Softness in cool tones

Softness in cool tones, originally uploaded by ivy style33.

...ok....ok....I admit that I' ve been meaning to come here so often during this first week after our vacations, but have not managed to do so....I feel a little embaraced for that, as I know that those of you who are followers - yes at least these eighty six of you! - might have dropped in to see what is up (and actually what 's not!) and therefore noticing that there has been quite some uploading going on in my flickr stream, unlike here!

I meant not to be rude or neglecting, but as I've said in the past a few times, posts come in a free manner and not at all because they are programmed or scheduled...maybe some organisation wouldn't hurt, but for the time being I find this whole posting and blogging thing to be working in this simplistic and free manner.

And now that all this uneasy part is said and done, let me say that I'm happily back and have enjoyed very beautiful and precious moments throughout our 12 days in Greece.

Coming back I felt that there was so much I wanted to share and on the other hand I wanted to take my time into finding the pace in being active on line again.....one step at a time....as both my partner and I were completely technology free during our 8 days in magical Pilion and by that I mean laptop, internet and mobile free.
All we carried were our camera equipments - my modest Minolta Dimage and my partner's two great Sony cameras and amazing lences, on which I don't set my fingers upon.....yet.

If you 'd like to see some pictures of our trip, I invite you here and should you wish to take a look at the place where we stayed when in Athens, that would be my parents' Apartment 44, the making of which I'm responsible for, you may hop over here!

....I decided to return here with this collage of pictures as they represent my current mood today and are connected to the next post that is going to follow in a little while....

I read in the comments of the last post I made the day we left for vacation,, that a reader of this blog - Ana - missed my feelings as she said....now how sweet is that and what a good reason to share! Thank you Ana for caring and taking the time to read!

Some recent thoughts on the endless subject of Love are shared here if you 'd like to have a ...read!

I wish that you all have had a nice Friday and most of all to have the nicest of weekends ahead of you, being blessed, happy, peaceful, creative and having lots of fun!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!, originally uploaded by ivy style33.

Of all the gifts of life, motherhood must be one of the most precious ones! To all the mothers of the world, biological and not, hope you are spending lovely days with your families, your loved ones, yourselves or however you wish!

Today I'm thankful for having been born a woman and for having been brought up by a caring, loving mother.

Ivy hearts styling...

Ivy hearts styling..., originally uploaded by ivy style33.

....wether interiors, exteriors or fashion, she loves to style!
....and most of all she loves to style with a clear mind and a smily heart!...she's happy for her initial studies and major in Psychology (and minor in Philosophy ) and sees that provided there is health given, there is nothing that can stand between a person and his/her true passion!

Having been passionate about style all my life, the only reason I hadn't studied it at the beginning was that major life issues in my immediate environment called for understanding, and studies on the subject mentioned were a priority.

Years of personal analysis followed ( as to practice in my own self what studied) and all comes down to the one and only truth: we are all born with some talents and passions and there's nothing better than perfecting them as soon as possible....but should life bring it this way, that there is a delay...it is never too late and actually, late is better than never!

I have come to conclude that there is a special quality in styling that fascinates me and this is that of balance.

I know that decorating is very often about astonishing results and evoking ohhhhs and wooows, or needing to impress even a little bit with some possesions. This is fine and quite often I myself do admire such spaces, but somehow I prefer to live and create simple interiors, that are powered by the personalities of the people inhabiting them.

Balanced interiors of course needn't always be in neutral palletes, as much as balanced people needn't always be quiet! They can still be expressive and get super enthusiastic about things, still there's something about the way of expressing that holds a certain balance....

Always...not too much....and not too little...who knows maybe a new wave will emerge....after minimalism and maximalism....balancism!

If we think about it, we are all amazed or affected by balance in so many ways....dancers and acrobats wouldn't be able to perform without balance...buildings wouldn't be able to stand straight, cyclists wouldn't be able to ride their bicycles or motorcycles, there would be no musical harmony and of course there would be no day and night, no seasons....everything in the whole of existence seems to be based on balance....but we people are sometimes so dependent on our need to impress, that we choose fancy or extreme ways - in our interiors / outfits/ behavior - which are definetely much more notable and exciting...and probably easier to achieve...

Do they make us happy though?
Could it be that the key to happiness is also balance?

A different kind of power....

A different kind of power...., originally uploaded by ivy style33.

...the power of tranquility...of light...of softness....of simplicity....the power of solid wood....of brick walls...or mirror reflections and swirling energy....the power of eyes and perception...the power of movement....of beauty, of memories of things once loved...the power of freedom and happiness...

...each one of these images carries a strong ammount of power to my eyes...yet they are all so calm and relaxing...but in no way boring...

