The Absolute Joy of Being Home

To bring joy to the home, it may be necessary to boot the noise-filled, demanding world, out the door and never let it come back. Move all media to the basement or to an uneasily accessible place in the house--perhaps a small corner or an unused room, can eliminate some of the stress of the world. Newspapers, magazines and radio seem to be full of doom and worry. Soon everyone is looking for signs of disease or disaster. Their hearts constrict and their breathing becomes shallow. They don't know whether to continue on with life or give up. I read on someone's blog about her media fast. At day 30, she was enjoying life more than ever and her blood pressure had become normal. She was no longer having panic attacks. She was sleeping normally and not experiencing nightmares. Her home had become her haven.

"Returning Home" by Lene Alston Casey

Adding soothing pictures that depict the values you love, of home and family, can also bring joy back into the home. Home should be so different than the rest of the world that it is like steppinging into a beatutiful dream world of peace and love. Good art certainly contributes to that atmosphere.

It may be encouraging just to experiment with one room in the house. Arrange and decorate it with the colors and furnishings that make you feel happy. It is not necessary to please everyone you know, but at the same time, it is not avisable to do something so unpleasant or garrish that your family would be put off. In doing something "good and lovely", think of rose gardens, nature, seascapes and all the beauty and color that nature provides. Very few people are repulsed by a beautiful sunset or a beautiful house. Use these colors and structures when applying beauty to your home.

"My Lady's Chamber"

Bring joy to living at home by doing the things that you really like to do there: plant a beautiful plant, have a quiet moment with your favorite herbal tea and a beautiful tea set (my current favorite is orange spice herbal tea). Make a pretty card for someone. (I make cards called "scrap cards" or "altered cards" in which I add clippings and stickers, lace or buttons, and alter the verse by covering it with another greeting. This way, cards can be made to suit the one you are sending them to.

Working at home can be more fun than you realize. Being mistress of your own home means you don't have to worry about losing your job or applying for changes or trying to get an act of Congress before you can improve it. Home is the last frontier of freedom. Let us excercise that freedom and make each home a little country, with its own culture, its own rules, and its own particular beauty.

"Flower Cottage Irish"

I take great interest in the way our forefathers lived, because they had strong families and they managed to pass on many positive things about homelife, into the next generation and the next and the next. I wonder sometimes what we will pass on in this generation: the hurried, pressured life of trying to keep up with everything and everyone, or real values of truth and

beauty and preservation of the values of marriage, home and family. What we do daily in our homes will have a great impact on society around us and on the next generation.

I was blessed with a husband who only wants me to be happy. I the color of a wall depressed me, he would say "repaint it." If I experienced too much pressure to shop for groceries, he would say "give me a list and I'll get them on my way home." If I wanted to go for a drive and look for scenery, he would say, "let's go." If I experienced difficulty in some of my homemaking responsibilities he would want to know what he could do to make it easier to me. Each member of the family, whether a husband or a child, should be willing to help the homemaker, because it will in turn help them have a beautiful and happy home.

"Country Welcome" by Carl Valente

"Welcome Home"