House of Belief

In April I work towards a "house of belief", a concept that comes from one of my favorite books, by Kelee Katillac. She writes about "rituals of belief", by which she means the process of creating things that are a visual reminder of your values and what you aspire to.

A house of belief reflects the family that lives in it. I'm working towards clean rooms (clean floors, windows, dust-free surfaces); a comfortable amount of clutter (and a place to put each useful thing away); spaces that welcome and embrace all the ages of people who live or visit here; and visual interest - things to look at that spark the imagination, and communicate our love of nature.

Kelee Katillac says: "It is important to keep in mind that a ritual of belief is a belief plus physical action. A ritual of belief always ends in a positive physical form. Form is an object or expression that can be seen or touched. ... Form takes creative ideas and makes them visible." 

The premise of her book is that when we create representations of our beliefs and dreams with art and crafts, or seek out and surround ourselves with meaningful objects, our beliefs become concrete - no longer abstract - and we can more easily accept them as truth.

Agenda:

1. Read "The 5 Resets"
2. Living room joy

3. Practice visualization

1. Read "The 5 Resets":

For Lent, I'm reading "The 5 Resets: Rewire Your Brain and Body for Less Stress and More Resilience" (2024), by Aditi Nerurkar. My goal is to get wiser, stronger, and more adaptable.

I've been working at the first reset - to Get Clear on What Matters Most. I set some realistic goals, and made a realistic plan - By Easter I will adopt healthy choices for snacks and meals without processed food, and be less addicted to easy carbs; integrate most if not all of the Emotional Balance Workbook exercises into my everyday life, and feel more emotionally grounded, aware, and regulated; and complete at least three art projects of some kind.

The second reset is to Find Quiet in a Noisy World. She spends several pages discussing smartphone and screen time addiction: Digital noise causes us stress. She suggests I create boundaries around my valuable attention bandwidth. I've also instituted a buffer of one hour of no screen games before my planned sleep time.

The third reset is Synch Your Brain and Your Body. Our mind-body connection is always running in the background, and plugging in to it with intention can help reduce your stress. 

The easiest technique is Stop-Breathe-Be. Practice this throughout the day to create a new habit of noticing your body, thoughts, and emotions: 

• Before I start any new task, say STOP, and bring awareness to my body's stillness; 
• then say BREATHE, and be aware of one deep breath in and out, and release any tension in my body; 
• then say BE, and ground myself in the present moment in time.

2. Living room joy:

In April I aim to clean and tidy with joy and creativity, and fine tune my interior spaces and my garden to better express my beliefs; specifically - simplicity, love, and unity with nature.

This week is Living Room week: I try to find a balance of simplicity and abundance in our spaces, but our living area is tipped heavily toward abundance. This is the place we spend the most time each day; it's a comfortable lounging room and a play-space for our grandsons; with both a lively two-year old, and an active pre-schooler, we have multi-use needs! Our living room is filled with joyful activity and creativity, with projects, books, and toys on hand to divert and entertain.

My creative cleaning and decorating ideas for the living room:

• Remove the kid's work table for a while to make room for the box fort.
• Nature images: Draw birds around the front door.
• Wall art: Add some of my newer paintings to our walls, and hang more grandson paintings.
• Spring nature tray: Add spring flowers

3. Practice visualization:

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Every month, at the waxing gibbous moon (my last push for action), I call on the practice of visualization to help me to see the next steps towards bringing my goals to fruition. Today I shine a light on my House of Belief project.

Creative visualization is a technique that uses my imagination to create change. (Because of my visual and auditory sensitivity, this is the best process for knowing what I'm feeling.) It has these steps:

• First, set an intention: Say, "Today I call on the Spirit of Love to bring me clarity and open my eyes to expressing our love of nature with drawings of birds surrounding our front door."
• Center and relax each part of my body: With each breath, allow my awareness to deepen and become softer. No stress. No rush. I walk or float in an imaginary void. Open a connection to Spirit. Feel a soft warmth begin to grow and spread through me, until I am radiating quiet energy.
• Create a clear, detailed picture in my mind, as though the objective has been reached. Paint a vivid mental image of birds perched on the door frame, the baseboard, and flying, and put as much positive energy into the image as possible. 
• Lastly, affirm that this is what I want with a short positive phrase in the present tense: "Today I will take the first steps towards drawing birds near our front door."
• Give thanks and return: Saying thanks out loud is how I acknowledge the reality of the gift of my vision.

The thought-image is like a signal-flare that guides the physical thing or deed to manifest in my life (and it's a good way to keep my intentions in my mind). I will carry the vision of the completed goal with me, and focus on it often during the day, in a gentle manner.