How to Create Warmth

Posted by Joanna Van Vleck on

When I started Organic Erotic I had a vision of building a company in the “light”, sharing the ups and the downs through a blog and creating this company together. I have learned that our only safety is through connection. To me, in order to start and build a company from scratch it must be done with the strength of all of us. I haven’t been as good at this as I had hoped and this morning, amidst my ceadarwood incense and the crisp air coming through my old bay windows, I am re-committing. 

Last night I was on a zoom with a Tibetan Buddhist monk. He spoke about the smoke offerings he makes everyday through burning incense. He said that making an offering  to the people who came before, the buddhas and bodhisattvas, is the strongest gift we can give. I flashed on my morning ritual. I wake and immediately walk to the old, white washed fireplace in my bedroom. On the mantle sits my cup of incense sticks and my incense burner. Before anything else, I light a stick for the morning. Something about the burnt smell in the air creates space in my mind. I like that feeling in the early hours. 

His wise words inspired me. This morning I did my same ritual of lighting the incense only I added this dimension of offering. Silently I said a prayer and an offering to those who came before. On the outside, nothing changed. I did my same short walk to the fireplace, squinted in the dark to find the incense I’d like to burn and picked up the lighter. On the inside, everything changed. My ritual had a new intention, an offering. A place where I opened, even just for a brief moment, to create a space for others. “Together” is what came into my mind as I made this first offering. 

This is the same feeling I had when creating Organic Erotic. When your intention is for your space to feel good (deep, warm, peaceful, open, spacious, etc), it may not look all that different on the outside, but on the inside everything is different. You begin to create the relationship with your home that creates the space of you. 

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