Category: Pleasures for the Weekend

Good afternoon.  Here is an excerpt from my upcoming life & design book.  I hope you find it helpful for creating moody goals each month.

Transitioning from season to season, I’ve learned that one’s needs and focus can change so drastically, and so I make mood boards when I sense the time has come to turn over to something new, or usually old again.  Step one is to freely allow yourself to be drawn to imagery, sounds, words, and ideas that you’d like to be surrounded with for the upcoming season.  Step two is to assemble your goals and textures as you like, however it feels right to you.  Step three is to step back and gaze upon your mood.  You can speak to your board and journal about your observations.  What have you included?  How many of each idea have you emphasized?  What is the overall feeling you’d like to exude each day?  What adventures and plans can you make based on what you’ve compiled?  Mood boards also work in any type of medium, be it audio, visual, or textural, so this exercise is inclusive of the senses and every person’s experience of their own world.

I started this year with a calm, sleepy winter full of softness and restful places to dream and heal and be.  I also encouraged myself to illustrate and write endless novels and children’s books…letting my days be full of teaching our homeschool lessons, balancing my company, and finding a soft, slow, delicious rhythm for each of our daily routines.  The theme here was Nurture.

Then, in the spring-summer, I craved fresh green salads and blooming walks and tenderness in the trees and garden, feeling akin to all the wild animals and plants, while replacing all that was messy with pretty items and habits.  It is always a coming back to oneself, and it does take time after so long of being rushed and polluted.  The theme here was Harmony.

This autumn board was overwhelmingly excited.  The boards go through various quantities of photos and ideas.  Sometimes, there are few.  Sometimes, there are too many and spill into the journal a little early.  Autumn was like that this year.  So many feelings, ideas, and adventues to remember to try again.  Wearing those old effortless boots that make the pen and brush fly around unfraid was the mood there.  After clearing space in the mind, and in our daily life, there was room to invite new/old loves back in.  At this time, it felt good to be snuggled in between rolling pears and candlelight.  The theme here was Layers.

Now, as I can smell the snow on the mountain caps in the west, I’ve been simplifying down to only a few once again.  So much has been wrapped up this year.  The mood now is centered on the trees and snowflakes.  That is the real, essential goal for me, to be immersed in nature’s beauty.  It heals.  It prevents burnout.  It inspires.  It mesmerizes.  It laughs and cuddles.  It’s endless fun.  Untangling so much static and unfinished piles creates room and space to breathe.  This winter’s theme is Air.

Amor Milagre Mini is waiting for the snow before they redo their board.  It’s all about what you feel and when you feel the changes.  That is why I meditate on peace and celebrate every day, not waiting for the calendar to tell us when to get up and dance.

I don’t wonder about what the next board will reveal to me, and I cannot, as it’s not time for it yet.  Accumulating a season’s worth of accomplishments and future goals cannot be predicted.  I don’t try.  It’s time to focus on today.  I cook.  We eat.  We do the dishes.  We place them back on the pretty shelf that we made together.  I sip cocoa in the petrichor-soaked garden of puddles and golden leaves, smile, and patiently await our first snow of the season.  It’s time for that beautiful quiet to blanket all, and then the senses exhale.  I adore Autumn, while she’s here.  She is my favourite and my best.  This is why her boards are so full.  It reflects all we wish to do in that short time.  Then, we unwind and enjoy the winter through.  Now, I cosy up and watch the turkeys, deer, and yes, Papa Porcupine who loves our apple trees.

What pulls you to your board today?   Love, ~Amor Milagre

Music of the Moment:  Fiona’s Lullaby, Mason Daring (The Secret of Roan Inish)

Shop:  New Floral Halloween Ghost Trick-or-Treating Notecard!