My Muse

The house that you call your “home” has such an impact on you. After a long day of interactive chatter once I step into my home there is such an indulging serenity within the premises. I find immediate consolation just looking around and being in that ambience of plants, paintings, books that I treasure… everything as I look around has such interesting thoughts, memories attached with them, that right away the stress from the mind slides away.

No matter how the ‘home décor’, there is always a sense of calling from your home. The ambience of a home is defined by who you are, and what your life style is. I am reminded of the fragrance of dhup sticks that my mother used to burn during her morning puja with sincerely picked flowers from her little garden. The lingering aroma, when I visited her, even in the late evening, always gave me the feeling of a temple.

Canada’s carpet floors does not allow dhup-burning in my home, and yet I have friends who have walked in to say ‘there is something very peaceful in this home’. I smile, as it reaffirmed my beautiful belief that a ‘home’ where there has been singing, chanting and meditation, has a different influence on the mind, than a place where there has been argument or turmoil.

I am also reminded of those days, five years back, when I took the challenge to give up a beautiful colonial style bungalow home in India. A home that was a cushioned haven to us, was dismantled, to fly across the globe with just two suitcases to settle in a new country. As days slipped by, a passionate dream sizzled in the heart of a mother to give back the two teenage boys, what I stole from them… a “home”.  A home that will create a nest of comfort to cradle our bodies and minds.

An empty house we bought… and slowly and steadily started matching our wish-list to give back to ourselves a home that would embrace, nurture, sustain and inspire us.  Slowly and steadily the soft snug places came back, colourful rugs and durries with Gurjari cushion covers got back, romantic corners with ethnic lampshades and original folk paintings returned. How beautiful was it to see little by little my dream was taking shape…interesting shelves to display my artistic collections, a decent sound system as we could afford and a personal music collection that defines who we are. Guitars, drums, djembe, harmonium became our precious inmates. Bright orange and blue pottery adorned my kitchen soon… and lush green plants smiled at me… red and white flowers delighted my patio while cute beds of pretty pink and deep purple petunias welcomed visitors into our ‘home’.

Mantra chantings and meditation sessions started indoors, and the more we got engrossed in it the more beautiful my home became!

I know everyone’s list is different…. But what was pivotal to me was, I was given a second chance to create my cozy home. Taking the time to figure out what and how I want it to be, was a beautiful journey. In retrospect I also see that as I continued in my journey of an interior decorator of other people’s lives, by teaching Art of Living courses, the universe kept transforming my intentions into reality doing the interior decoration of my life and home, so that my boys got back a personal nest that comforted their body and minds.

Today as I linger around and see the books, the African masks, the hanging bronze south Indian pradeeps, the dokhra artifacts, the Madhubani and Warli paintings, hanging flower pots in a summer patio, the bamboo chimes and Philip Fraser’s flute playing in the background, I recognize “passion” has been my loving muse.

With passion as my muse, I continue to decorate other people’s life and my home!