In winter she wears soft scarves of bright color,
Brews teas rich from afar, burns incense earthen and warm all through summer,
Eyes of honey amber, amethyst blue,
Her lamp's light burns all the night through.
She weaves cloth and creates silver jewels with gentle hands,
Brings to merchants across the grass, hills and sands,
Purples and fuchsias, magenta strands,
And her skillful virtues are voiced throughout the lands.
Dimpled cheek and bright smile,
Free of deceit or the slightest of guile,
She innocently and humbly gives to the poor,
No injustice to others will she ever ignore.
Strong arms from reaping the harvest,
Bringing forth surplus fruits the ripest,
While honeysuckle blooms by her door's entrance,
Her hearth never bare of rich sustenance.
Who can find her, a woman as such?,
I know no greater virtue or beauty you could touch,
As bright as the flame that burns from her candle,
As every nuance of discord she can simply handle.
Who can find her?,
A virtuous woman, who can find?
Yes, the title kind of gives it away. This summer, after Nashville and Revenge were over and had their finales on ABC, I turned to three shows mainly over the summer: Hannibal NBC, gruesome but good, a bit dark to see with my vision (my son could see it better across the room, just missing a lot of blood), The Bachelorette, a lot of crying and drama, Bachelor in Paradise, which may as well be called either 'Boys Dumping Girls' or 'Pretty White Kids Looking For Love,' since as my son pointed out, no one on it is anything but white, and last but not least Extant CBS where Halle Berry plays an astronaut in the future who has two sons, one half alien called the hybrids, which Molly played by Halle Berry becomes herself eventually, and the other son an android called the humanics. It is the future, and the human race is going extinct. The humanics who were made to be soldiers and to fight, have gone rogue and are killing the hybrids who are actually good but fierce if attacked. The humanics ultimately turn against humanity led by one especially diabolical but pretty female humanic who's name I forget, and Halle Berry and her comrads destroy the humanics eventually, with the exception of Ethan, her little boy due to a special computer firewall created by Molly's dead husband, John. Julie, the scientist figures this out on the computer, franticly trying to save Ethan who they all love dearly. Meanwhile, the humanics all in route to different destinations from Mumbai to Paris to St. Petersburg with vials of a virus to kill humanity, all get sick and die on their respective airplanes.
As everyone knows, Halle Berry is possibly the most beautiful woman on earth, she has the greatest hairstyle on this show, layered with bangs and highlights, and I thought it might be a good style for me. I went to get my hair cut and asked for her hairstyle. Christen, my stylist, looked on her cell phone and brought up a picture of the old Halle Berry with short hair. I said, "no, put in Halle Berry 2015."
She did and brought up a picture of Halle Berry on a scene from Extant. I said, "that's it. That's the one."
Christen said, "I can do it, but you will have to work on it, blow dry it every day, use a curling iron. It will be time consuming."
I said, "oh never mind then. I like to just wash my hair, scrunch it a bit, let it dry natural and occasionally dry it straight or I should say straightish, as well as combing and brushing it once or twice a day." I haven't had a high maintenance hairstyle since the late seventies to early eighties when I was in college. So, I just went with some layering around my face, declining layers in the back, since I did not really want big eighties hair, although I can show you some pictures of me when I was young with 'big' hair. I realize I do have a lot of time, but I do not think I need to spend that much time just to go to the grocery store.
Next or a few days later, I went to a discount store to shop for things I need like scouring pads, toothpaste, clothing and what not. I came across Halle Berry Jasmine Perfume. It also came with lotion. I opened the box and took out the beautiful little bottle (I love perfume bottles) and sprayed a squirt on my wrist and rubbed together. It was intoxicating, so delicate and fresh, a really nice scent but not overpowering. I proceeded to take that to the register with my other items, but my wrists started to itch, which happens when I am allergic to a perfume, so I had to go wash it off in the restroom. I could not get the perfume, which is okay, because I already have Remembrance Forever Mine, which is the knockoff of Romance Always Yours by Ralph Lauren, although the knock off has the usual disclaimer that reads 'not associated with Ralph Lauren Romance.'
All in all what did I learn from this experience? Well, I learned what I already know, that I just have to be myself even if I can't be as gorgeous as Halle Berry. Maybe I am just as beautiful in my own special way if that does not sound too corny. I really do believe that we all have beauty, and especially when the inner beauty has room to shine. I even believe there is someone for everyone, and even if we never find them like some lucky ones, they are still out there or possibly we already know them, only our circumstances keep us from being a couple, and that is okay too, because love is all that really counts deep down. Namaste.
Getting rid of too much stuff is a really good thing to do. It helps with the whole feng shui mood, and it keeps your home or office more spacious, organized, clean and workable. It makes finding things easier.
The hardest thing for me to part with at times is clothing. There are many blogs on this whole minimalist movement, but I have an accumulation of ideas from experience and research, as well as years of living in a small home.
Sometimes not having so many little containers for small odds and ends, but rather just putting them in a small drawer is a better idea. I ended up with clear dresser drawers, which I could put in the living room for tools, flashlights, etc., because I got rid of so many junky clothes I owned. Well, they were not necessarily all junky, but either too cheap, too trendy, too small, too big, too worn out, or I just did not like it any longer, not to mention the bad memory things, as well as things from other eras of my life. Still, sentimentality certainly has a place. I owned a navy hoodie sweatshirt from the time I was thirteen until I was about thirty-six, and it was covered with paint and holes, and really short from shrinkage.
One thing you can do to keep from accumulating too many clothes is to not have too many hangers. This is a method I learned online like many other things. Throw out stuff with holes and permanent stains, although I still believe in the art of darning socks, which are hard to find good quality in. My sister darned mine, because my eyes are so bad I cannot see the thread. Sewing is hard for me, but believe it or not, blind people do sew.
One thing I suggest not cluttering with is batteries. After seeing this blog about a guy's house that burned down because of recycling 9volt batteries that you put in a smoke detector and how you should cover the receptors with electric tape before disposing, I really suggest not hoarding batteries or anything for that matter.
I think replacing things is a good practice. I recently got a new welcome mat, as well as a new rug for wiping your feet on the inside. My younger son and I re-carpeted a room last summer for my other son, so I do believe in replacing things.
Back to clothing, you know you got rid of stuff you needed to when you cannot even really remember what they were. Sometimes I miss stuff, and I am more thoughtful about it for that reason now. After all, clothing are a bit expensive these days, though I suppose they were more scarce and relatively more expensive when I was a kid. We did not have much then in terms of clothing. Then I was in the clothing retail business when I was young in the eighties (nineteen and twenty I mean), and I think that is when clothes were getting more affordable. That is until I lived in L.A. for three years where everything was more expensive, but most of my life has been spent on the southeast coast.
I will be writing more soon about the problem of keeping an uncluttered environment, unless I find some new interest. One thing I have noticed is how attractive things look when organized and clear. It is also a lot easier to clean when surfaces are clear. Getting rid of out of date medicine and cosmetics as well as vitamins is a good way to clear bathroom and kitchen space as well.
Now we have a light and clear space where chakras can get into alignment, and we have more room for yoga and dancing, even playing music, more room for joy, just being joyous. Namaste.
