Holistic Home Solutions
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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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Turning Inward, Don’t Leave Out the Light!
We are now on the dark side of Winter Nights—the dawn of the cooling season, marked on 10/31-11/1. We light candles to symbolize warmth and light. Some of us get the woodstove warming the house for the first time since last winter. I’m conservative of firewood, so I wait until the downstairs gets a chill 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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Jars, Pill Bottles, and the Scarcity We Carry
The past few weeks, I’ve been busy decluttering. (Yes, my house can use it too.) I donated approximately 40 pounds (three large trash bags) of clothing to a local church freesale shop, and today I will be going through a few kitchen cabinets, letting go of some of my jars. I’m finally at a point 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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From Meadow to Hearth: A Color Journey
I did a guided meditation today, and when envisioning what I perceive as my ideal self (business-related), I was wearing brown and pink. Hmm. I’ve been designing everything in green and yellow: showcards, flyers, etc. Even with my publishing business, I used green and yellow, which (together) symbolize growth and vitality, clarity, playfulness. And in 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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Sunlight Choreography: Small Rituals for Light, Color, and Scent
August in the Northern hemisphere is all about sunlight and flowers in full bloom. The zinnias are bursting like fireworks, the eyes scan skyward for a pastel palette of hollyhocks, and the air is abuzz with hummingbirds and dragonflies. It’s a beautiful time to map where sunlight lands in the home. In my dark Victorian Continue reading
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Don’t Bring It Home: Five Rituals to Keep Heavy Energy from Clinging After Cleaning
There are Extreme Cleaning videos all over my YouTube feed. While I agree with my husband, who calls this “a new low” in my viewing habits, I do it to learn what to do and what not to do when I do this myself. I also find it oddly relaxing, while also being gut-turning—a somewhat Continue reading
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The Emotional Ecology Manifesto
A philosophy for tending the unseen landscapes within and around us Emotional ecology is the art and practice of honoring the subtle interplay between feeling and environment—how emotions shape space, and how space, in turn, mirrors and molds the emotional body. It is the language of soft shifts and sacred rhythms. It is a home Continue reading
Bridgeport WV, Clarksburg WV, domestic rituals, emotional ecology, emotional topology, feeling and space, healing, healing home, holistic home design, Holistic Home Solutions, home as sanctuary, hygge, intentional living, mental-health, mindfulness, rhythm and restoration, sacred homemaking, self-care, spiritual ecology, spirituality -
Gratitude on the Plate: How Blessing Your Food Nourishes You Twice
We are often inspired when we go on road trips to visit friends and loved ones, and they dish out their very best, family-loved meals. My step-son got his favorite Zuppa Toscana for his birthday, and I’ll be making it soon. His wife served up Blueberry Dutch Baby for breakfast, and I’ve added it to Continue reading
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Free Holistic Home Service for Doddridge County, WV Special Needs Families
My son Ash and I are a home transformation team. He will be helping me out with hands-on projects where we go into people’s homes and work with them toward shifting from stress to serenity. This is done by making adjustments within the physical environment (decluttering, organizing, rearranging for practicality, etc.) that positively impact one’s 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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Amusing Autism (& Life Here Now)
Nobody ever accused these kids of not being interesting!Ash is a scherenschnitte master in the making. And he also has a way of lightening the mood, perhaps unintentionally. This is ultra important in e-special-ly unique households, where the air can be heavy with worry and frustration until the parents come to peace with their child’s Continue reading
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Loving a Child into Life: The Transformative Power of Their Space
A woman commented recently, “My stepson is a psychopath. It’s hard to be around him.” Sometimes children act out because they feel unloved, uncared for, like they are invisible or don’t matter. Sometimes a parent’s ego or negative programming makes it difficult to “soften up” when we are accustomed to feeling the same contempt that Continue reading
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Transformations: Full-Filling the Empty
I thought it would be fun to take you (dear reader) along with me as a holistic home specialist, one area at a time, through my house. I will assess and improve upon (heal) spaces as I go. Hopefully you’ll enjoy these posts as learning experiences, just as I will. It occurred to me recently Continue reading
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Lacing Up for Courage: My Path to Healing Spaces
This time I’m ready – whimsical work shoes and all! Twenty-five years ago, I ordered some educational material called “Become a Professional Organizer.” I ran with it. I named my business Simplified Spaces. I had a well-established blog, a post office box key, a business insurance quote, even a license plate frame that said, “HIRE Continue reading
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Ash’s High-Fives: The Power of Inclusion and Community
Living in a rural, hilly community, I’ve come to appreciate the charm of how work and family often intertwine. It’s not uncommon here for home maintenance professionals to bring their loved ones along for the job. This practice serves several good purposes: extra hands lighten the load, less time spent means lower costs for clients—a Continue reading
