time to our own pursuits. So I’ve returned to my own writing, watering deep roots, which… Continue reading
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Gratitude in the Details
A practice of restoration, one overlooked detail at a time. What if the secret to a vibrant home isn’t new furniture or fresh paint, but simply noticing—and loving—the overlooked details? Dr. Joe Dispenza speaks of “loving another into life” as a healing technique. I’ve found that the same is true of our spaces: we love… Continue reading
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Thresholds of Accumulation: Hoarding Versus Prepping as Emotional Ecology
Prepping is typically thoughtful, organized, and open-hearted. Hoarding is where mental habits become unnecessary accumulation for accumulation’s sake. It is often disorganized and can become outright disastrous, beginning as boxes and piles in corners and against walls. In time, they can grow higher and wider, even making navigating from one room to another a task… Continue reading
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Kids Bedrooms: Cleanliness = Self-Respect
In every home, there are rooms that breathe differently. Some exhale peace. Others hold tension. And then there are bedrooms—those private sanctuaries where our kids retreat, dream, resist, and become. For many parents, the untidy bedroom becomes a battleground. But what if it could be a threshold, a space where self-respect is not demanded, but… Continue reading
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Happy Friday
I love this time of year, when the grass is cool and dewy, and I can step outside and connect to the earth. This is a most calming practice, walking where the grass remembers you, taking note of everything that is currently thriving and blossoming. We can be like the zinnias, opening wide to the… Continue reading
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A Home Named Harmony (& Thrifting Adventures)
Thumbing through Sacred Space by Denise Linn, I paused at a suggestion for the reader to assign or receive a name for their home. What a great, simple way to deepen one’s relationship with the home, I thought, and pondered only briefly before the name Harmony came to mind. It’s perfect. A few days later,… Continue reading
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Community as a Form of Home-Care
Living in a rural, hilly community has taught me something I treasure: work and family often move together here. It’s common to see home‑maintenance professionals arrive with a spouse, a sibling, or a teenager learning the trade. Extra hands lighten the load, shorten the workday, and quietly pass practical skills from one generation to the… Continue reading
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Awakened Action: A Journey of Love and Light
My friend (we call her E) is dealing with serious health issues, and she’s so strong about it. Sometimes people fight these things in every way possible, and some of us do what we can but with a more accepting “it is what it is” attitude. This is my friend. I want her to live… Continue reading
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Creating Space for Success: The Feng Shui Mindset
Feng Shui goes much deeper than just moving things around. It harmonizes the physical and spiritual aspects of place in a way that welcomes desired change. It establishes a dynamic flow of energy, creating an environment that nurtures well-being and encourages growth on all levels. It also awakens intuitive faculties as we liven up our… Continue reading
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Five Reasons To Make Decluttering a Top Spring Priority
Spring is synonymous with renewal—a chance to embrace fresh energy and let go of what no longer serves us. Decluttering your space goes beyond aesthetics; it’s a profound act of self-care and transformation. Here are five compelling reasons to prioritize decluttering this spring: This spring, let decluttering be your first step toward a brighter, more… Continue reading
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Embracing Oneness: From Self-Improvement to Whole-Self Loving in 2025
There is “self-improvement,” and there is remembering and returning to the Self (which is all-oneness). When we seek to self-improve, it’s a sign that we’ve become lost in a sense of separation and forgotten who we really are. The quickest remedy out of this, and to avoid spending potentially decades reading self-development books, is to… Continue reading
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A Fresh Look Around: Love of Place
As you read this, imagine that it is your first time in whatever room of your home you are in. Look around with fresh new eyes. Does anything look out of place? Does anything look like it belongs in another room? Are there things that need to be thrown away? Would surfaces benefit from dusting,… Continue reading
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The Heart of Green Living: Home Cleanliness
In the serene embrace of the home, where we seek refuge and comfort, the essence of green living begins with the simple yet profound act of cleanliness. A clean home is not just a reflection of how we care for our surroundings, but also a testament to our commitment to a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle.… Continue reading
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The Importance of Doing
Whatever we seek for our holistic well-being: peace, happiness, comfort, ease of suffering, etc., the pathway is less about visualizing and more about doing. The vision shapes itself as we work within our physical environment one micro-step at a time, moved by what is meaningful to us in any given moment. Time is more precious… Continue reading
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An Experiment with Nonlocal Healing
Affirmations are a powerful tool for healing and personal development that can actually be improved upon with the use of technology. I’ve recently found a 30-minute presentation of healing affirmations that is clearly a total mind experience, engaging both hemispheres of the brain with sound that travels (with headphones) like a rainbow arc from one… Continue reading
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From Control to Comfort: Creating a Home That Breathes
We can have our home, our micro-world completely clean, orderly and organized into perfect cubes, complete with labels. We can manage our days by the hour, assign chores, prepare meals in advance, and snag every dust bunny out of the air before it lands. If this sounds like you, then I am here to encourage… Continue reading
balance, cleanliness, emotional ecology, environmental psychology, healing home, health, Hearth Mysticism, Holistic Homemaking, mental-health, mindfulness, order, relaxation, relaxation response, residential organizing, seasonal rhythms, seasonal tending, self-compassion, stress, stress response, trust -
Relating to Autism
For parents, grandparents and others who wonder how best to relate to nonverbal autistic children, and into the teens, I can only share what keeps my son happy (while understanding that every child is different). It is, in a word, silly! Silliness, silly humor…think of clowns and how they exaggerate their movements and expressions. Mimes… Continue reading
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Home As Healing Assistant
Making simple adjustments within our physical environment can contribute immensely to psychoemotional wellness. There are various popular applications around the world that put this to practice, such as feng shui (Chinese: “wind and water”) and hygge (Danish: “hug”), but here I will illuminate a more introspective approach in alignment with Hearth Mysticism. It’s as simple… Continue reading
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From Vision to Fulfillment: Applying Meaningful Purpose in the World
Most of us ultimately wish to discover and live some deep, meaningful purpose for being alive. Sometimes this is driven by a strong sense of self or being passionate about goals and vision, and sometimes it is driven by simply knowing who we are: consciousness having a human experience, born in a certain place and… Continue reading
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Getting REAL: Love Plus Courage Equals a Healing Home
Maintaining a healing home is a natural balancing act, the marriage of spiritual and material realms. It isn’t just about meandering around with singing bowls and incense. It isn’t about burying our heads in the sand (or the clouds). It’s more about staying rooted in the home and developing it into a true healing space… Continue reading
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Simplify Your Surroundings for Peace and Healing
We’ve cycled back around to the time of year – warming sunny days as we draw nearer to spring – when we seize opportunities to move stagnant indoor air out the windows. We deep-clean, we dust. We empty from our living space all that isn’t appreciated for either form or function. Delores Canon once mentioned… Continue reading
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Applying Your Enneatype Within the Home
The Enneagram of Personality is a fun tool to apply to any aspect of life, and the home is no exception. I share it here from another blog of mine that predates this one by several years. ENJOY! (If you do not know your enneatype and would be interested in learning more about it, I… Continue reading