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We freshen the house each week during the year, but in the Autumn and Spring, it feels especially healthy to reorganize, sort, and reset plans for good, useful household routines. Each item has a home and a purpose. I always adore the last part of my favourite show, Gardener’s World, when they give “Jobs for the Weekend.” You can apply this list idea not only for gardening, but for housekeeping, business, and outtings! Instead of Jobs for the Weekend, we call it Pleasures or Ideas for the Weekend. Set up pleasures for yourself. Like Mary Poppins says, “In every task that must be done, there is an element of fun!” Here are a few ideas that we’re doing this season. Happy Spring! Please visit my Shop for fresh inspiration for your home and a healthy lifestyle. I’ll share a few ‘Pleasures for the Weekend’ each season, and you can read more in A Gentle Life Book Collection. What kind of pleasures will you plan for this weekend? XOXO ~Amor Milagre
~Sort and review items. Keep the useful for the every day, used lately, and useful for this season. Organize one area a day/week so you take your time mindfully. Sell, donate, gift, recycle, or reuse unwanted items in another way. Gently and lovingly organize useful items with tidy, beautiful aesthetics. Repair any items that need mending. Crack the windows and clean your home with non-toxic cleaners. (We use vinegar for most things. It works wonderfully for organic beauty routines, too! A post for this is coming up.)
~Wash windows, inside and out, for a clear view and mindful perspective.
~Go on outtings to seasonal local places that are now open for Spring. We enjoy strolling plant nurseries for fresh inspiration. (Remember to look for sustainable packaging when plant shopping. Bring reusable shopping bags with you when doing any kind of shopping! A post about this is coming up.)
~Cook with seasonal, farm-ready vegetables and fruits. Revel in the beautiful shapes, flavours, and colours of Mamma Nature!
~Browse your library and request specific books. Read stories and poems about the current time of year. (A favourite book list post is coming up!) Notice in your daily surroundings what is revealed in the book illustrations. What wonders are around you that you may have overlooked? How refreshing it is to be aware of life regrowing this month!
Breathe in and out. Fresh air for your lungs, cells, and everywhere. Even your hair and skin soften in real air. Unpolluted winds refresh and boost the immune system and promote healthier sleep patterns. Cancer is another illness, a word, a warning sign, that something is not right. There is a lack of oxygen, fresh natural air, and a healthy balance that stems from all directions from the physical to mental to soul. For all of the illnesses I have overcome, fresh air and quietness were prominent factors in healing and prevention. Massive life changes heal. Removing stressors is key. Eat organic plants. Live unplugged and in natural light. Don’t fight illness. Heal it. Imagine not having to overcome illness in the first place. Imagine systems and professionals who help and are compensated for real improvements. Transitions into health and basic needs heal. Connect with Mamma Nature, for she knows, just as the body knows, how to balance and restore. I don’t believe any matter feels healthy boxed in, sealed up, or contained and separated from Nature. Let animals and plants shine in the sun. The universe needs to get back to Nature. Healthy air, clouds, soil, and water make our food, our Life. Let’s protect and respect Nature and ourselves. Everything you do, be aware. Small scale and large scale, and endless time scale. Is this helping or hurting?
Moving forward, our home and health designs require clean, fresh, natural air without the consent or influence of others. Our past and current designs did as well, but when depending on surrounding environments and people, intentions are frustrated into more illness. If you can’t open a window to rejuvenate your home, it’s time to dance over to a fresh field and start anew. When your voice is unheard or not understood, unstick, let go, move on, and remove yourself from negativity. This idea works in many ways and planes for healthy living. Begin again, tiring I know, but this time, with the knowledge that you can have what you need, when you make it so. Make sure your surroundings match your needs. Pause anything or anyone that doesn’t allow you to have your needs. First take care of you. This excerpt is from my self-health book collection. For more, read my current and upcoming ethically made books from The Gentle Life Collection.
How are you? Are you filling up with Love from within? Do you know Love is always there for you? Are you listening for the unbalance? Are you surrounding yourself with basic needs for wonderful health and Love? Are you breathing in good energy? Know that you are Love. Be yourself. Be Love!
Stay tuned for more anti-cancer diet / preventing & healing from illness recipes, books, and nutrition benefit information. It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Let’s find ways to not have to have a month for this or any illness. What can we do to not accumulate cancer and illness? Changes…big healthy wonderful natural changes! Start small and crack a window, take a walk all bundled up, write letters and use your voice for change, and practice breathing deeply and gently.
A little matching film for this organic journal post is below.
