Ellen Kennon's Newsletter

Living Well Newsletter

Autumn 2008

Dear Friends,

We’re finally enjoying the cool autumn weather down here in Louisiana. What a welcome relief after the sweltering heat we endured during Hurricane Gustav’s aftermath. The entire town of St. Francisville was out of power for nine days with temperatures in the nineties! Thank goodness I had the wherewithal to head north before the storm hit. If you’ll recall in my last newsletter, I had no idea St. Francisville was actually going to be hit by the hurricane. I was just worried about losing power and not being able to conduct business via the internet. However, our stay at The Peabody Hotel in Little Rock for those first five days not only enabled me to keep my business going, but it was actually quite a treat (re-treat)!

We headed back earlier than I would have liked, but my daughter’s school was scheduled to re-open a week sooner than it actually did. We returned to find St. Francisville in quite a state—basically shut down for the most part. If all that weren't enough, the threat of Hurricane Ike was looming on the horizon! Well, I won’t pollute the atmosphere with all the negatives, but I will share the gifts I gleaned from this experience.

First of all, we were incredibly grateful that our home and offices were spared any damage and we weren’t put out of our homes for months on end like our fellow Louisianians were after Hurricane Katrina. (Being grateful always attracts better circumstances!)

Secondly, having to get rid of a fully stocked fridge & freezer made me realize how wasteful we'd become and I’m proud to say we are very careful not to fill them back up with anything that won’t be eaten within a few days. It’s so refreshing to open the door and see such open space and order!

Third, and most importantly, it gave us an opportunity to focus on what’s really significant and whittle away all of the excesses—a bit of a head start towards what many of us are now doing during these troubling economic times.

I’m constantly reminded of Sarah Breathnach’s six steps to abundant living from her book, Simple Abundance: Gratitude: Reflecting on all that you are grateful for, which leads to Simplicity (paring down excess possessions), which leads to Order (i.e. when you lose all the clutter, you tend to organize your possessions) which leads to Harmony which creates Beauty which then leads to Joy. By the way, Sarah's website, simpleabundance.com, continues to inspire and advise!

Our homes are our sanctuaries, they are like our cocoons and have even been described as our “third skin”. Clothing represents our second skin, and our home is a cocoon that protects and nourishes us. It’s easy to assess whether or not your home is a true cocoon by questioning how much time you like to spend there.

Every space in your home should have a special mood and purpose. Each area can serve you better if you have thought of its purpose and how it fits in with the rest of your home by creating a special atmosphere. Every room radiates its own special energy which is the most important feature of a space, also known as the “essence” or “ambiance”. So the more energy you put into a room, the more vitality the space generates. Whether you live in a mansion or a studio apartment, you can create a space that uplifts the human spirit and is welcoming to others.

Use inspiration from nature to turn your home into a sanctuary. Tranquility, privacy, comfort and beauty can be achieved with the use of inspiration, light and color. Let the decoration of your space begin with a mediation on the space, and the flow of loving energy you bring to each area will add up to a transformation of the whole spirit of your space. The more vibrant your mind and imagination, the more radiant your space will become.

Color, which makes the biggest impact, is the first place to start. By simply changing the color of your walls, you can transform any room. Always remember that cool colors cause a centripetal action which brings one into himself, promoting relaxation and introspection. The many shades of blue and green found in nature are both soothing and healing—perfect for any space where you want to feel serene and relaxed. Cool colors have also been found to make a smaller space feel larger and actually lower the thermostat!

The warm colors in the red, orange and yellow range have the opposite effect, promoting physical activity, which is why they are best used in spaces like kitchens, dining rooms or in areas where you are not spending a lot of time, like bathrooms, foyers and hallways. Or, if you are fortunate enough to have both a living room and a family room, you may want to paint the living room where you entertain guests, red or orange, to stimulate conversation; and paint the family room, where you want to retreat into tranquility, a cooler color, perhaps something in the green family.

Color, whether gentle hues from nature’s palettes or bright modern shades, can dramatically affect how we feel. Light, fresh tones are generally refreshing and soothing, while darker colors envelop, comfort and protect. However, response to color tends to be very personal. Some people find blue restful and calming, while others consider it too cold. Also, our color preferences change over time. The key is to find a color with which you feel at peace and then work with it as a base.

Sidney Coffee, Senior Advisor to Americas Wetland Foundation (www.americaswetland.com) is a perfect example of what we are seeing with many of our loyal paint customers. Sidney’s home is truly her sanctuary as she spends a lot of time traveling back and forth from her home in Baton Rouge to Washington D.C. Several years ago, she painted her main living room walls and ceilings "Edgewood Green" with "Moss Green" trim, which integrates her bungalow-style home into its natural surroundings of old live oaks and lush foliage. The rest of her color palette includes "Edgewood Green" trim which flows throughout the rest of the house. Her kitchen has "Old Brick" walls and "Edgewood Green" cabinetry, the master bedroom walls are "Magnolia", the hallway and bathrooms are "Pueblo" and her office, which consists mostly of windows overlooking her courtyard-style garden, is painted "Moss Green". All of the colors we used are very earthy and she gets lots of compliments on how the colors in her home feel. However, after living with the colors for over five years, Sidney felt the need to lighten it up a bit. (Not surprising since the energy of these times is encouraging many of us to want to lighten things up!) Not wanting to change too much, she had crown molding installed in the living areas so we could re-paint the ceilings "Alexandra Blue". We also lightened the walls, by re-painting the "Edgewood Green" half of its formula, "Sage". Then, by repainting just one more room, the bedroom, "Aqua", the energy in the home indeed shifted into the lighter feeling Sidney was craving. This addition of ethereal blues to her palette helped inspire her newest passion, putting together "Sacred Memory Journeys" for spiritual seekers to travel to the sacred sites, powerful energy vortexes and portals of the earth, helping to raise and balance the earth’s energy.

Not surprising Sidney would want to create such meaningful excursions, as she has worked for years on saving Louisiana’s disappearing coastal wetlands and continues that work with Americas Wetland Foundation, helping to bring together diverse interests to work for sustainable solutions. We’re proud to have her as our friend and loyal paint customer!