If you're reading this, you're probably doing so on a computer, phone, or other digital device. Which is fine, in one way, because the Internet has opened up the ability of ordinary people to communicate with one another, something that the world of TV, industrial news, and myth-making cinema doesn't really want to see because it's bad for profits, and control. (Given that 90 percent of mainline media is controlled by six corporations, we need to be wise about alternatives outside the box, and recognize that if something is starting to work, it can easily be added to the coffers of these six, or five, or four.)

But the point is, if you're on the computer or the phone (this latter, especially, one where people find their time being spent more and more), then you're not creating. Okay, so you're checking out Pinterest for baby shower cakes made from diapers -- and as long as you actually make the cake (which, hopefully, will reflect unique aspects derived from your brain and soul) -- then you've used the phone or computer as the tool we're all told that it was meant to be. But if you find yourself mindlessly scrolling through baby diaper cakes, onto innovative uses for toilet paper rolls, then over to Facebook for the latest corporate-sponsored meme that looks like it was made by Joe Ordinary (who somehow, effortlessly and regularly, garners multi-million views), then you'd be better off sitting on the sofa, staring out the window.

(Or, from Steve's standpoint, staring at a painting he created, or print made from it, that physically hangs on your wall -- art grapples with our mind, and encourages it to reach, wonder, and travel.)

As human beings, we were designed to create, question, and think, three elements that mindless wandering on the phone, random texting, gaining expertise in video games, and being the first to watch the latest movie on the market, subvert. Unique individuals each one of us, we all have the ability to do something, but too often, if we can't make money doing that something, or garner Facebook hits by posting a YouTube Video of our making it, then we figure it's not worth our time, and go back to wandering on our phone.

Make dinner tonight, and enjoy the process of doing it. Plant a seed. Knit a dishrag. Write a poem. Watch a cat sleep, and wonder why they do it 18 hours a day. Wrap Christmas presents, and take time to do it well. Look at your hands, and consider what they can shape, form, and do; then make whatever plans and purchases need to be made to shape, form, and do the project in your head. Question something you've always been told, and follow that thought process.

Be.

The image in the meme above is Spirit of the Canyon, a work that embodies the freedom our soul demands. It is available as an original painting, and as a print in many online retail venues. Add real, physical art to your life by looking through Steve's original paintings, contacting him about a commission, or purchasing prints of his work at the following retailers:

Steve also has

galaxy cases for sale

iphone cases for sale

through Fine Art America.

Home decor, and how to do it properly, is in. There are magazines, blogs, and multitudinous TV shows that give advice on what to buy, where to put it, and what your home should look like. The sheer onslaught knocks one down and out, leaving a person feeling that nothing they do is right, and their place will never look the way it should.

But because we're talking about a home -- your home, our home, the home of good, regular people who just want to live their lives and love the people in it -- there's one central piece of advice that matters, and from which all other advice is considered:

Make your home a haven.

Make your home a place in which you enjoy being, a place where the things in it mean something to you and are not chosen because they are in fashion, match, interact with one another, or spark a conversation. And while there's absolutely nothing wrong with dreaming over room photos and listening to pros for ideas on how to make the elements of your home coalesce into a pleasing format, when this becomes stressful, then it's time to stop, fix a cup of tea, and reorganize our thoughts.

Our home is, or should be, the place where we relax, speak what's on our mind, and are safe from the onslaught of stress that we encounter in the workplace, on the streets, in traffic, at school, and anyplace where we are outside, in the public arena. Take pleasure in reading a good book in a comfortable chair, playing a game of cribbage with someone who doesn't win all the time, plonking on a piano or keyboard if you have one, and cooking a leisurely meal.

Your home is beautiful because you, and the beautiful people in your lives, live in it.

The image above is Autumn Memories, an original oil painting which can also be found as a print at Great Big Canvas, and (modified) at  Walmart and Jet. Find more of Steve's work in his Original Painting section, and prints at the following online retailers:

A complementing article to this one is Interior Decorating: What's Right for Your Home?

We all know what we're supposed to be, at least according to the religious, business, educational, and social seminar gurus:

Smarter, harder workers, more innovative, adaptable, efficient, constantly looking for the best way of doing things.

And if our ultimate goal is to be good citizens of the corporate world, effectively using each minute to make more money for others, then these are the goals to set up and reach.

But what does that do to us as people? In trying to achieve the goals set for us by the dehumanizing world of global corporations, are we kinder, more compassionate, thoughtful, meditative, wise, and creative people? Are we growing into the unique individual that only we can be?

In Steve's newest painting, The Harvesters (above), there is wisdom in the uncomplicated, straightforward outlook of children, whose goals tend to be forthright and candid. If they want to steal a toy from another child, they're pretty outspoken about it. In the same manner, if they want to pick grapes on a gloriously warm autumn afternoon, they reach for the sweetest, ripest, most beautiful grapes. It's not worthwhile wasting time on the sour, shriveled ones.

Perhaps we should look at the grapes in our basket, and reconsider whether they are the best ones we can find on the vine.

Reach for what is worth acquiring.

Fine art -- the kind that makes us stop and smile, or think, or wonder, or hope, is one of those things worth having in our lives. Steve's art is available as original oil and watercolor paintings, commissioned paintings, and licensed prints at the online and retail establishments below:

Read more about this topic at complementing articles, Pursuing the Wrong Goals, and Who Cares Who You Voted For -- Whom Do You Love?