Home is a Story to Create

The word HOME means something different to each of us. What story are you sharing with the world?

Growing up, I would watch classic TV Land type shows such as the Beverly Hillbillies, Gilligan's Island, The Brady Bunch, I Dream of Jeannie and Little House on the Prairie. It's no wonder that I became fascinated by the lives people lived out in their spaces. 

Let's think about this.....the Clampetts came from a rickey old shack in the back woods and were pretty happy. Even after they made their millions and moved to Beverly Hills, they tried their best to make it livable like their old shack back home. With it's cement pond, kitchen contraptions and useless buttons, they didn't really need any of those things....they just needed each other and to share their life with purpose. They wanted to fit in but not at the risk of loosing who they truly were. 

We can learn a lot from watching them stay true to who they are by asking; 

Does my home represent who I am?

Next up is Gilligan's Island. Can you even imagine the Skipper & Gilligan in charge of anything in your life? Once stranded on the island, they were left to build shanty's for each person. It was interesting how each created a space just for their own personalities and were for the most part quite content...they were certainly free of any trappings from their past life. They were living for each day and made it through quite well. We can learn a lot about 'growing where we are planted' by asking;

If catastrophe hit my life, could I pick up the pieces and still be happy where I am? 

Now, the Brady Bunch was a new concept for TV- a blended family. 3 girls, 3 boys and an architect dad. They were always showing us how to co-hab in a good way. Alice was the wild card and many times the reality card. She acted as the mast in the wind of a crazy blown off course family unit. 

We can learn a lot about 'how to' blend families by asking;

If we are forced to live with others, what can we do to make it a better experience for everyone? 

Ok, I Dream of Jeannie was in a whole other class of TV show....she lived in a genie bottle. How very cool was that? I mean, whenever she wanted, she would retreat to the bottle and disappear, not to bothered or sequestered there by her owner. It was her comfort zone. It was lovely, comfortable, private but it was too lonely. She longed to be with her Master out in the big world. It's great to create spaces that comfort us and nurture our souls. Share that part of yourself. We can learn a lot about 'sharing our homes and our lives with others by asking;

When was the last time I invited someone into my home to share my unique self?

Last but not least, Little House on the Prairie. The Ingall's from Walnut Grove lived an enduring existence in a home that was hand built and labored over by both Charles and Caroline. They exudes character developed from hardships within family, love, friendship and faith. They tackled subjects of adoption, alcoholism, racism and blindness with grace. You felt the love in those tight, lack of privacy quarters of open air and I believe that closeness is what we all hope for our families to be like. We have so much space now in our homes and in our relationships sometimes. We can learn a lot from creating friendship & loving kindness in our homes by asking;

Have our homes and lives become less loving, less sacred, less connected with more space?

Home is a story you create. It was relevant back then, and it's still relevant today. I care about the stories our lives are becoming. More living in our homes (and lives) is a good thing, let's get on with it.  Feel free to email me and learn more on how Moor Alive Interiors can help create your home story. I love talking about this- carolyn@mooraliveinteriors.com

Live well, be well!

Find Carolyn @

Moor Alive Interiors

9/11 Memories: A Tribute

These were the two words that kept looping in my mind.

Like everyone, that day will be remembered by where we were when the world stop turning as Alan Jackson so appropriately captured. I was newly widowed, only 16 months previously and the heartache of the day was like reliving my past. All I wanted if the world was coming to an end were my two daughters back in the safety of my own home.

Since then, HOME has comforted me as I spent hours on the chat rooms consoling widows from 9/11 and beyond. It was the only way I knew to cope but it didn't keep me from having a nervous breakdown. Their pain was all too fresh and familiar to me still living it out every day. Time can heal our wounds if we spend that time wisely. It's hard to believe its been 10 years.

In 10 years, I've used my God Box (Mac laptop) in many ways to reach out. Blogs, Facebook Pages, Emails, Skype all serve a great purpose but I will tell you, the biggest impact for me has been inviting others into my home and looking them in the eye and reaching out to hug them, especially my daughters and their friends. After 9/11, I longed for this, it was missing in my life. I made a concerted effort to become more loving in all ways and today I can easily say I feel loved. My friends tell me its that old saying 'what goes around comes around' and I agree. I'm in that sweet spot where the circle completes itself.

