Over the winter I read a good book called Happier at Home, written by the same author who wrote the Happiness Project (on my to read list). In this tome were a lot of fresh ideas and honestly if the ideas were not fresh they were at least packaged differently and interestingly for me to continue to think about them months later. The first item that I would like to talk about is the idea of a shrine on a shelf. So, I recently moved into a small and rather impersonal little apartment; I am saving up for a house. This place has a lot of new amenities, new carpeting, new bathroom and kitchen flooring, and new paint on the walls, but, as I expect it to be a short time residence, I do not want to do too much with it. Of course this means that it does not exactly feel like home. Not home in the sense of my last two apartments. I do not have room for my electronic keyboard, there is no space for my guitar that I play once a week, on a good week, I do not have butterfly’s hanging around the place, or even my unpractical but defining DVD and CD book collection. So, what could make it feel like more than a hotel room? If any of you are familiar with Gretchen Rubin or, Happier at home, the answer becomes clear, a shrine. I should use a shelf to display some things I love, make it smell nice and there for make myself feel a little more in touch with my surroundings. It seems odd, or simple, but I think that this small step could make a big difference. More on the construction of this special area later.