Muses

If you have read my blog before you may know that I, like everyone else I guess, am on journey of self discovery. Having my shop and this blog have led me down the rabbit hole to Stampington and finally to ladies like such as Sandra Everston and Catherine Moore.

One of the promises I made to myself this year was to work on my creativity. I have always had fashion, entertaining and decorating sense I am not being arrogant it took me until this week, and alot of navel contemplating. to be able to say this. Friends, family and my husband have always told me I am creative. To me this seemed like too good a compliment. Yet have never attempted to interpret myself outside of this. Since my husband is an artist. I thought I was on relegated to the sidelines.

I am proud to say that this week I created my first real work. I am thrilled with my result for being a novice. I am not ready to unveil it yet - I am not being coy... just want to work my way up to showing others. A little inspiration goes a long way. Who knew what paper and a gluestick could do? I believe that this is only the beginning for me.

One lady who does amazing paper craft is the Queen of Denmark. In fact truth be known I have been tempted to try something like this for several years when I first became familiar with the Queen's work. The photo here is one of 25 decoupages that she did for a reissue of HC Andersen's Snow Queen. I have been searching for better images to share with you to no avail. Regretably I gave the book away thinking that I could get another and have not been able to track it down since.

I never thought that I would or could be good enough to be an "artist". One thing that was very liberating was a line from Sandra's book that says that you don't need to create something perfect, just beautiful. Isn't that a freeing thought? If you read the Oprah interview with Maria Shriver then you know that many of us have the not good enough malaise. We just have to stive for beautiful without being perfect.

We Can Do It - Part 2

Donnie Deutsch is the best, just so positive, kind of cute and funny too. You can tell he loves his job. The Big Idea is uplifting and a must for business people. I have been having insomnia for weeks and caught a really good show of his late last nite that I'd like to share. The theme was ta da...being happy. Seems there are studies out there that happy people earn 40% more than unhappy folks. Now one can argue that these people are happy becuase they earn more but actually the study explains that their positive outlook makes them more attractive interviewees and employees.

Now I know that we can't wave a magic wand to make this happen, all this happiness. But Donnie being Donnie had several experts on including Sonja Lyubomirsky who has written a book on how to be happy. On the CNBC website she has a condensed version of her 12 step plan. Here's the link. http://www.cnbc.com/id/25708262/

Now if you are a long time reader of Vie you may remember that I lived in Denmark for several years. A global happiness survey has been conducted for the last 30 years and Denmark always comes up on top. The survey has been done for the last 30 years and Denmark always wins. I can vouch for this. People are not as materialistic, and make more of an event out of every day. What everyone strives for in their home and entertaining is "hygge". Loosely translated it is a feeling of coziness and well being. Candles are always lit, whether at home or in the cafes. A small, carefully arranged flower grouping is always at the table. Furnishings are chosen for life. Parties are planned with great care. And everyone knows that their responsiblity is to be a good guest and conversationalist.

At lunchtime in any office, the whole dept puts aside any talk of work to enjoy the half hour meal together and talk about the weather, the news, travel, etc. A gift is chosen with such tenderness, even if it is a business gift. To me it seems that it is done from affection and not duty. There's a lot of other examples but I think you understand.

Now the interesting thing about this survey is that Danes when interviewed said that the reason for their happiness is because they have lower expectations. I don't think that this is it, I think it is that they are satisfied. Less is more. (and five weeks of vacation a year mandated by the government, plus lots of great social benefits doesn't hurt either.) Another big part of it has to do with a reading that every school age child learns which basically says that no one is better than anyone else and that the society is as great as it's weakest link.

Before I lived in Denmark I did not truly understand how to savor a moment. My mom used to tease me about my impatience, always saying I was going to wear my wedding dress before my wedding. I was always looking for the next raise or promotion or whatever. Now the lessons I learned in Denmark sometimes get lost in my hustle and bustle American life but I do try to remember that this moment won't come by again, and that I need to enjoy it for all it's worth.