BUILDING LIFE PYRAMID WITH Style by V

A man paints with his brains and not with his hands. Michelangelo 

Sometimes it looks like dead end is reached, and the way is lost. It may seem the circle is closed, and there is no way to unlock it. The solution is probably closer than you might think, and it is the biggest mistake to think you made a mistake when you entered the circle…

Life is like a large layer cake that takes you years to bake it; remove one of the layers and the taste is different. It is a huge pyramid that is built piece by piece, layer by layer, hour by hour, day by day, year by year… Have you ever watched kids building a toy pyramid? They choose the parts very carefully matching every piece to find the right one. It doesn’t mean they make mistakes, they just look for the part that fits perfect. This is what our life about. We need to find the parts that make it possible to put our own lifeline together. Building process is similar to building a house: it seems nothing is done when you work over the foundation, but when it is finished, the way to put up the walls is easy and fast. It takes a lot of efforts to lay the foundation, but at the same time, it gives you a chance to build your own beautiful and fabulous castle. When I speak about the castle, I mean not only the place to live, though it is important, I’m talking about that beautiful inner world and balance that all of us keep looking for the whole life long. Life starts with your state of mind, and if you are okay, outer world is fine as well. 

Life is about projecting the situations and creating the solutions by making mistakes. Probably these mistakes are the solutions that help to create a unique life story… a complete colorful pyramid of full value.

SIMPLE TRUTH

When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. Unknown

The most mysterious feeling, love, has the simplest essence, but we never know when we will be trapped… In fact, people always say indirectly what they feel, but we do not notice the verbal signs or gestures being absorbed in a daily routine. 

Have you ever heard the way your name sounds when it is pronounced by someone who loves you? I’ve never thought about this until I came across the above mentioned quote. I remembered all the people who experienced or still experience warmth and tenderness to me. Maybe some of them never spoke about their feelings, but I could sense that affection and love when they were pronouncing my name. It sounds in a different and more sophisticated way that I can’t describe or put into words… Same letters, same name, but huge difference in meaning and various emotions… We can’t hide real feelings and warmth, even though we try hard, in order not to show our weakness. At least we think it is weakness, but in fact, it is a real power and exceptional ability to expose feelings in a delicate, elegant and intelligent way without showing pride and arrogance.

When it comes to sympathy, we become more sensitive and vulnerable absorbing every detail of a partner’s behavior. Sometimes we are taken aback when talking to a person we like, but it shows our sympathy to a partner. Sometimes it tells you: “Oops, you’ve been ensnared by mysterious feelings…” Love is like a wildflower, you never know where and when you will find it…

One simple quote stopped me for a while to think of people I love and to estimate what I have. My next note is for you to read and recollect the people you passed by, paying no attention to the tender sounding of somebody’s voice…  

TO WIN HIM WITH STYLE BY V

I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning how to sail my ship. Louisa May Alcott

This note is mostly related to women’s audience, but I guess men won’t miss an opportunity to get closer to women’s reality…

A power of every woman lies in her ability to surrender and lose a bet. It makes her a winner in a uniquely feminine way without offending man’s ego and pride. She is able to remove mountains without pushing them. A woman is the only lovely and graceful creature who has an exceptional ability to win by defeating and defeat by winning.  

A Canadian feminist and 1951-1956 mayor of Ottawa, Charlotte Whitton, once said: “Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good.” Occasionally, women choose wrong directions preferring to be ambitious and independent in their efforts to bring success, beauty and courtesy to men. A wise woman is not afraid of any fighting or battle, for she knows when to surrender in order to succeed and gain a victory. She has a clear, but I’d rather say it is still blurred, understanding of a male dominant world: he remains a hunter and conqueror of a woman’s destiny. 

When it comes to love affair, their relationship looks like an impressive dance contest, where he moves her around the ballroom, and she follows him gracefully, elegantly and seductively while moving her own challenging directions…

TO ALLURE BUTTERFLIES WITH STYLE BY V.

“Success is not a doing process, it is a becoming process. What you do, what you pursue, will elude you—it can be like chasing butterflies. Success is something you attract by the person you become.” Jim Rohn

Anastasia & Steven Phelps, A Lovely Couple And My Close Friends

I feel like to change the word success into the one more mysterious and marvelous, love.  Love is something you attract by the person you become. There is no clear definition for this word that can be approved and added to the encyclopedia. This glorified feeling has no right answers or clear explanations creating haze of mystery around and casting a spell over human minds. It’s something that is out of control making you smile in panic and cry in happiness. A person in love forgets about his/her ego sacrificing own pride and prejudice for the happiness of beloved, becoming more sensitive to surroundings and things happening. 

Love is a beguiling and astonishing feeling that can serve as reviving medicine, but overdose may be fatal. That’s why you should define that right dose to keep your life vibrant, vivid and full of energy despite any attempts to hijack your prescription and take an advantage of it.

Success is something that can’t be stolen or hijacked; it is a state of mind.

