Am I a broken record with appeals to slow down, find moments for stillness, and pursue opportunities for silence and rest? In this my 17th year of arriving to your inbox with interior design inspiration, DIY renovation stories, home tours, and personal reflections, Lord knows I have preached the gospel of slow. Spoiler alert: I do not intend to slow the nudges to slow and flow. Let’s chat about quiet retreats and peek at the nowhere-near-glam life and nest I call home this winter.
Quiet Retreats & Peeks Around the Snowbird’s Nest
When we bought this little house to retreat quietly when the weather gets harsh in Illinois, what we longed for was quiet simplicity without excess, without fuss. Our bedroom here is as simple as it gets, and you can see it here at top left on this board of sweet treats for quiet retreats:
I’m thinking about ordering the peacock pajamas now that they are on sale, and there’s something irresistible about that pillow with its cheerful colors and all that turquoise! The green behind the bed above reminds me of this paint color:
Isn’t it calming and retreat-like? I love how this jade-teal works as wainscot in a bedroom on Rifle’s site – we usually see this hue as a subtle accent, but its boldness just works so well with other elements in this quiet retreat.
I’m never mad at a tranquil pale blue grey for bedrooms, and I’m super tempted to paint our Illinois bedroom Borrowed Light on our next trip home. What do you think of it for quiet retreats?
Did you see the gorgeous angora and wool blanket on my mood board above? It’s from a new-to-me brand, and when I saw it styled in this bedroom on their site…
I could instantly imagine it living with me and functioning in any number of locations here. It gets chilly in the desert at night, and the light weight of it is just right. But that isn’t even my favorite thing about this luxurious wool throw.
Believe it or not, this Silverlyne blanket is machine washable! What rare beauty and ease it offers, and I am so grateful to enjoy its everyday comfort at our quiet retreat.
Recent Finds for My Quiet Retreats
A few other finds recently appeared on my radar that support this theme of quiet and retreat.
While I am slowing down daily for obvious reasons as I battle chronic illness, I am also exploring new unplugged creative pursuits. I have read more books than I can say! Curious what I’m reading? Let me know if I should devote a post to it. Also, I have always loved watercolors, but it has been many years since I played with them. Acrylics and latex are materials I typically reach for, but Arizona sunsets inspire new ones. Need a nudge? I showed you beautiful workbooks from Emily Lex (the Nutcracker one is below) during the holidays, and I bet you’ll find one you can’t live without.
Good Looking & A Mini Retreat for Favorite Fur Babies
I’m always reaching for a bowl of water for visiting pups. My entire family of origin lives within a few miles of me here, and all of them have dogs. As a designated pet sitter and grandma to 8 rescue fur fabies, this system from TROT was just the ticket:
Hello, lovely on a number of fronts! I admire how its stability (thanks to magnetically secured bowls) lends itself to quiet since bowls are not skidding across the floor, colliding with walls and furniture.
I also love the good looking elevated design. Such a quality-made option to keep things tidy that will last and last for our cherished sweeties!
Quietness & Life Lately
While we have created a quiet color story and calm interiors to stay cozy this winter, we do not have the hushed countryside here to mirror it. There are mountains and pink skies, but the traffic is real. This does not suit me as a country girl.
Life is so utterly quiet at home on the prairie where the deer come near daily. This has been a challenge to my nervous system and the strategies to manage my illness.
I have good days and bad, and symptoms with pain arise out of nowhere. It pays to prioritize spiritual practice.
Tending to my spirit doesn’t often offer consolation or an escape, but it helps me stay in the present with these fluctuating emotional states and discomfort.
Spiritual Practice & Expansion
Meditation, for example, isn’t about disappearing as much as practice staying; practice to allow reality to be reality.
Over time, meditation (or centering prayer) has been expanding my capacity to not run, suppress, or escape the present moment and uncomfortable emotion.
