This is my home. There is something powerful, something sacred about the place that we call home. It is the place where my family gathers, the spot where my treasures are, the place where I can be myself at my most honest and vulnerable. Home is a place of safe abandonment of all the baggage of society.
I was fortunate to have lived in the same home for the first 18 years of my life. It was great to have one place that was mine. I knew every tree, each fencepost and where everything belonged. When I went to camp and then off to college, I was driven to set up my "home" before I could do anything else. I needed to set my foundation. In my job I moved quite a bit, but I wasn't ready to work until my home was established and in order.
Long ago I disregarded the ideas of home fashion and trend. I like what I like. If I like it, then I'm happy to have it surround me in my place of residence. I love color. I delight in re-purposing items. It is important to having plants and other living things around me.
When we moved into this home just over 2 years ago, we decided to paint the exterior in time for my daughter's graduation party. After flipping through a magazine I saw the colors I wanted for our house -- green with pink shutters. I presented the idea to my husband, and bless his indulgent heart, he was all for it. The green went on with little comment from anyone. But when we began trying samples of the pink -- it concerned many. My kids cast two solid negative votes and asked me to pick something normal. They can have normal later. I picked delightful! Each time I see my home, it makes me smile to be there.
A friend came over one day and looked around, then she paid me a great compliment. She said, "You house just has personality up the wazoo!" It does! This is a place I can create to my heart's content.
Our home isn't supposed to be a show place, a mansion with more space than a small village could make use of -- but a sacred place to renew ourselves, to celebrate life, to be nurtured.
Any place can be a beautiful home, once your heart holds it sacred.
Thanks so much for sharing these thoughts. Your posting really touched me. Since I am a Foreign Service Officer, my daughter and I move to a new country every three years and have done so for the past two decades. We immediately set up home in the new place as quickly as we can once our belongings arrive and then set about becoming as familiar as possible with the new place and making friends. The places where we've lived have alternated between being apartments to huge mansions, completely furnished, so we focus on the touches that make it personal -- such as our artwork and decorations, collected from our travels all over the planet. It tickles me that our collection of masks representing five different continents looks so well coordinated once hung on the wall. This eclectic approach seems to always work, so I haven't thought twice about style over the years.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing these thoughts. Your posting really touched me. Since I am a Foreign Service Officer, my daughter and I move to a new country every three years and have done so for the past two decades. We immediately set up home in the new place as quickly as we can once our belongings arrive and then set about becoming as familiar as possible with the new place and making friends. The places where we've lived have alternated between being apartments to huge mansions, completely furnished, so we focus on the touches that make it personal -- such as our artwork and decorations, collected from our travels all over the planet. It tickles me that our collection of masks representing five different continents looks so well coordinated once hung on the wall. This eclectic approach seems to always work, so I haven't thought twice about style over the years.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful home! Love the flags and the flag hunting!
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