Live Your Most Natural Life Part 2

Do you want to live your most natural life? What does that even mean? To me, living a natural life means living in a way that aligns to my values, morals, interests and talents. It means going WITH the flow of my feelings, desires and natural tendencies, not forcing myself to go against them. In Part 1, I talked about self care.

Part 2 is focusing on the home. Whether you live in an apartment, tiny house, RV, with your parents or in a mansion or a tent, having a welcoming, nurturing place to lay your head and just be yourself in all your glory is important.

Make your home your sanctuary.

Home should be a place where you can just be yourself. Create a haven and a vessel for you to fill with your inspiration and creativity.

Assess and take control of your personal space.

• Try to remove anything that doesn’t benefit you. Clean up clutter by either throwing away, giving away or selling.
• Make sure you have permanent places to put everything, and always put things away when you are finished with them.
• Create an organization system that works for you. Put like things with like so you always know where things are. If you use something often, keep it conveniently close.

Add your personality to the space.

• Consider color changes. If you can paint, decide what colors would feel right in each area. When we moved to the home (mobile home) we live in now, the walls in the 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms were either plain pink or a pink patterned wallpaper. For a number of years we lived with them as is, but within the past couple of years, my mom and I have painted the office and the bedroom lovely sage green, and the main bathroom went from the pink patterned wallpaper to bright white, thanks to D’s sister who came to visit a few years ago. The green walls in the office and the bedroom make it cool, relaxing and inviting, rather than the tense, gawdy feelings all the pinkness brought out.

• Now that your space is pleasantly hued, add elements that make you happy. Surround yourself with inspiration and comfort. Think of how you can decorate to please sight, sound, smell and touch. Bonus points if you shop second hand for the elements you choose. Browse through magazines or Pinterest for ideas. Go to an antique store or flea market and just randomly browse, noticing what colors and types of items you are naturally drawn to. Take your time to imagine and curate the items you want that will turn your home into your ideal place.

Ditch the toxins and bring in nature’s bounty.

• Once you have everything looking and flowing well, the next step is to begin removing chemical laden household and personal care products and replace them with natural, safer alternatives. There are tons of ideas and recipes and DIY tutorials for cleaning products and hygiene products out there using all-natural ingredients that are not harmful. The peace of mind and harmony that comes from knowing your home is toxin free and really, naturally clean is amazing.  

• Surround yourself with nature inside and out. Get some herbs for your windowsill. If it is nice out, turn off the HVAC and open the windows.  Put a few different plants around your home in beautiful planters. If you can have a garden outside, start a small one. Create an outdoor area to relax in. If you have a space to add a small fountain, having the sound of trickling water is naturally relaxing. Plant seasonal flowers in your outside garden, and when they bloom, bring some cut flowers inside.