Power is an issue to be considered a lot, as throughout history, as much as in our current days, misuse of it is responsible for countless pain and destruction in our world...caused both to humans and nature itself.

It is usually misused in the hands of the greedy, self centered and ignorant...and in the hands of the unawarably low self-esteemed ones and the ones whose pain is left untreated...camouflaging the wounds with uncontrolable anger and hunger for attention.

Peace in the world starts from peace within our hearts. Let's take the necessary steps to be gradually achieving this point throughout our lives, doing both ourselves, our loved ones and the world a favor.

We have the power in our hands....we have the power in our minds...but most of all we have the power in our hearts.

Starting by simply never causing or wishing to someboby anything, that we wouldn't like to happen to us.
Starting by respecting our fellow human beings and our individual differences and never but never understimating others, as we can never know exactly what they have been through their lives.

Power matters into bringing peace. Power should not be missunderstood for aggresiveness, ambition or anger.

When the shades of soul are open...

...forms of goodness will always cross our paths in life....sometimes we'll be the ones to give and others we'll be the ones to receive....eventhough the cup of pain doesn't have the same size for everyone....there will be goodness and blissfulness knocking on our doors and our windows...we must open though...trully open...and be prepared...cause as we open to feelings of bliss and happiness, we are also susceptible to feelings of fear, sorrow and sadness...

  It is so normal though, as we cannot be happy, smiling robots, always excited about everything and always pleased with ourselves and others...unless we are participating in a play rather than real life....

  So, true happiness can be felt when we have also allowed sorrow to be felt.
Sadly, it is mostly considered as a sign of weakness in our current societies....sensitivity, which is the basis for experiencing feelings in all their range, is considered often a shame.

  Maybe all the great individuals throughout the whole human existence, who have accomplished greatness should be considered....maybe then there is a chance of considering a different perspective...

  Sensitivity doen't need to be mistaken for overemotionalism, when everything seems to affect us in an extreme degree, possibly impairing our daily lives...

  Sensitivity doesn't need to be confused with many powerful words...for this again, is a quality to be expressed in someone's actions and felt rather than be spoken about...

  Sensitivity is possibly respecting deeply ourselves as we respect others...

  Keep in mind that a delicate, adjustable tree with a flexible bark will be the one to survive strong storms, as it has the ability to bend...and then stand straight and safe again...able to enjoy the next sunshine and spring...



  This attitude has helped me through all kinds of life's difficulties, since early childhood....the heart was kept soft....as a hard heart is a frozen heart....and all the blissfulness and warmth of the world is not enough to make it alive again...

Would you risk that?....we have it in our hands....we hold happiness in our hands...we are the key...we have the responsibility....

Colourless

...just because...
...it allows space for the individuals to be the protagonists rather than the objects

...because sometimes silence is golden and silent interiors contribute to that

...in the era of multimedia and everything published /aired/ blogged/ twittered/ stated in FB/ shared in any possible way

...keeping the balance is hard...but so incredibly necessary

...extrospection  is needed as much as introspection, otherwise we tend to share just for the mere purpose of sharing...resulting often in.... not really having much to share...( reaching to the point ---> Attention needed no matter what )

As much as extrospection, in common words observing ( to put it in a kind manner ) what others do, is so often noticed and exercised, there seems to be a rather big absence of introspection, meaning , observing ourselves, personalities and behavior.

But to achieve that, we must be willing to see all parts of ourselves, parts that are often unpleasant, small, wrong, terrifying sometimes, along with all the greatness that each of us carries.

And there comes the point ,where lots of people, stop, turn their backs and simply say "I don't need to do that", "I have already done it".

Well, should this be done, it means that it actully becomes a process of our daily realities, looking inside, taking care of our own gardens, as much as we look, admire, get in spired ( and at worst get envious) of other people's gardens, or advise them about how their flowers will grow, when our own are actually not blooming at all.

A possible way it manifests is through the actual speech of people...somehow eventhough we may be speaking about ourselves, there is no need to start every single sentence with "I", "me", "mine" or point all the arrows to us ( look at me/ hear me / love me/ admire me / be jealous of me...)...the actions are to be emphasized...and there is a realisation that we are just simply, another human existence in this world.

...we don't take ourselves more seriously than we should....and we have managed to refine the notion of being ambitious...it's more rare than commom though, among well known people ( and not only), and this is just so sad.....and to bring this post to a closure with a positive feeling...after having stated in a way what un/de -inspires me, here is what I'm trully inspired from (and also try to achieve)

-> taking small steps
-> taking time to establish and be established
-> sharing for a reason
-> offering inspiration as a means of balancing for the inspiration often received from
others, having something new to say, to show, to give
-> quiet strength
-> people with effortlessly sparkling personalities
-> depth in character
-> examining and tasting before taking a decision/ judging /accepting / turning down
-> being connected to life, to its reality, to its truth
-> learning and people who devote time and effort into doing that
-> being enthusiastic but rather not shouting it
-> whichever expression of emotion comes from within
-> genuine creativity
-> people who are mostly in touch with themselves ( this doesn't mean that they talk
about it , rather than act like it)
-> true qualities

Feeling love - have a nice new week!

