TAPPING INTO YOUR OWN BRILLIANCE II

"To know what you prefer, instead of humbly saying 'Amen' to what this world tells you you ought to prefer, is to keep your soul alive." - Henri Matisse

Until I was in my late thirties, I never did any decorating in my home without the assistance of my mother and/or oldest sister. When I tried to choose plain white dishes for my wedding registry, the look of horror on both their faces had me quickly erasing that entry and replacing it with the floral pattern that made them smile in satisfaction. When John got transferred to Indonesia, though, and Mom and Sis couldn't come along, I was finally forced to make a few decisions on my own. Surprisingly, I liked it! After three years, when we knew it was time to move back home, I started pulling pictures out of magazines. I knew we would probably build a house from scratch when we got home, and I didn't want to be caught off guard, with no clue as to what I wanted. I didn't go through looking for anything specific. I just tore out anything that really called to me. Anything that really quivered my liver.

When I had finished, and was flipping through my wish book, I was hit with a startling revelation. Maybe it wasn't that I had bad taste, or no taste at all, as I had believed most of my life. Maybe my taste was just different than most - because the home I was imagining looked absolutely nothing like those of my mother and sister, with all their gee-gaws and ruffled frou-frouness. What I really wanted was something more along the lines of the place I dragged John to every time we were in Singapore - that British Colonial jewel of pale walls with rich wood trim, high ceilings with slowly turning fans, four poster beds with mosquito netting, rippling palms and airy simplicity - The Raffles Hotel. (we never actually stayed there - just went for afternoon tea, or for Singpore Slings, in the bar where they were invented)

All of this leads us to Step #2 of Mary Jane Butter's agenda for Tapping Into Your Own Brilliance: Create A Collage! Mary Jane says, "Not only is this a fun project just 'for the heck of it,' but collaging is also a sure way to stir up ideas. No fancy equipment required. Just gather a bunch of old magazines, greeting cards, or picture books and start snipping out images that call to you. Don't worry if they're completely unrelated or if they seem silly. It doesn't matter if you don't understand quite why they ring true. Trust your instincts. Paste the pictures on poster board and watch as a map of your spirit emerges."

I did as instructed, and as you can see above, my spirit had a lot to say about how my new Cantina Garden should look and feel!

(click image to enlarge)