The Little Things

I believe that the little things we deal with on a daily, or even hourly basis, can have more impact on our lives than many of the big things. For instance, there was an item in my medicine cabinet that I used every day, and it was stored behind something else. So, every day I had to move the other thing to get at the item I wanted. Now, this took only a moment, so it wasn’t important enough to do anything about it. But finally one day I decided to clean out the medicine cabinet and put the things I used most often in the front. And then I noticed what a big difference it made for me in the morning when I was getting ready for work! I think most of us have a bunch of these little annoying things in our lives, and each one is a minor inconvenience. But when you add them up, how much impact do they have on your daily life? Try paying attention, so you can identify the little things, and take a few minutes each day to fix one of them. In a week you’ll see a big difference in your daily life.

The Big Things

So you only have a few minutes, and you have already taken care of all the little things. But now you have a few big things that have been on your mind lately. The kind of things that keep popping into your consciousness and you keep pushing them right out again. Maybe the garage needs to be cleaned out so you can fit your car into it before the winter, or you need to make a will but that involves calling a lawyer for an appointment and making lists of things and dealing with paperwork. These projects are going to take hours (and hours), and you don’t have that kind of time right now. Maybe some day next week… But, let’s be honest. You are never going to have the kind of time you will need to complete one of these projects all at once. So you have two choices. You can keep hoping you will somehow find that big chunk of time, or you can do a little bit whenever you can find a free few minutes or a couple of hours. I vote for doing a little bit whenever you can, because I see the people who work that way getting it done eventually, and the rest of us not getting it done at all! I know you’re disappointed, and I wish I had an easier, more magical solution for you, but I am still looking and when I find it I will let you know!

Lighting for Businesses

If you own a business you can use lighting to your advantage, especially during this time of year when we have so many hours of darkness. Did you know that if you give people a view into your space, the more they can see, the more they will be drawn to come in and purchase your products or services? It’s human nature. If we see part of something we want to see the rest. If we can’t see it at all we have no curiosity at all, nothing to encourage us to explore further. So make sure your space is well lighted, and that the windows and doors provide a view for people passing by. And leave some lighting on at night to keep the view visible and make the space look alive and active.

Let There Be Light!

I have noticed that when I watch a decorating show on TV the designers use a lot more lighting in their rooms than I tend to see in most people’s homes, and I wondered why. In the end I decided it’s because many of us don’t have enough lighting! You really should end up with more lighting than you need to just light up the room. Put lights and lamps in different locations in the room for different moods and tasks. Assume you will never have all of it on at the same time. What you are giving yourself is the flexibility to change the function and feeling of the room. Aside from paint, lighting is the quickest and easiest way to bring about a big change in the way a space looks and feels. If a room is small, lacks natural light, is in a basement, or feels cramped, add some up lighting to light and visually lift the ceiling. You can use floor lamps (torchieres), table lamps, sconces or ceiling hung fixtures that reflect light upwards. This provides even lighting that mimics natural daylight and does not add glare to computer screens and televisions. In a large room or a very open space use some lamps and fixtures that reflect light downwards to make the room feel more cozy. And this time of year you might want to add some accent lighting with candles, strings of lights, small lamps and decorative items that light up or glow. From now until spring we’ll need all the light we can get!

Quote by Fritjof Capra, from The Tao of Physics

“It is interesting to follow the evolution of Western science along its spiral path, starting from the mystical philosophies of the early Greeks, rising and unfolding in an impressive development of intellectual thought that increasingly turned away from its mystical origins to develop a world view which is in sharp contrast to that of the Far East. In its most recent stages, Western science is finally overcoming this view and coming back to those of the early Greek and Eastern philosophies. This time, however, it is not based on intuition, but also on experiments of great precision and sophistication, and on a rigorous and consistent mathematical formalism.”