Feeling love...
...im my living space,
...in my environment and surroundings,
...in the country I'm currently living,
...inside my heart,
...in the things I engage into...

...there were times when this seemed totally impossible... but patience, hard work with the Self, willingness to look how small I also am, how wrong and imperfect, has led to such feelings prevailing in my daily life...even when things are difficult, because easiness and uneasiness are both sides of life.

  Stopping to expect that life ows us something, because we believe to be something better, could be a key to that. Even when we reach to the highest point of our potentials, there will still be countless of other people better than us...I wonder why this is so terrifying to some....and the top seems to be the only place where they feel comfortable....but the "Top" is such a subjective place and notion.

  People who sparkle in their lives with their existences, for whichever reason this might be, just fancinate me...and some of them might be trully well known or might simply not be known at all.

  On the other hand, people who strive to get attention no matter what and for the only mere purpose of it, just make me think....what is it that has gone so terribly wrong, that cannot be recognised?

This Easter I'm loving....

1. That we let ourselves free and simply ended up
staying at home, with no special preparations
made, but still enjoying daily three nice meals and tea time in between.

2. The vintage, wooden bunnies from East Germany,
found in the attic and donated by my partner's father, which
serve as our Easter, understated decoration.

3. The inexpensive white - golden, porcelain tea set for two, recently purchased at a local store,
reminding me of my mother's Bavarian set I grew
up with.

4. The trip I made to Munich a few days ago and
enjoyed to its fullest extend, mostly because
after a long time, I travelled on my own again.

5. That photgraphy has developed into a true
passion affecting every domain of my life in
multiple ways.

6. One of which being, the ability to keep a
journal of pretty decent pictures of the places
visited, especially architecture that so much
fancinates me and I adore.

7. Another being making, posting & sharing pictures
of my everyday life here, the place where I 've
met a lot of people that inspire me, I admire
and have grown true friendship feelings for.

8. That through flickr, my mother no longer feels
away from me, as through the pictures, she sees
the world I experience through my eyes and has a
regular visual connection to me. Telling her
that I'm happy, cannot be compared with the fact
that she can see a smile up on my face!

9. Among the mails I get from dear friends, flickr
friends and contacts, the ones from my mother saying 
how much she loved what she saw, carry special 
meaning and importance.

10. That it's the 3rd Easter I'm spending in this
beloved little Penthouse with my partner and it feels so right!

11. That after a period of adjustment in this
country, I have really started to enjoy my life
here and appreciate it for all its benefits,
being able to bare the disadvantages and the
difficult parts.

12. That after more than two years that I'm gone
from Greece, the friendship field has cleared
out. I am very, very pleased for the few, true
friendships with a couple of wonderful people!

13. That I am as close as I have ever been to making
some of my dreams come true and the fact that I
am prepared for all the work that this involves.

14. That I'm in relative peace with myself, having
grown a deep understanding of why and how I've
reached where I am, even when it seemed that I
was taking the wrong direction or choosing a
rather long way. My vision always seems to
prevail and be clear, even in between storms.
I suspect the reason being that it comes from the depths of my existence and it
is trully connected to the heart.

15. That I'm in relative peace with others, even
when that involves saying a firm "no",
especially when I feel that I'm not being
honestly appreciated for who I am and the parts
of myself that I generously offer.

16. I've finally grown and learned to have
some patience when things are difficult and
accepted the fact that those moments simply
need to be bared, like the happy moments in
life and that they always reflect the need for
undealt issues to be taken care of.

Thank you for reading through this post, in case you did, it means a lot to me to communicate such thoughts and am pretty certain that the ones to read are the right ones...

Should you wish to share here in the comment section what you are loving or are pleased about this Easter, please do so!

Desperate Housewife?

...not really....leave that for the TV series....to all those women who stay at home, taking care of their loved ones and families, of their homes and possibly having or starting their own home bussinesses.....allow to nobody to question your capabilities, your integrity and your human worth.

After a huge revolution in sex equalitity and women pursuing madly carriers, very often for the mere purpose of just proving themselves, rather than actually loving what they do in many cases, it seems that a new era has begun since a few years.

Thanks to this amazing, magic, modern tool of internet ( which like everything powerful can be used in many ways....creative ones, uncreative ones, destructive ones, senseless time consuming ones, and the list goes on and on) many people ( especially women) have the ability to combine work with spending longer hours at home, than they would do, should they have to be at their jobs.