Both of them are inseparable meanings that complement each other. Success without love is beyond the bounds of possibility, and love can’t settle in your heart until you have inner success and balance. Many of us seek for both of them gazing far away beyond horizons, therefore forgetting that we are blessed with a talent to generate these feelings by evolving, cultivating and cherishing them within ourselves. It turns into a process that ensnares you with love and success when you don’t have to chase butterflies, because they start following you…

BAD BOY, GOOD GIRL, GOOD BOY, BAD GIRL

She: “For some unknown reason, bad-boys draw you in despite the fact they are jerks”. Alexis Bledel

He: "Women are like cell phones. They like to be held and talked to, but push the wrong button, and you'll be disconnected." Unknown

Even being grown up, we keep looking for hide-and-seek or cat-and-mouse games that warm up our mind and body. I always wondered why good girls go mad about bad boys and good boys attract bad girls. Is it a perfect match or something we need to reveal inside? Probably it’s something that one partner misses and wants to meet a lack of it with the help of another one to create a hot mix. Maybe sometimes we want someone to push that wrong button to be out of a system, experiencing true and real life. 

Well, I guess we can list tons of explanations, but I know for sure, that we become drawn toward intense and dramatic relations with a lot of obstacles and limitations on the way. We do not prefer those which are to be taken easily. If relations appear to be forbidden, it agitates mind even more and more, making you stubborn about seducing a man/woman you are interested in and getting him/her to fall for you. You prefer to seduce and be seduced whatever. We usually adore projecting situations and creating dangerous games for our mind. It makes us move forward in attempt to win a set, thereby testing inner power, logic, flexibility. 

American poet Maya Angelou once said: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”.  

Maybe we need someone, who dares to push a disconnecting button and inflame passion, savoring every moment despite the fact if it’s bad or good…  

GLAM vs. SIMPLICITY WITH STYLE BY V.

Victoria Beckham

Only great minds can afford a simple style. Stendhal

I’m not a fashion guru to write about issues of style and fashion, but referring to the quote of great Coco Chanel: “Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only, fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening”, I guess everyone is allowed to share his/her opinion in terms of glam and couture. This item is not directly related to those I usually cover on my blog, but fashion directly deals with the state of mind. I totally agree with Stendhal, one of the most original and complex French writers of the 19th century (1783-1842), that not everyone can afford simplicity in style, even though American fashion foists it off. Being European and having absolutely different mentality from American one, I start feeling lack of European mix of couture, glam, chic and sexuality. Fashion is something that comes from inside and you have to posses all above mentioned traits to afford simple style (It may look very chic and glamorous at the same time); otherwise you need more glam to emphasize your expressiveness, passion, sensuality, individuality and sexual urge. Now fashion is a 'machine for making money', but originally it was invented for the purposes of highlighting and stressing essential nature and inner beauty of every separate person. Fashion is a part of human history and art, roots of which go deep to the middle of the 14th  century speaking about European clothing style, but the history of fashion design is normally taken from 1858, when the English-born Charles Frederick Worth opened the first true haute couture house in Paris. 

Alexander McQueen

So, if we go deep to fashion history, we come to the understanding that fashion or clothing style is inseparable from humanity, being a part and parcel of art and cultural history that had been evolving together with mankind, obtaining new distinguishing features and shapes accordingly. 

So, why do we forget these traditions? Ancient and, to some degree, conservative Europe is still stuck with these norms in clothing and style, guiding fashion and keeping top positions in this industry. 

People and fashion complement each other, making a complete and unique look. Let’s keep in mind this vital component of an image that differentiates our personality from a crowd…

FLIRTING WITH THE PRESENT THROUGH STYLE BY V

 Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves - regret for the past and fear of the future. Fulton Oursler

While moving from the past to the future, we simply miss the most important point of intersection: the present. Working and running like crazy, we spend a lot of time and energy for the things that passed and for those, that haven’t come yet. These two dimensions totally absorb our nature leaving no space for the reality. Isn’t it better to enjoy the vibrant present that we can touch and feel? We never know if tomorrow will come and the past is never to be returned. So, why do we get back to these two thieves of our time and energy? Let bygones be bygones and simply enjoy the vibrant life with its awesome and unforgettable moments… Recently I came across a quote by Quevedo,  satirist and poet of Spain's Golden Age (1580-1645): “He, who spends time regretting the past, loses the present and risks the future”… I bet no one can dispute this so true saying. We move straight to the future without going its roots: the present time. We can easily change our future by restyling and giving a new makeover to our present. It’s amazing to watch how future can grow with a little inspiration in real life.

There is a group of people who keep complaining about life by doing nothing to improve it and make it of better quality. We all know that future starts with the past and the present. We are also aware that we can’t modify things in the past, but we have opportunities to shape the present in order to change the future. People can be easily divided into two groups: those who search for life drawbacks and those who seek for advantages and benefits, building their happiness and going fresh ways… 

I believe we should splash our present with lasting color of our energy and add new shades to get a winning look. Enjoying and admiring present moments is the most powerful accessory of the present life. Isn’t it amazing and fabulous to stop for a while and think how charming life is? This new approach inspires to living the most stylish, successful and fascinating life ever…