Stay well! Be Purely you! Live in the Light! ~Amor Milagre
The Film for this post will come back again soon.
A related Universal Message: Anyone who is trying to leave an unhealthy relationship, home, place, or country could be met kindly with compassion and nonviolence by new friends/the world/compassionate ‘leaders’. Be aware to not go from one abuse to another. Humans, let’s break the vicious cycle and start a new one of kindness, especially for people in need of a healthy change. Unlearn abuse, fear, and judgement. Learn Love. Protect babies of all ages 0-1000. Teach compassion and all can be well in harmony, respect, and consideration. Strive for healthy communication and live in the peace of it. There is room for everyone in this universe. Humans made the lines. Nature grows everywhere, embracing all life. Man can take down their emotional borders and let Love go in and out. We send Love, strength, and hope out into the Universe all the time so that this energy will travel to anyone who needs it. Feel it in your heart. Everyone can do something to help. Let’s use our voices for helpful Peace.
We love to share valentines with dear ones in February. We also love to make valentines to share love with local communities, such as elderly homes, children’s homes, and hospitals. A simple message to know that the universe loves you just as you are is a very powerful thing, especially if you’re sick, scared, or hurting. We encourage this easy and happy gift for you to share with your neighbouring communities. There is always room for more love!
The very loving & talented toddlers in our Crayon Club made cheerful drawings on the back of these little valentine’s day cards. (A responsible paper choice is important, too.) View our little film, showing more drawings, below. As I edited the film, grouping these lovely drawings and offerings of love together, they connected to form a powerful and peaceful statement, one that I express in everything we do. If everyone loves, then everyone feels loved. For more fun ideas, for any age, check back here in our journal and for our upcoming Crayon Club book! Happy Love Day! ~Amor Milagre
Art is a wonderful way to express emotions, release, and dream. Art therapy is easy and free to try. Just pick up a crayon, pencil, paintbrush, and let go. See what amazing colours, shapes, and imagery you can explore. See how much better you feel by adding this relaxation technique into your regular routine. Unwind your mind and sleep well. We incorporate lots of healthy, therapeutic art & storytelling techniques in our original series of Classes & Clubs. Know yourself and love yourself.
There are so many people who would love a visit from a kind soul. (It’s best to visit only when you’re healthy. It’s the same for making cards to send to critically ill people. It’s always good to be mindful of the whole picture). Many nursing homes and hospitals have a space set up for colouring and crafts. They have rules for gifts. Usually they accept new gifts still in the packaging with specifics to the kinds of gifts that are allowed and loved. Art has endless possibilities. It improves memory and has a calming effect. If more people lovingly and gently visited others, who maybe don’t have many visitors, these communities might get more funding, updated interiors, which may improve health conditions, and they would definitely benefit from something new to talk, sense, and think about. They would feel more loved and listened to. Everyone has many stories in their book of life, and so many people would love to share their life with others. This kind of sharing is so inspiring, even on a subconscious level, for some, if not immediately touching the heart on a very aware level.
Helping others in ways that you can help, while setting healthy boundaries for your own health, sets off a loving chain of events into the universe. Teaching children to help others is important in forming a well rounded perspective. (Always keep a good watch over your children, in general, even when helping out. Talk to them about their experiences and help them sort emotions. Prepare them with information and tell them to ask for help if needed. Moments can feel overwhelming, so communication is key.). If we help ourselves first with basic needs, when possible, we can help others much better. If everyone helped, even a little bit, then everyone would feel more loved. Many people are resting and ill, so when you visit, consideration and empathy are always good tools to bring with you.
Some Ideas for Care Centers: Better, more natural facilities, with views of nature would help everyone want to come and spend time there. Encouragement and appreciation for the caregivers, volunteers, employees, and visitors. Safer, more ergonomic ways of lifting and moving for patients and caregivers. (So many injuries happen when transferring a patient to a bed.) Non-toxic cleaners. Open flow with lots of space for wheel chairs and rolling beds. Great security, friendly employees, and a welcoming entryway that is family friendly. If elevators are outdated with yellow flickering lights that are scary, not only for children, add natural daylight light bulbs and freshen up the elevator walls with new paint, and clear directory signage for floor layout. Well designed, beautiful, cozy, comfortable, homey shared spaces, rooms, and nooks in between the bedrooms for everyone to sit peacefully, enjoying visits, reading, or movies. Restful rooms with windows and a respectfully healthy space for each person would encourage health to improve. Small rooms designed only for the bed- and wheelchair-bound encourages diminishing health and abilities. More natural light, better updated lighting, and an air circulation system for fresh air. In house: doctors, therapists, beauticians, cooks, holistic healers, and other helpful people would greatly improve the quality of daily life for patients, caregivers, visitors, and others. It’s important to ensure that the caregivers are up to date on their qualifications, not overworked or understaffed, and kind and gentle with the patients. Ideally, if everyone helped, donated, and made care centers a healthy place to live and work, they could be a lot more affordable and less stressful for everyone involved. Another idea is safe pathways to take a walk in gardens outside. Perhaps a garden room inside for people who would greatly benefit from ‘greenhouse’ air. Feeling close to nature is so calming and connects you to the world.