Eventhough a jod is a means of earning money, it is of such great importance that it also fullfils a person's life in a meaningful way. There are a lot of women ( myself being one of them) who eventhough are part of a "modern" society, enjoy a more traditional role as women. That of a person who brings all the beauty in a man's life and their living surrounding.

There is nothing small about that. Actually, in today's crazy lifestyles, where marriages take place only to fall apart after some time or the first difficulties and when relationships are based on anything else but honesty, true affection and understanding or even physical attraction, a woman's role is rather big and important in a different way.

Men are more practical beens and getting in touch with their feelings is not exactly a piece of a cake. It is rather more applicable that a woman does the work for two on the emotional level. This needs time, devotion and patience.

Let me clear out here, that there is absolutely no doubt that there DO are women who enjoy having a carrier, do it in a very succesful manner and at the same time run successful relationships and families.

Just poiniting out here, that women who decide to work from home, deserve the same respect with the ones who leave home to do it. And had it not been for the female revolution a few decades ago, this would have never been an issue.

But as everything in life, every new thing needs to be evaluated through time and it has been proven that a tremendous decrease has recently taken place in the quality of relationships and family life.

Women have lost their selves, got confused with the power they aquired, only to make men also exactly as confused and actually frustrared and running away from any kind of commitment. They are not to be blamed. Actually it us, women ,who need to realise that our worth does not depend on being able to do or to earn as much as men do but
on being the best we can for ourselves. Not few are also the cases of women earning more than their male partners, by running their own home based businesses.

Nature is so, that women are blessed with the gift of having the capability to carry and give birth to children, and eventhough there is nothing wrong in men raising children, it is simply the most natural thing for a woman to spend some time raising their child or children.

Thankfully, there are ways nowdays that women can be productive & offer themselves to society and to their families, in manners different that would not have been able before the discovery of Interenet.

It enables millions of crafters and independent artists to sell their items, should they wish to online, either via their own shop or by participating in universal independent artists & crafters platforms such as Etsy, which holds a few million members worldwide, making it the biggest one.

Well known artists and people who have managed to earn their living ( and actually a good one ) are members of such online societies. And most of them can also be found on Flickr ( the biggest photography pool on earth) where their creations and often lifestyles are shared as a means of offering inspiration.

So, I 'll slowly bring this looooong post to an end by saying that should we actually want to go together with our times and not against them, it is about time we realised, that there have already decades passsed from " female revolution" and that being modern nowdays has a new meaning.

There is an increased need for returning to the rooots, whatever that means, ranging from a shift in our inner selves, to returning home, to being more close to nature.

And if an earth that is facing environmental disaster, people who are more and more depressed in consuming societies who offer everything and families and relationships who fall apart like sandcastles is not the proof and not enough of an alarm to wake us up, then, what is?

It is so much easier to simply follow our nature than to fight it and go against it.
Human sadness arises not because of who we are but because of not allowing ourselves to become who we trully are.
And as much as simple this might sound, it needs a great deal of attention, care and patience to reach to the point of understanding it and then realising it.

The reward is a quality in life that simply money cannot buy.
And it's certain, that should we all discover and cultivate our inner talents, and decide to offer them to society, more than enough money to support our lives will come our ways.....and should there be much more than we actually need, we should always remember that there are billions of people, so much more unfortunate than us, who need our help. Because happiness & blissfulness only make sense - and are actually real - when they can be shared.

Colours of nature

A shift into anything organic, natural, ecologic, energy saving, has become a trend and a fashion these later years, arrising from the actual need that we humans have caused to emerge, as we are tending to disrespect nature and insist on doing things our way, very often harming it, the very same sourse from where we all originate.

But it goes far beyond being a trend. Should we not really shift our attention to going with nature, preserving it, respecting it and taking care of it, instead of going against it, the very near next generations will definetely have to face a life with a tremendous low quality of living; not that our quality of living hasn't alreday decreased enough. It has. Much actually. Much too much.

So, grouping these pictures together, featuring mostly brown and blue, brown of the earth and the bark of trees and blue of the sky and the ocean, has inspired sharing these considerations with you.

Nature is the ultimate inspiration and the newst organic designs in furniture and products, only point out, the tremendous need that we humans have to bring something more natural in to our homes, as life in cities can and has complete disrupt the natural cycles of everyday human life.

Be sure to be positive today . . .

...investing time into being positive towards ourselves, our lives and others is an attitude certainly to pay back....
...life brings us what we give to it....
...it couldn't be clearer than that....
...so the choice is up to us (as always!)

....spend time on being judgemental and critical or...
...spread out some positiveness out there?

I take the second, thank you.... : )