I’m reactive and sensitive. What I am learning in a deeper way is how often my amygdala gets activated and how there is a need to strengthen the prefrontal circuits in my brain to regulate it.
I’m learning to transform an emotionally charged response from my brain such as she betrayed me to the gentler, more prefrontal cortex, she’s teaching me about trust. Maybe this is old news or plain cuckoo to you. I can dig it since I am a not-at-all-special wounded healer, not some polished up spiritual elder. There is always so much more to learn so I try to keep sitting on my mat, challenged by the traffic noise. I am one of those of cats who needs total quiet to write or paint or create beauty.
Since I have been unable to create art here in the desert, maybe the Divine is teaching me to rest those familiar impulses and muscles. To receive, absorb, and become the quiet within the noise.
Seeds of Hope or Seeds of Doubt?
So how “becoming” am I in all this becoming? I would give myself a C- at this point.
A few months ago, I recall waking at 4 am some mornings with a mouth full of curse words for the morning traffic outside the bedroom window. WTF, I AM OVER THIS WAKE UP CALL!
Are these seeds of hope that I’m raging less? Will I learn to adapt and create in spite of whooshing sounds that rain violently upon me?
Are these gentle finds and quiet retreat ditties more like those dinosaur age blogger-centered diaries I used to post than solution-oriented audience-centered influencing? All I can tell you is that if I imagined months of sunshine, mountains, a retired husband, and family members would not stretch me in new ways, I was very very naive.
We are works in progress. We are here to learn and grow. The noise and uncertainty around us can be deafening. We are called to evolve and put on a new mind daily. Thank God there is a quiet retreat open 24-7 behind our eyes. Love and hope are alive. I pray to become a conduit for grace. I believe our prayers are heard.
Peace to you right where you are.
-michele
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Life has been full this last year with our first grandchild (little JJ) & now Ruby Jo is due in July! I keep JJ several days a week for a few hours & it has been a joy!
We also enjoy our fur babies like you…9 between us & our kids…they bring such joy to life! One son & his wife just got 8 chickens & a rooster so that has been a fun new adventure! Yesterday I had to help by making sure they all went into their coop at dusk…so fun to watch them all go into the henhouse one by one! Fresh eggs are a perk!!
Thankful to have time to read your blog today…always an encouragement as you share ways you are trusting God & ways you are growing in grace. Praying God grants you days of pain relief as well as grace in the midst of your health challenges.
Just got back from beach with my daughter & her best friend & started a book while there I think you’d enjoy…”Theo of Golden”. Would love to hear what you’re enjoying reading these days! Sending love your way!
Author
It’s such a treat to hear from you, friend. Those grandbabies are such a gift, and my ears love the sound of “Ruby Jo.” oh my. Thank you for taking time out to share snapshots of your days and join me here with kindness. I think years ago I thought I would someday “arrive” to healing or some level of peace where I’d coast until heaven. Turns out I am meant to grow, groan, change, expand, and experience true grace, quiet joys, and mercy in the midst of uncertainty. Turns out we can all spin the story of our lives in endless variation to suit, profit, and please, but beneath any narrative and illusion is a heart that can be remade, opened, battered and healed as it connects in fresh ways to God and others. Enjoy the beach and your crew, and I will check out the book and let you know what I’m reading. xox
Thank you for all of your years of hard work!! I still look for and read your post first (before delving into the email pile) every single day. Your post has always been and will continue to be my favorite way to start my day with a good cup of coffee. Informative, beautiful and down right funny! I love every single one and pin all of them. Thank you!❤️
Author
Thank you for this kind feedback, Jeannie! I love being with you here so it is pure pleasure to share personal reflections alongside inspiration.
You are a blessing! Sometimes a C- is equivalent to an A considering the circumstances. Better than an F for sure. I will pray you start to feel better. I would love to see your reading list and I also would recommend Theo of golden. I just finished it and it was really a beautiful amazing book. Grace to you!
Author
Thank you. I like your grading scale. Hahahaha. I’ll have to read it!