As I wrote about in the introduction, Rom and I recently came up with our Family Pillars — a set of phrases or words to live by.
Here they are:
I’ve already covered Structure brings ease, An Open Heart, Life is delightful, and Naturally. Today, I am going to write about the last one (phew!).
Beautiful touches
This is our attempt to recover and celebrate beauty in our lives. You might have noticed, from all the mentions of dirt and mess (and structure or lack thereof), the chaos wears us down. On the one hand, I think it doesn’t matter in the long-term but on the other hand, I think it has a very real energetic influence on us. For example, it is harder for me to work in a cluttered kitchen, and I noticed that I am less careful and clean in my tasks when things start out cluttered. Same with the kids.
Rom and I realize that beauty and design in our home are not our top priorities right now, but we also wanted to acknowledge that our desire for a beautiful home could be manifested through small “touches.”
Maybe it means lighting a candle at dinner, bringing in fresh flowers, or making up the bed before settling in… Acknowledging that each family member has different ideas of what is beautiful… Finding beauty in a quiet, contented moment…
Maybe it means: let’s remember to let beauty touch us.
And that’s it, folks! A million words about what inspires our family. Now we’re gonna stop talking about it, and do it! 
{{By the way, the picture is an example of something my older son finds beautiful — it’s our seasonal table, full of the treasures we find or make.}}