{My Gator Baby Princess awaiting her Perfect Cloche...}
As the Great Edit and Purge Continues at Bohemian Valhalla, our Home is also going through a Metamorphosis and an Evolution is in progress yet again. As I'm Curating my Collections and only keeping or purchasing that which I absolutely LOVE, I see myself moving more towards the Style that is at my absolute Core and is less and less Influenced by Outside Sources, no matter how Inspiring, Beautiful or Trending they might be.
Practicality is also being thrown out the window, though you must keep Function in a Home where you're Raising a Family, I'm tired of keeping things Practical! When you get to my Season of Life you're not so concerned anymore whether something is useful, appropriate, sensible, and likely to be effective... I'd rather Style with reckless Abandon and what I LOVE regardless of Practicality now.
As I'm moving from room to room... and back again... severely Editing and Purging the contents until I'm Satisfied with the Results and Letting Go of what isn't Loved to Death, I'm having Fun Playing with the Vignettes of what is left. And I'm liking that even though it's much Less than it was before... it's becoming more Refined and 'Me' to my Core!
Objects aren't Competing so much with each other when there has been an Evolution where the Excess has been banished, leaving behind only that which should Survive the Process and I Feel is Worthy of Caring for. It has the Desired Curated rather than the Cluttered look, which certainly is Refreshing and much easier to take care of. I'm Surprised actually at how much has been Effortless to Let Go of... and even more Surprised at what Strong Attachments I've Formed to others that just Naturally Compliment each other rather than Compete for Space!
I do Believe that when something is Truly 'Your Heart' in Style or Fashion, then for you it just looks and Feels Right Together and Abides, doesn't it? I want our Home to be 'That Place' now... I've Experimented a lot over the Years with different Styles and Objects that Visually Appealed to me or Inspired me for a Season. But I found that I lost Interest because they weren't 'My Heart' and Core to me Personally. They were Frivolous and Fun to Introduce and then Move On from... I think a lot of Artistic Souls are like that... we'll try anything once, twice if we like it! *Winks* Because for us Variety Truly is the Spice of Life and we like to Experience New Things and Expose ourselves to New Environments and Adventures in Style, Artistic Expression and Fashion.
But for me at least there are always those Core Attractions that I keep coming Back to and are Deeper for some Mysterious Reason and so the Attachment and Preference for them is Stronger and Abides... it isn't Fleeting. I Adored it way back when, from as far back as I can Remember... and I Still Adore it Now all these Decades Later... more than Half a Century Later in fact and that's very Telling I think because it's a very long Time!!! *LOL*
Black has always been my Favorite Color... well, Non-Color I suppose... and I've always liked it coupled with Vivid Jewel Tones and Sepia. Sepia is perhaps the most Organic Hue that I've ALWAYS had a Strong Attachment to, though I couldn't go with a complete Sepia or Black Space because I doubt I could Live without Color in my World... Saturated Hues of Color in fact. I'm LOVING that Old Photo I recently 'Scored' of the Kimona clad Bohemian Beauty smoking, because it SO reminds me of my Mom in her Youth... that's how she always looked... Exotic, Stylish, Elegant and yet Free-Spirited. Mom rarely Experimented with Style... her's was a Constant of only what was LOVED and at her Core... she stayed very True to that for a Lifetime and that was somewhat of an Epiphany for Yours Truly... maybe that's why Mom's Home was ALWAYS her very Essence!!!
I can't always say that about our Home, I've so often Experimented and had Fun with Style, Collections, Themes and Fashion, but to a point where it wasn't at all MY very Essence... sometimes it wasn't even ME on any level!!! And so the Love Affair with the Look was very fleeting because it just didn't Feel Right even though often it Looked Awesome and there was certainly nothing Wrong with it... other than it wasn't Beloved at all. So I could so easily banish it and start with a Blank Canvas once again when the Whim to Experiment with something else overtook me! *Smiles* But Now is Different... the Evolution in Progress seems to Dictate that I go back to Core Loves and a Style that is the very Essence of me... FINALLY... and just Rest in it, because it's the most Comfortable, Authentic and Comforting to me... I can Relate to it and really be Strongly Attached.
So a lot of Art is coming off the Walls and being Replaced with the likes of this Beauty I recently 'Scored' and Absolutely is how I'd LOVE a Room in Bohemian Valhalla to end up Mirroring because that is SOOOOOO Perfectly ME on the Canvas of my Imagination of Style Perfection! It is HUGE and I wasn't even certain it would fit the Wall I had in mind for it or even fit in the Interior of my Truck on the Monsoon stormy day I bought it?!? *Smiles* But marked down to only Forty bucks from a Hundred and Forty bucks... and being Divinely Perfect... I was willing to risk it! I could Imagine myself in this Room... it Invites me into the Canvas!
Every Detail was Perfectly ME in this Room in fact... and so I Reflected and Meditated upon that Fact and why no Room of my Home currently Mirrored that Fact in Real Life as well as this Painting did? Was it just to Accommodate the Family and Function or Practicality? Or had I also just gone Astray and been Moved to bring in Beauty and Found Treasures that just caught my Eye or needed Rescuing by an Avid Keeper Of The Past, but which didn't Captivate and Connect to my Soul over the Years? I came to the Conclusion it was a blend of both.
And now that I've got sufficient Retail Spaces to Pass Along that which should Move Out of Bohemian Valhalla... I can... and that's very Exciting to me really since the Evolution In Progress is long overdue and I've actually been Secretly Longing for.
It's no longer going to be an 'After I get the Kid's Raised' Time-Line... because after Raising Two Generations of Kids now I Realize we just have to Make It Work WHILE Raising Youngsters. After all, Morticia and Gomez didn't wait until Wednesday and Pugsley were GROWN before they had that Great House did they? *Winks* I know, they weren't Real, but they COULD have been a Real Quirky Family, just like us... and I ALWAYS wanted my Home to look like that... I Fantasized about it FOREVER in fact! My Room looked like that when I was Growing Up at my Parent's Home... but I just didn't always Translate it into my own Homes and Spaces once I Grew Up... and that's a Shame really since it was an Abiding Love Affair with that particular Style and Sensibility.
Sure, I had a LOT of Fun Flirting with other Styles, Fashions and Aesthetics so there's no total Regrets going on here, they all Served a Purpose during their Time... but I do want to be able to say that I did Accomplish the Dream and make the Fantasy a Reality in this Lifetime... and I Believe that Time is Now because it's Beckoning to me so Strongly at this Season of Life.
And so... I'm moving Towards it... one step at a time as the Metamorphosis and Evolution of Bohemian Valhalla continues along that Path and Destiny it was perhaps ALWAYS Meant to Finish at as the Final Destination...
Blessings from the Arizona Desert... Dawn... The Bohemian