Local people could take turns setting up a time to come in and share their talents: Musicians can sing or play soft, sweet songs. Artists and crafters could come and sit and paint or knit, allowing everyone to see the process. If allowed, gardeners could donate a few window boxes and patients, gardeners, and school children could plant seeds together, watching them grow every day. Herbs have calming scents. Make an environment that hugs the senses, and there will be a waiting list of excited people to come share their gifts. Read a nice story. It would be especially nice for students who ‘need’ community service for their schooling requirements to do something they love in a beautiful place.
Everyone is a baby after all, and so many people are tucked away unseen. We encourage everyone to make a positive change in the care centers just down the street or on your block. (No need to travel far in order to help someone. Though there are so many people, especially children, who do need immense and immediate help all over the world, there are probably people who also need help right next door. It’s good to go through proper channels for even a day of volunteering, even if it’s as simple as an email, so you can be accounted for). You don’t have to donate monetary things, but you can sit and listen pleasantly. That would make all the difference in someone’s day. Give what you can. Give only one afternoon. Give an afternoon every week or month. Make a garden outside the windows. Celebrate holidays. Call or email ahead to ensure healthy security. Teachers or anyone who sees someone being hurt or sees signs of someone being hurt, don’t turn a blind eye, seek help for those people. It only takes one person to try to destroy someone’s life, and it only takes one person to try to help someone’s life. Be the helper. Seek help for yourself if you need it, and keep seeking until you find it. Sadly, many people whose job it is to help can add to the existing problems. Assess your comfort level, trust your instincts, and be careful.
If no one visits, then no one sees the positive changes that can be made. Let’s treat people like people, and not like storage boxes left in a room to collect dust and painfully deteriorate. There are so may opportunities to make people a priority. Just as we think there are many ways to set up beautiful activities for local families with children at a library or the town meeting hall, it is the same for people of all ages and abilities. You never know when you may fall on difficult circumstances and need a shelter, hospital, or care center. Making these places wonderful for those who need them now helps everyone in the future, too! If the food was fantastic and the places were lovely, then people would feel comfortable living there at any age, of any ability, and before they are not able to move or do anything. Design the spaces for everyone, and everyone will come. Design the spaces to have different ‘landmarks’ with colours, artwork, sections of gathering spaces so the patients are not wandering, lost in beige hallways, unable to find their bedroom. Visitors need to be able to navigate, too. This is especially important for sensitive people, like empaths, who often feel immensely overwhelmed in crowds (more than 1 person) or large housing facilities. Donations of books, homey things like lamps, bookcases, etc might be great tools for designers to play with and arrange when making these spaces. Local shops like grocery stores or art stores could donate supplies. Others could volunteer their time to help patients use the supplies.
How inspiring and fun would it be for the clean up crew to have a nightly gallery viewing of all the artwork made that day? (Using pin boards or magnets.)
There are so many children that need safe, healthy, positive, loving homes and family. There are so many people being abused that have nowhere safe to go and no one to help them. There are so many opportunities to help in positive ways. Everyone has beautiful gifts. Let your light shine! Help others so their lights can shine even brighter!
Join our Fun & Free Family Crayon Club! Silly, wiggly dancing hearts.
Parents: Colouring with your children is a great bonding practice. Ask them about their pictures, get to know their beautiful thoughts, and ease their concerns. Play is a good way to communicate and learn about one another. More information about these topics is in our Crayon Club books and upcoming books! Giving artwork to others is a great way for children to participate in helping their community. Write their age and date. Others will adore and marvel at their beautiful and smile-inspiring pictures.
Amor Milagre Stationery Collections are coming in 2019! We encourage expression. The insides of our cards are blank for our customers to express their love. A handmade card or note means so much more than just signing your name. Take a moment to share your love. It is unending and grows when you share it. Children of all ages, 0-1000, can make their own cards.
Giving Real Love Feels Good in the Soul ~Amor Milagre