Looking back, they all feel like amazing years of growth. I learned to give love in ways I had blocked, and amazing things happened when I simply dared to love until it felt uncomfortable and unselfish. But on the other side of that discomfort, God delivered a Band-aid for my blessed wound that healed into a beautiful life.

So beautiful that I was blessed one day to see the actual paper in which Alan Jackson wrote his song onto 'When the world stop turning', the tear smears evident and the angst of emotion on scribbled paper. You never know how you fit into someone else's story. We are all apart of this 9/11 story.

I like to think of myself as someone who helps my clients create a place for these stories to play out. I certainly created the space you see above for our conversation to play out. Our homes are so important in this way and yet I feel like we spend more time thinking about their financial value rather than their emotional value.

I'm just saying that while we can spend time making sound decisions for our portfolio, lets not forget to create a home that we would invite others into if God forbid another tragedy happened. Let's not forget the peace we desired and the loving reverence we all felt for each other on this day. Because, I think it's the WHY to our question 'But why?'

Moor Alive Interiors invites you to our 'Creating Shalom in Your Home' Workshop Nov. 5th, Maitland Civic Center, 10-1p, where we talk about a new way to create your home with a wholehearted approach.

                                                                        Pull up a seat!

Home Sweet Home!

A smile.

That's what I look for when someone opens their door to let me in. A physical expression that is contagious and almost impossible not to reciprocate. I like smiles, they are like free happiness.

In a world where we have 1000+ facebook friends, its nice to see a warm body respond. Nothing replaces facial expressions, fidgeting in your seat over a topic of wonder. It got me to thinking, when was the last time I met a new 'friend' and invited them over to hang on my back porch for awhile?

Then I had a novel idea.....

Do that!

What I realized was this: I'd have to hide my clutter, rearrange some art, vacuum, hide legal papers not in the file they are supposed to be in, organize all the shoes by the door and take one of those lint brushes to the sofa. Whew. I'm just getting started.....

....or I could learn to keep up the pace of my life and learn to 'pick up' every night so the tasks like above didn't build up over time. I think if I did this, I'd be more open to inviting a friend or neighbor over for a spur of the moment beer or glass of wine. Bad habits die hard.

Over time, I learned to do this. Partly, because I have daughters I'm trying to train, but also my cleaning lady rarely comes anymore due to my bottom line budget. So I had to learn to do something inconceivable- I had to actually learn to manage and maintain what I have MYSELF. You know where I'm going with this, right? Yea, more stuff, more to manage...

For those of you out there who have been there done that, long ago- crossed this bridge, gone ahead and reduced your belongings (aka: invisible weight on your shoulders) can attest to the freedom that in indescribable when you have just want you need (and maybe a bit more), I'm not talking to you!! You can go back to Facebooking your 1001+ friends. Who I'm talking to is anyone who has quite a bit more over what they can manage......and maybe, maybe wished that 'Bewitched' lady would come over and twinkle her nose and make your place arrange itself. Well, I hate to burst your bubble...

Instead, I'll offer you a quick, easy idea you can do in the next 5 minutes. We are going to extract information from your brain onto a piece of paper and you will see what you need. Ready?

Pen + Paper + You = Finding out what you really need!

Ok- here we go  ---------> ----------->
1. Pen and Paper in hand, go to ONE room in your home.
2. Look around that room.
3. On top of the paper, write down your most precious item that is in this room. It can be anything!! Art, books, grandma's photo, a vase you bought on vacay, letters from someone important...you get the picture.
4. List the second most precious item.
5. List the third most precious item.
6. You're getting the picture, right? (please, say YES)
7. When you get tired of writing, you have before you the items that mean the most to you. Keep those items.
8. Decide what you will do with the other items that are just fluff, filler. They are the metaphoric heavy sack you are carrying around everyday whether you realize it or not.
9. Be patient and loving to yourself, it took you a long time to acquire these items, it will take awhile to release them.
10. Choose just ONE thing to donate or gift and let someone else love it. You have everything you need to love.

You're one step closer to inviting that neighbor over and who knows, you might just like it! I think that's something worth smiling about.

Moor Alive Interiors offers a workshop that's way fun and helps you do little exercises like this and make a few new friends. It's called 'Creating Shalom in the Home'. I'll be there to greet you with a smile and a hug. 

Happy trails my friend,
Carolyn Moor